Is Lachlan Maranta Really That Bad?

[Ari Gold]

Potatoes can become Kfc chips though! Here's hoping Maranta can find the secret herbs and spices he needs to be awesome.

 

[Huge]

What is the nature of Maranta's injury ? Anyone ?

 

[heartly87]

I don't have a quote but I am about 90% sure I heard or read minor hamstring strain.

 

[Socnorb]

Potatoes can become Kfc chips though! Here's hoping Maranta can find the secret herbs and spices he needs to be awesome.

Ahh I don't think there is any potato in those.

 

[BroncosAlways]

I like Maranta, I honestly do. Every group of friends has a retard that everyone piles shit on but if someone outside of the group does it you say "watch your mouth, he's OUR retard".

On the wing his impression of Lano from Lano and Woodley is cute but at fullback its nerve racking. He made some decisions that I can't imagine any player making. Out of no where our meek little friend decides he's lebron James and risked tapping a field goal that was hitting the cross bar over it.

He looked like Mr Bean went to a Broncos game in a jersey, lost his teddy on his way to his seat and after a convoluted series of events he noticed ted was attached to the game ball causing him to try to retrieve it while inadvertently winning a cliche tight sporting match.

The kids an absolute potatoe. Great television though.

This is one of the best posts I've read this year.

 

[Sproj]

I think that was Kane Evans barrelling down on him. Great tackle.

That footage was interesting for two things, it showed how effortlessly quick Oates is and how snail painfully slow Wallace is. It was Wallace was trying to run on the spot.

 

[Super Freak]

I don't know why Bennett doesn't instruct the halves to put up more kicks to Maranta in attack? Or maybe he has and they just won't do it..

He is arguably our best player under the high ball, so why not take advantage of that if we're going to persist with high bombs on every 5th tackle.

He has shown he can score and create tries from kicks.

I would tell Hunt to watch how Cronk does his crossfield kicks and replicate that.

 

[Morkel]

I don't know why Bennett doesn't instruct the halves to put up more kicks to Maranta in attack? Or maybe he has and they just won't do it..

He is arguably our best player under the high ball, so why not take advantage of that if we're going to persist with high bombs on every 5th tackle.

He has shown he can score and create tries from kicks.

I would tell Hunt to watch how Cronk does his crossfield kicks and replicate that.

Catching the high ball for defensive purposes is a lot different to doing so in an attacking scenario.

 

[Foordy]

I don't know why Bennett doesn't instruct the halves to put up more kicks to Maranta in attack? Or maybe he has and they just won't do it..

He is arguably our best player under the high ball, so why not take advantage of that if we're going to persist with high bombs on every 5th tackle.

He has shown he can score and create tries from kicks.

I would tell Hunt to watch how Cronk does his crossfield kicks and replicate that.

He could, but given Marantas apparent lack of pace, i'm not sure Hunt can kick it high enough to give Maranta the time to get into position.

 

[Porthoz]

Catching the high ball for defensive purposes is a lot different to doing so in an attacking scenario.

That's right. I haven't seen Maranta do anything worth mentioning in attack under the high ball... has he?

 

[K-Style]

That's right. I haven't seen Maranta do anything worth mentioning in attack under the high ball... has he?

He's caught a couple just short of the line but offloaded to the likes of Copley for them to score.
I don't think our kickers have ever placed the ball better than that.

 

[Kimlo]

Catching the high ball for defensive purposes is a lot different to doing so in an attacking scenario.

Is it really? Run for the ball, catch it and try to fall over the try line without dropping it. Only major difference is you can be tackled in mid air, but you can also contest the ball so it's not much for difficult. If anything, an attacking player has the advantage of running to the ball instead of standing and jumping.

I would really like to see some well timed kicks to him and see if we can make it work.

 

[Morkel]

Is it really? Run for the ball, catch it and try to fall over the try line without dropping it. Only major difference is you can be tackled in mid air, but you can also contest the ball so it's not much for difficult. If anything, an attacking player has the advantage of running to the ball instead of standing and jumping.

I would really like to see some well timed kicks to him and see if we can make it work.

I tend to think Maranta is more of a linear thinker. "Catch ball"? Got it. "Run to ball / evade blockers / be aware of where the in-goal is / try to ground it"? (Picture of dog with its head tilted to one side).

 

[Kimlo]

I tend to think Maranta is more of a linear thinker. "Catch ball"? Got it. "Run to ball / evade blockers / be aware of where the in-goal is / try to ground it"? (Picture of dog with its head tilted to one side).

I actually think Maranta is more footy smart than what he's shown to date. His try a couple of weeks back where he backed up in support and made sure to offload the ball is just a glimpse, but I think he's a pretty smart player, but just needs plenty of time to gain the confidence to back his instincts, which is why I think he works better as a fullback than a winger, because it's more about brains than just having pure confidence to try to beat the opposing man, dive for the corner, etc.

Either way, the fact that we don't even try it is pretty annoying... Then again, do we try anything with our kicking game? Before Milford last week putting in some grubbers to force drop outs, our entire attacking kicking game has basically been bomb it as high as possible and hope for a mistake. I wish we'd look at the elite kickers like Cronk and see how he varies his kicking game and emulate that. I can just imagine the opposition coach defensive game plan. Don't drop the high ball fellas and you'll be right.

 

[Porthoz]

I agree with Morkel. Chasing a high kick is an entirely different thing from defending one. All you have to do, is jump and catch the ball safely, not that I'm implying that to be easy by any means.

That said, Maranta has good aerial awareness, so he should be handy in attack, even if it's only to bat the ball towards someone, much like they use Vatuvei at the Warriors.

 

[rnabokov]

Defending a high ball takes guts and a good head, and good technique. I can imagine it, especially with a lot of ugly mean bastards running at you, NRL rules or no rules.

As long as Maranta does this, which he has been doing reasonably well for mine, is enough for for me to see him as a valuable asset to the side no matter his shortcomings.

Some creative attacking kicking from Hunt and Milford is a different ball game of course. I'd like to see lots of kicks to Maranta's side, in fact I'd like to see a whole lot more creative kicking rather than the standard fare dished up so far, which would be helped a lot if Macca kicked more - long and not so long.

Still, we are well placed on the ladder which says our kicking game isn't that bad, and equally, Maranta has been a large part of the teams's success to date.

 

[Super Freak]

Rd21 Broncos v Eels (Hls) - Watch Videos Online with BigPond Video | Sport Videos, NRL Videos

3:16 in.

Corey Oates second try against the Tigers last year is another example.

 

[Huge]

Another professional performance. No super moments, good or bad.