Elimination Final - Cowboys vs Broncos - Post-Match Discussion

[bazza]

Hodges can be devastating at fullback in attack and only in kick returns. However in defence, especially when the opposition is within our 30 meter lines, he should never be allowed to defend as a fullback. His position is quite poor, while his goal line, one on one defence is atrocious. It is absolutely disgraceful. Nearly all the cowboys tries involved a Hodges arm grab. I'm almost certain that if that was Hoffman or Barba, who are both smaller players, they would of attempted a tackle, and would of saved those tries by positioning themselves to wrap up the ball, stopping it from touching the ground. Even Robert Lui brushed through Hodges, like seriously, it is disgraceful from the captain in a sudden death game. He didn't put his body on the line in defence and the team paid the price in the end.

 

[Alec]

Hodges has been a shit defender for most of his career. He only improved in the centres in the last couple of years. But it does look like he still has that retarded arm grabbing reflex in him.

 

[Foordy]

speaking about Sims ... how in the hell did he get such a hot misses?

 

[Super Freak]

speaking about Sims ... how in the hell did he get such a hot misses?

Money.

 

[jarro65]

I'm amazed a cheap shot that could mean 7 weeks on the sideline still wasn't bad enough for the video ref to get into the refs ear.

pretty much sums up the standard of refereeing this year doesn't it ?

Incidents that didn't need action taken were dealt with harshly (Hannants head clash) while Sims blatant kamikaze impersonation should've had repurcussions on the spot.

 

[Browny]

Now the cowboys are playing the conspiracy card about the severity of the charge lolz

 

[Bucking Beads]

The charge was way too harsh. 5 weeks for that hit and you look back at all the lifting tackle that get let off. Ridiculous.

 

[jarro65]

I don't really care if the Cowboys whinge or not .... that tackle was worth 5 weeks any day of the week

 

[Browny]

Late, shoulder charge, contact with head = 5 weeks

 

[Super Freak]

He has also been suspended twice this year.

That's one of the reasons why the suspension was 5 weeks.

 

[Browny]

10K fine lol EAD cowboys

 

[Alec]

I dunno, I reckon they have a random number generator for these rulings.

The real loser here would be the Knights.

 

[Foordy]

I dunno, I reckon they have a random number generator for these rulings.

The real loser here would be the Knights.

no mate thats too sophisticated for the NRL... the pick the grading out of a hat

 

[Kimlo]

I dunno, I reckon they have a random number generator for these rulings.

The real loser here would be the Knights.

I'm pretty sure trial games count so at most I think he misses one game?

 

[Big Pete]

Watching through this game again, it just became more and more apparent that some players were just happy to be there and didn't bring the intensity that was required of them nor the resolve.

As Gus said, the opening 20 minutes was always going to decide this. If the Broncos let the Cowboys get off to a good start, it was game over but if the Broncos kept them to nil or put their own points on it was going to be a contest.

I thought Corey Parker did his best to really rile the boys up in those opening exchanges with some strong carries and one of the best offloads I saw all season. It was a pearler and the Broncos really should have capitilised on it but Hodgo's loose carry forced him to knock it on.

And that was sort of the story for the first half. One player would come up with a dumb mistake, heads would go down and the Cowboys would capitilise down that left hand fringe.

The other side to it was the Broncos defence. While it's always been pretty ordinary I thought the commitment was definitely poor on that night and there was too much hug-hold and twist instead of actually driving in with the shoulder. As a result, the Cowboys had no concerns running at us and whenever we came up against a Taumalolo, Cooper, Moga or Winterstein we struggled to contain them.

I think to a certain degree the Broncos just have to live with it. They can't match a lot of teams on size and you're always a chance of being on the back-foot on occasion but I just thought the Broncos gave them too many freebies. Especially by playing Gillett who let's face it shouldn't have even turned up let alone been given an entire half to play. I appreciate him putting his hand up but the coach needed to make the call and give him the night off.

He also should have done more with our offence. Like I was saying, sometimes you've got to accept you can't be the best defensive side so you have to play to our strengths. One of ours is that we have a bunch of very skillful forwards with a good pass on them and ability to run lines. Instead of capitilising on that, the Broncos go one out, panic, throw the ball out-wide prematurely and it rarely works out. A lot of people accuse the Broncos of predictability but if anything, that would be an improvement on the current approach since at least they would be playing to their strengths and challenging the other team to hold them out. The problem is they lack composure and a basic understanding of how to create pressure or build momentum. Lesson #1 is that it's difficult to make ground when you're passing the ball to players standing flat footed.

Got to say, I've got even less remorse now than I did for Tariq. Not only was it a late shoulder charge which caught Hodgo high but he also hit Kennedy on the ground with everything he had when he'd clearly torn something. For me, when you play with that sort of mentality you've got to take your lumps when they're given to you and he's got that suspension well and truly coming.

You know a lot of people questioned why we should even care about making the finals and to an extent I could see their POV especially after the first half but I thought some of those tries we scored in the second were sensational and were among some of the best all year.

Still can't help but feel disappointed that once the boys got it back to 24-14 they started panicking a bit and didn't just show some composure. Once again, it was our captains who let us down with Parker throwing that offload which didn't need to be made and Hodges failing to collect a pass. Of course with the latter, I think it was a bit silly of Maranta to take the quick tap and I think the ball went backwards from Hodges but he's still got to take the pass.

So instead of really twisting the screws and potentially going to 24-20 with 15 or so to go we turn the ball over, JT/Lui/Morgan combine and it's game over again. That was nice play from them isolating Thaiday and Parker in the middle but Hodgo should have had Morgan covered.

To me it highlights two things. First the lack of justice we receive for the cheap hit on Hodgo but also the lack of leadership at the club. It's not through a lack of effort but it's definitely through a lack of thought and I hope both captains take all the lessons they can from this season and grow from them.

 

[Kimlo]

Oh yeah Tariq is a fuckwit, I'm so glad he's rubbed out for the season. If it was the Hodges thing only, maybe I'd have some sympathy but he also went full steam into Kennedy when he was clearly injured and already on the floor.

I have zero sympathy for scum like that.

 

[broncsgoat]

Oh yeah Tariq is a fuckwit, I'm so glad he's rubbed out for the season. If it was the Hodges thing only, maybe I'd have some sympathy but he also went full steam into Kennedy when he was clearly injured and already on the floor.

I have zero sympathy for scum like that.

Didnt Hodges do that too one of the Morris bro's when they had clearly done their knee or something?

 

[CaptainHook]

The Tariq hit was a bad look and he should've been sent from the field but I doubt it would have made a difference. Our defence was terrible. Far too many arm grabbers in a Broncos jersey that night...