Fire power up front
- Thread starter Leighto83
- Start date
BuckietheBronc
BRL Player
- Feb 26, 2017
- 92
- 40
Matt Lodge would be a good addition. Just let him play for us NRL damn.
Jason Simmons
State of Origin Rep
- Apr 18, 2013
- 5,078
- 8,068
We tried to address it in the off-season chasing Ryan James and Dylan Napa, reportedly but clearly we didn't get any of them. We did manage to lure Korbin Sims here and he has been pretty decent for the most part. Problem is we have him and Blair who are good defenders / hitters but neither are big metre eaters. McGuire is, but we have to play someone at lock and I'm not convinced Arrow is ready, that Thaiday, Glenn or Gillett have good enough workrates or that we would gain much by swapping Blair for McGuire, though I think Blair would do a fine job at lock if necessary.
Lodge might fix that issue, but he won't be playing in the NRL this year. In 2018 the starting pack might look like this and will (I think) address the long standing issue you've raised.
8. Lodge
9. McCullough
10. Blair / McGuire
11. Thaiday
12. Gillett
13. McGuire / Blair
14. Glenn
15. Sims
16. TPJ
17. Ese'Ese
Big Pete
International Captain
- Mar 12, 2008
- 32,140
- 25,819
I've got to say, I've been pretty impressed with what I've seen from Ese'ese so far. While he has to work on his defence and has to cut out that odd bone-head error, his carries are really doing a number on the opposition and I haven't seen a Broncos forward bend the line like that since Dave Taylor at his absolute best 8 years ago.
Time flies doesn't it?
Actually most of the middle forwards have been impressive so far. My only concern with the Broncos and their use of their middle forwards is the way they conduct their exit sets. With the exception of Oates and maybe Moga, the Broncos are awful at getting out of their own end and whenever the opposition goes to Kahu you can almost guarantee the Broncos aren't going to achieve anything that set of six because between him, Roberts and Boyd they're not going anywhere and by the time the ball finds it's way to a forward, the sets over.
The word needs to go out to the forwards that somebody has to get back there to make the hard yards through the middle because the backs simply aren't good enough at it themselves. They're not like the Storm who had Munster, Vunivalu, Koroibete, Blair etc. turning defence into attack and they shouldn't try to be.
So that's the one area where I'd like to see the middle forwards improve.
Otherwise, I think there's been a noticeable improvement and with the likes of George Fai, Joe Ofahengaue and potentially Matt Lodge coming through the Broncos appear to be in really good hands. Outside of the Broncos inability to conduct effective exit sets, the only concern is the current balance. Right now, Bennett is picking the best 17 as he should, but the side has 3 arguably 4 lock forwards if you include Blair who plays like a lock forward. I just wonder what the side would look like if you brought in another natural prop forward like a George Fai or Joe Ofahengaue for a game?
And you know the other concern is the edge forwards. While I think his defence for the most part has been world class, Matt Gillett really isn't offering a lot with ball in hand and outside of the odd run or two neither is Sam. It's a real shame with Sam as well since we've all seen what can happen when he puts his hand up. It's just difficult watching our two edge players then watching a team like the Cowboys, Sharks and Sydney dominate through theirs. If there is one flaw in Hunt's game, it's his combination with Gillett and how ineffective it's been. I mean, he's had the best backrow in the world, a guy who can dominate the best teams in the competition and yet there are times you'd barely notice him on the field.
The fact he's also paired with one of the most lethal centres just compounds the situation.
Time flies doesn't it?
Actually most of the middle forwards have been impressive so far. My only concern with the Broncos and their use of their middle forwards is the way they conduct their exit sets. With the exception of Oates and maybe Moga, the Broncos are awful at getting out of their own end and whenever the opposition goes to Kahu you can almost guarantee the Broncos aren't going to achieve anything that set of six because between him, Roberts and Boyd they're not going anywhere and by the time the ball finds it's way to a forward, the sets over.
The word needs to go out to the forwards that somebody has to get back there to make the hard yards through the middle because the backs simply aren't good enough at it themselves. They're not like the Storm who had Munster, Vunivalu, Koroibete, Blair etc. turning defence into attack and they shouldn't try to be.
So that's the one area where I'd like to see the middle forwards improve.
Otherwise, I think there's been a noticeable improvement and with the likes of George Fai, Joe Ofahengaue and potentially Matt Lodge coming through the Broncos appear to be in really good hands. Outside of the Broncos inability to conduct effective exit sets, the only concern is the current balance. Right now, Bennett is picking the best 17 as he should, but the side has 3 arguably 4 lock forwards if you include Blair who plays like a lock forward. I just wonder what the side would look like if you brought in another natural prop forward like a George Fai or Joe Ofahengaue for a game?
And you know the other concern is the edge forwards. While I think his defence for the most part has been world class, Matt Gillett really isn't offering a lot with ball in hand and outside of the odd run or two neither is Sam. It's a real shame with Sam as well since we've all seen what can happen when he puts his hand up. It's just difficult watching our two edge players then watching a team like the Cowboys, Sharks and Sydney dominate through theirs. If there is one flaw in Hunt's game, it's his combination with Gillett and how ineffective it's been. I mean, he's had the best backrow in the world, a guy who can dominate the best teams in the competition and yet there are times you'd barely notice him on the field.
The fact he's also paired with one of the most lethal centres just compounds the situation.
Rico
QCup Player
- Jun 4, 2016
- 695
- 804
Welcome leighto83. We've got the 3rd worst attack in the NRL year to date. That's a coaching issue not a size one. Big Pete rightly pointed out that gilllet isnt offering much with the ball in hand but he did used to. We didn't run one angle against the bullldogs I can recall on a wet night and our younger big forwards are under instructions not to offload which makes it hard to make any attacking impact and may lead some to think we lack fire power when we actually don't.
- Jan 25, 2013
- 25,617
- 29,896
Our think our pack is the best we've had for a long time, arguably '06. A good balance of hard-nosed seasoned first-graders and enthusiastic young bruisers.
Sims himself said that he's not there for big numbers, but for his aggression, but he is more capable of big running metres as compared to Blair (Sims averaged 11.9 runs for 115.3 metres in 2015, compared to 8.8 and 85.4 so far this year for us).
So yeah, I'd be happy with Sims being benched and have McGuire move back to the front row, with Arrow starting at lock. That means that when McGuire and Blair are off, we have Ese'Ese and Sims to come on and keep the fires burning.
For the record, I'm not that dirty with Sims on that missed-tackle on Reynolds. His vision was completely obstructed by a Bulldogs decoy, and while he wasn't prevented from reaching Reynolds physically, he simply over-ran it due to not being able to see him.
Sims himself said that he's not there for big numbers, but for his aggression, but he is more capable of big running metres as compared to Blair (Sims averaged 11.9 runs for 115.3 metres in 2015, compared to 8.8 and 85.4 so far this year for us).
So yeah, I'd be happy with Sims being benched and have McGuire move back to the front row, with Arrow starting at lock. That means that when McGuire and Blair are off, we have Ese'Ese and Sims to come on and keep the fires burning.
For the record, I'm not that dirty with Sims on that missed-tackle on Reynolds. His vision was completely obstructed by a Bulldogs decoy, and while he wasn't prevented from reaching Reynolds physically, he simply over-ran it due to not being able to see him.
- Jan 25, 2014
- 44,177
- 33,330
I would love it if we signed Taupau.
Averaging 14 runs for 154.7 metres per game and he has a good offload in him which he showed against the Roosters.
He would bring that size, aggression and hard hitting defence that so many people want.
Averaging 14 runs for 154.7 metres per game and he has a good offload in him which he showed against the Roosters.
He would bring that size, aggression and hard hitting defence that so many people want.
Mitch06
NRL Player
- Jan 23, 2014
- 1,580
- 580
We can build something with the forwards we have coming through at a better price. I think we already have all the necessary players without Tapau. Would be great to have him though.
Tunza's Chin
QCup Player
- Apr 17, 2016
- 273
- 131
Hard hitting defence when he actually hits them, 8 misses on the weekend.
- Sep 6, 2013
- 55,889
- 68,148
It's a free for all next season.
- Feb 28, 2016
- 11,489
- 8,361
Good idea but the cons with that is that he will only play 5 games a season due to suspension and gives away boneheaded penalties
- Jan 25, 2014
- 44,177
- 33,330
You can't have aggressive forwards that don't cross the line from time to time.
When you play an aggressive style, you are constantly toeing the line. Sometimes you cross it, but that's part of having an aggressive style.
- Dec 12, 2014
- 6,293
- 7,076
I think we'd be the 4th team to do that.
- Feb 28, 2016
- 11,489
- 8,361
Everyone is clambering over each other to sign him :biggrin:
