RUMOUR Did Brodie Croft just become a Bronco over brunch at a Sydney cafe?

[broncos4life]

For mine out of all the possible options Croft is the guy we should go for.

I think the Storm's final series shows that he is a genuine halfback and exactly what we need. Without him their kicking game sucked and their attack looked like ours for the most part. Munster's game also went to shit without him there. All opposition teams had to do was shut down Smith and then the storm had absolutely nothing. Their incredible defense is the only thing that kept them in the prelim.

 

[Kooly87]

For mine out of all the possible options Croft is the guy we should go for.

I think the Storm's final series shows that he is a genuine halfback and exactly what we need. Without him their kicking game sucked and their attack looked like ours for the most part. Munster's game also went to shit without him there. All opposition teams had to do was shut down Smith and then the storm had absolutely nothing. Their incredible defense is the only thing that kept them in the prelim.

Mate, I was actually thinking exactly the same thing on Saturday. Obviously their defence is a million miles better than ours and that kept them in those games, but honestly their attack, full of absolute stars including one probable immortal, was basically as blunt and ineffective as ours was once you remove the genuine, game managing Halfback from the equation. They still have absolute game breakers like Munster and Papenhuyzen but without anyone to put them into scoring positions they relied on one on one brilliance time and time again, much like we have with Fifita and Haas etc.

 

[broncos4life]

Mate, I was actually thinking exactly the same thing on Saturday. Obviously their defence is a million miles better than ours and that kept them in those games, but honestly their attack, full of absolute stars including one probable immortal, was basically as blunt and ineffective as ours was once you remove the genuine, game managing Halfback from the equation. They still have absolute game breakers like Munster and Papenhuyzen but without anyone to put them into scoring positions they relied on one on one brilliance time and time again, much like we have with Fifita and Haas etc.

Exactly. For mine Croft’s omission said it all about his value. It is also funny that none of the paid ‘analysts’ of the game have picked this up and noted that this was an error on Bellamys behalf. Instead the narrative is Croft is shit because he was replaced by a fullback with no actual insight into how detrimental that was.

Although I say I am shocked but really I’m not. Most of these idiots couldn’t analyse a game or have an independent thought if they tried. This would be the basic thought process.

“hmmm Bellamy good coach, he drop Croft which mean Croft bad player. Hmmm”

 

[Kooly87]

Exactly. For mine Croft’s omission said it all about his value. It is also funny that none of the paid ‘analysts’ of the game have picked this up and noted that this was an error on Bellamys behalf. Instead the narrative is Croft is shit because he was replaced by a fullback with no actual insight into how detrimental that was.

Although I say I am shocked but really I’m not. Most of these idiots couldn’t analyse a game or have an independent thought if they tried. This would be the basic thought process.

“hmmm Bellamy good coach, he drop Croft which mean Croft bad player. Hmmm”

I think they really overestimated Smith's ability to do both jobs. Instead of doing one brilliantly, he did both pretty fairly mediocre, which against a side like the Roosters and even the Raiders, just wasn't enough.

 

[Waynesaurus]

It will be interesting to see if the Cameron Smith retirement talk means the Storm now might try to hold onto Croft.

Cam Smith at it again, everything always has to be all about Cameron Smith.

 

[broncos4life]

It will be interesting to see if the Cameron Smith retirement talk means the Storm now might try to hold onto Croft.

Cam Smith at it again, everything always has to be all about Cameron Smith.

Yeah 100%. I feel like with this talk from Smith and also the result of their performances Bellamy might end up not releasing Croft after all. Honestly wouldn't surprise me if Smith found a way to **** us over one last time in his retirement.

 

[Sproj]

He won’t retire, not while there is still money in a contract (or two).

 

[tommy]

He won’t retire, not while there is still money in a contract (or two).

Stalwart of the game. They should give him a testimonial in his retirement year.

 

[NSW stables]

Stalwart of the game. They should give him a testimonial in his retirement year.

Dont forget the Order of australia medal for the missus

 

[Morepudding]

Mate, I was actually thinking exactly the same thing on Saturday. Obviously their defence is a million miles better than ours and that kept them in those games, but honestly their attack, full of absolute stars including one probable immortal, was basically as blunt and ineffective as ours was once you remove the genuine, game managing Halfback from the equation. They still have absolute game breakers like Munster and Papenhuyzen but without anyone to put them into scoring positions they relied on one on one brilliance time and time again, much like we have with Fifita and Haas etc.

I honestly think the past 2 years has tarnished Cam Smith's status a little bit. It made me look further in to his career stats. Do you know how many things he has won without having at least one of Lockyer, Cronk and JT? zero. He has 0 premierships, 0 origin wins and 0 Australia wins.

No doubt he is a great player, but it's a pretty damning stat to be fair.

 

[holdzy]

I honestly think the past 2 years has tarnished Cam Smith's status a little bit. It made me look further in to his career stats. Do you know how many things he has won without having at least one of Lockyer, Cronk and JT? zero. He has 0 premierships, 0 origin wins and 0 Australia wins.

No doubt he is a great player, but it's a pretty damning stat to be fair.

Minor prems though - some folk value that more.

 

[Morepudding]

Minor prems though - some folk value that more.

Minor premier is a different game. It's about consistency throughout the season. I think the issue with the storm has been that they are all burnt up come finals. Trent Robinson seems to instruct his team to go hard early, win the game, and then taper off. Sometimes this year they got chased down to lose, but majority of the time they score all their points in that first half and then just take it easy.

 

[Battler]

Minor premier is a different game. It's about consistency throughout the season. I think the issue with the storm has been that they are all burnt up come finals. Trent Robinson seems to instruct his team to go hard early, win the game, and then taper off. Sometimes this year they got chased down to lose, but majority of the time they score all their points in that first half and then just take it easy.

To be fair, Robbo is operating with a different quality roster to the rest of the comp.

 

[Broncapz]

Minor premier is a different game. It's about consistency throughout the season. I think the issue with the storm has been that they are all burnt up come finals. Trent Robinson seems to instruct his team to go hard early, win the game, and then taper off. Sometimes this year they got chased down to lose, but majority of the time they score all their points in that first half and then just take it easy.

You could put a plastic cup as coach of the Roosters and they'd still make the finals every year. Not impressed by Robinson at all.

Also if we could get Croft for ~400k then I think that is an good deal to FINALLY get an NRL caliber halfback.

 

[heartly87]

For mine out of all the possible options Croft is the guy we should go for.

I think the Storm's final series shows that he is a genuine halfback and exactly what we need. Without him their kicking game sucked and their attack looked like ours for the most part. Munster's game also went to shit without him there. All opposition teams had to do was shut down Smith and then the storm had absolutely nothing. Their incredible defense is the only thing that kept them in the prelim.

Very astute observation mate. It was a terrible call to not play him. It comes down to Smiths ego and Bellyache making rash calls to get another dong before him and Smith retire.

Smith thought he could put another game together like that origin one a few years ago but he doesn't have the juice for it these days. A balanced spine is what is required these days to win footy games. You need multiple threats to break a class defensive line and the Roosters have that in spades. You look at their spine and not one bloke is playing out of position. When they have, it also hasn't gone well for them this year.

Interestingly people can point out stats and say Croft wasn't the most potent ball player for the storm. That would be true, but what i would love to know is the difference in stats of the players around him when he was there opposed to without him. Munster looked castrated against the Roosters and Smith was not much better.

Croft has copped it but the bloke was part of a team who ended the year 6 points ahead of the comp. Our best patch of footy this year had 9 playing 9 a 7 playing 7 a 6 playing 6 and 1 playing 1.

For me the Storm lost it when they pulled their link man from the team in favour of ball runners. Thats on Smith thinking he can play 7 and 9 at once and Bellyache believing he can still do it at his age.

 

[pagey]

Very astute observation mate. It was a terrible call to not play him. It comes down to Smiths ego and Bellyache making rash calls to get another dong before him and Smith retire.

Smith thought he could put another game together like that origin one a few years ago but he doesn't have the juice for it these days. A balanced spine is what is required these days to win footy games. You need multiple threats to break a class defensive line and the Roosters have that in spades. You look at their spine and not one bloke is playing out of position. When they have, it also hasn't gone well for them this year.

Interestingly people can point out stats and say Croft wasn't the most potent ball player for the storm. That would be true, but what i would love to know is the difference in stats of the players around him when he was there opposed to without him. Munster looked castrated against the Roosters and Smith was not much better.

Croft has copped it but the bloke was part of a team who ended the year 6 points ahead of the comp. Our best patch of footy this year had 9 playing 9 a 7 playing 7 a 6 playing 6 and 1 playing 1.

For me the Storm lost it when they pulled their link man from the team in favour of ball runners. Thats on Smith thinking he can play 7 and 9 at once and Bellyache believing he can still do it at his age.

I just think that the roosters choked them, they defended beautifully. The storm through alot at them.

 

[theshed]

You could put a plastic cup as coach of the Roosters and they'd still make the finals every year. Not impressed by Robinson at all.

Also if we could get Croft for ~400k then I think that is an good deal to FINALLY get an NRL caliber halfback.

Bullshit. The roosters have had very well drilled plays for seasons. They evolve along with the game, and they have a constantly changing roster that never looks like the new combinations aren’t clicking.

Yeah they have a sus roster but it also is a very well oiled system

 

[Battler]

Bullshit. The roosters have had very well drilled plays for seasons. They evolve along with the game, and they have a constantly changing roster that never looks like the new combinations aren’t clicking.

Yeah they have a sus roster but it also is a very well oiled system

Must be tough to have a constantly changing roster where you lose a player like Pearce and bring in Cronk. Matterson out, Crichton in. Gordon out, Teddy in. Etc.

EDIT: I wish we had a constantly changing squad. Boyd out, RTS in would be a rorters like change that would help us out. Bird out and LM in would also be nice.