PRE-GAME Finals Week 1 - Eels vs Broncos

[broncsgoat]

When you have had the season we have, with every single opposing fan as well as half of our own fan base saying we won't make the 8. That is in fact an achievement in my eyes.

It just means there’s 8 other teams that are even shitter than we were. Not really anything to puff your chest out about is it.

 

[abashii]

That was pre-busway too. I lived near Griffith Uni and they used to have to shut down a bunch of roads in the area.

 

[ostin86]

It just means there’s 8 other teams that are even shitter than we were. Not really anything to puff your chest out about is it.

Shit ay, never knew making top 8 meant that I think we all know which half of the fan base you were residing in for the majority of the season mate.

 

[Mustafur]

the season % of the next best kicker at the club tells me statistically they don't make as many as Isaako.

Every club who wishes to have any form of sustained success needs a 80%+ kicker in their squad, and that's Isaako. So lets see what happens to him next season...be it on the wing or at fullback...whatever Siebs deems fit for purpose

Isaako Could work at 1 if they allow him to kick the ball, he is probably the strongest kicker in the league tbh(in terms of distance), he has the power to do 40/20s easily if he can be decently accurate.

It's obvious he had a Union Background.

 

[1910]

In a position he isn't enjoying ? Cause it's probably the only fun I'd get from this game.

Lost me mate. I didn’t say enjoying.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Couple of things to note about the crowds:

During that era, the Broncos played at ANZ Stadium. Much harder to get to than Lang Park for fans and it was also an athletics oval so the spectator experience wasn't great relative to both the old and new Lang Park so that without question hurt our attendances during that period.

It's also worth noting Brisbane has almost a million additional residents in 2019 than it did in 1999 with a growth rate over that period of almost 40%. That probably puts the crowds in a bit more context too.

Spot on, like I am now I was living on the Gold Coast and everytime we went to a game at ANZ Stadium it was a shitfight to get there and get parking. The Broncos initially had to give away tickets to motivate the fanbase to make the transition to ANZ Stadium and for a while that worked, the atmosphere was great at near or full capacity but when it dropped down overtime oh boy it made it harder and harder as a fan to want to go there.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Just spent an hour watching GF replays including 2015 now that the NRL have released every grand final on their site.

This team owes me a smile.

You actually put yourself through that again?

 

[pagey]

Lost me mate. I didn’t say enjoying.

So you think he's better off playing from the bench in a position he's not enjoying, in a comp that's inferior?
How many minutes is he getting with redcliffe?

 

[Accept]

yes agreed; this time (1997-1998) represented the height of the Langer-Walters-Bennett triumvirate, they were inarguable the best club rugby league side on Earth for those 2 years, nearly unbeatable against any opposition...

however, they barely got above 20K fans through the gate for games and that included a few semi final games at home too. Brisbane fans voted with their feet those years, showing you cannot take their loyalty for granted regardless of what team you put out there.

Thankfully, nowadays we have great healthy crowds coming to see the team and i think its worth putting that into perspective; most clubs would kill to draw such crowds.

We just need to sort out some positions and players futures with us and the future is looking so bright..!

Pre 1997 the fan numbers were at least 40,000 fans, many times over 50. Wendell Sailor's debut match vs the lowly GC attracted 58,000 spectators. The SL war badly fractured the game in Brisbane and the crowd numbers dropped substantially. I remember attending a WCC game vs London and there were only 7000 of us there. A year later a GFQ vs Sydney City yielded only 26,000. A good crowd in today's market but terrible in 1998. The eventual move back to Lang Park helped a bit but it has never reached the heights of those great days in the early to mid 90's. Brisbane was a total RL city back then, it is nothing like that now.

 

[Mustafur]

Pre 1997 the fan numbers were at least 40,000 fans, many times over 50. Wendell Sailor's debut match vs the lowly GC attracted 58,000 spectators. The SL war badly fractured the game in Brisbane and the crowd numbers dropped substantially. I remember attending a WCC game vs London and there were only 7000 of us there. A year later a GFQ vs Sydney City yielded only 26,000. A good crowd in today's market but terrible in 1998. The eventual move back to Lang Park helped a bit but it has never reached the heights of those great days in the early to mid 90's. Brisbane was a total RL city back then, it is nothing like that now.

It was 3 Years where we had high attendence and 1993 was the highest.

Going by what happened in 2015 I would say sustained success could get us closer to 40k but once you get to that level your limited to the stadium size as we could have potential to get more then 50k fans on some games but are limited by the capacity of the stadium(for example Cowboys games, or top 4 games or Final hosting games).

 

[Brotherdu]

My concern for this game is the Isaako/Staggs/Gillo/Turpin combo's. When we played the Eels a few weeks back, they opened us up at will on that side. Isaako for all his bad defensive decision making was often the only player within 20 to 30m of the sideline and had no choice but to rush in with the eels having a 2-3 man overlap.

I'd be inclined to try Glenn at right centre with Isaako and switch Staggs to the left. Gillo for all his experience doesn't seem to be talking enough with the 3 new players around him. Having Glenn and Gillo defending together 'should' stiffen that edge up a bunch, and from what I've seen, Glenn is a lot more vocal.

 

[Accept]

When did our great club and it's supporters start accepting mediocrity?

When did just scraping into the top 8 become something to be proud of at our club?

The standard changed during the Henjak/Hook era when a powerhouse club was reduced to mere mortals and mediocrity was accepted as a "the future is bright" slogan. Bennett returned and the club became instant contenders again despite him stating that it would take him five years to mop up the mess that Hook left behind.

Bennett has now moved on and now we are back to the stage where Hook left it in 2014. Run again by incompetents who are again staining the legendary status of the club and all with the same promise for a brighter future.

Many of today's diehard fans weren't around in the hearty days of the 90's and 2000's and have no idea of the standards set during those eras. The older diehards like myself are rare because many aren't near as passionate anymore or have ditched the game completely. That just leaves the younger modern fan who easily accept mediocrity in the hope that the future yields a dynasty. A dynasty may occur in the future but the current admin and coaching crew will be long gone.

 

[Gaz]

If you want to be proud of mediocrity, that's fine. No one is stopping you having pride in this team barely scraping into the 8. But don't expect everyone to get on board that train.

There are eight teams that didn’t scrape in, be at least proud your team wasn’t one of them. I’m the first to admit they have a long way to go and making the finals this year is something I didn’t expect but is a big part of the journey. No, I don’t expect everybody to be on that train but what I suspect and hope for is the players are on it and if so I hope they are listening to me and with respect not you.

 

[winslow_wong]

Yep, exactly this. I used to drive out that way for work every day, and Granard and Kessels roads leading up to Garden City are probably close to the worst pieces of shit in the whole of South Brisbane.

Its much better now with the overpass. That intersection used to be hell.

 

[McHunt]

So at what point do we say enough is enough and finally do something about this constant spam from certain members?

 

[Aldo]

Boyd still training at 5/8 with Milf out the back at 1.

Milf also doing short kicks behind the line.

Do they look as totally clueless at training as they do in a game?

 

[Kooly87]

I'm not looking to be negative and I do think making the Finals is far better than not. I just think that maybe this year more than most is a stark reminder of how the Top 8 Finals system satisfies TV ratings with extra games and appeases fans, but it definitely doesn't reflect well on the standard overall when teams can get there on 25 points.
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Isaako Could work at 1 if they allow him to kick the ball, he is probably the strongest kicker in the league tbh(in terms of distance), he has the power to do 40/20s easily if he can be decently accurate.

It's obvious he had a Union Background.

If he had a a good general play kicking game (I'm not saying he doesn't) then I just don't understand why we haven't seen it even at training yet?

If he could bring that to the table I'd love to see him given a run at Fullback but at this stage there isn't any real evidence for that kicking game or playmaking ability and he's hardly our most devastating ball runner, and without either of those two things you really can't cut it as a Fullback in the modern game anymore.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Considering the standard of this season in general scraping into the finals isn't something to be proud of and I have seen us far better performing in seasons where we have actually not made the finals.