Knights v Broncos In-Game Thread [with Live Chat]

[baxteria]

So should the referee who failed to give a penalty try tonight get the axe, ala Harrigan last week? Or because it happened against the Broncos is it fair game? [icon_shady

 

[vertigo]

Wallace again never threatened and I honestly cannot see him ever being good enough to lead this side from the halves he doesn't have the ability or the courage to take control of the ship when he really needs to.

The bald git is not a first grade coach and if missing the finals means he gets the sack then I hope we miss the finals.

Wallace was good in 08 and back end of 09, he is in a form slump for sure. Can he prove himself again?

Henjak overcame 56-0 last year to get us to the preliminary final. Can he prove himself again?

 

[The Brizz]

So should the referee who failed to give a penalty try tonight get the axe, ala Harrigan last week? Or because it happened against the Broncos is it fair game? [icon_shady

There is no way to prove Yow Yeh would definitely have scored, so therefore by the rules it was not a penalty try (the rule sucks) but it was the right call. They should have probably sent Gidley to the bin however because it was a blatant professional foul.

 

[baxteria]

So should the referee who failed to give a penalty try tonight get the axe, ala Harrigan last week? Or because it happened against the Broncos is it fair game? [icon_shady

There is no way to prove Yow Yeh would definitely have scored, so therefore by the rules it was not a penalty try (the rule sucks) but it was the right call. They should have probably sent Gidley to the bin however because it was a blatant professional foul.

To be honest I will have to take your word for it. I only got home from work so never got to watch the game. I was only going on what NRL.COM news has said...and for them to even say that I thought it must have been pretty blatant, but then I guess not....still my point is when Brisbane gets bad calls noone seems to mind, but when it happens to Manly...... :evil:

 

[Porthoz]

I am trully incensed at the refereeing of this game, starting with what should have been a penalty try and a sin bin, continued with a load of BS calls against us that put the Knights in advantage position. :evil:
On top of it, the Knights pretty much exausted their luck for the next 10 years. 2 missed kicks resulted in tries FFS. [icon_shady

You can all give the players sh!t, but a young inexperienced team like ours would always struggle against those odds! [icon_shru

Having said that...
Whatever happened to the excellent defence we had only a few weeks ago btw? Can't be just Locky missing...
Whatever happened to Thaiday, and why isn't he playing 80 mins anymore? Does he have a niggling injury?
Norman was absolutely horrible, which might explaing Gillett's choice at 5/8... [icon_non
Henjak has absolutely NO CLUE!

I hope we put another 70 on these f***s next season!

Oh, I almost forgot. Wallace is sh!t, it's all his fault. He should be sacked on the spot. Why didn't stop those offloads? Why didn't he catch those kicks? Why didn't he score 5 tries? Why didn't he push the try button for that Gidley penalty? He should have raised the flag for that kick that went out on the full. Actually I'm pretty sure his red hair was what started the whole GFC!

 

[Kris]

Pretty sure we need to work on our tackling skills (or the lack thereof)...

 

[m1c]

We didn't go close to having enough ball to win a half of football, let alone the game. We were only ever in this game for 15 minutes. A few dodgy back to back calls gave the Knights too much pill early on and they capitalized. They got cocky and begun to throw the ball around and most of their arsey plays just stuck. IMO our defense for 70 odd minutes wasn't too bad. Our lack of intensity in the second half was a little worrying.

McCullough really showed what he is capable of tonight, he is only young but he will learn to maintain that intensity consistently. Thought Ivan showed a really poor feel for the game to take him off.

We are a little lackluster on the edges, Teo has to return to the backrow and Folau needs as much early pill as we can manage. Geeze he is a superstar.

The biggest thing IMO we have to work on is our composure when behind on the scoreboard. We seem to lose the plot. This has been a key feature of our last month of footy. I've lost count of the number of times we have failed to get to the end of our tackle count following an opposition try. Ivan really needs to stress the importance of hitting back by completing our set and then putting in a good kick chase at these times. This is something the players really need to take ownership of.

 

[Bull Shark]

I've had real reservations about the broncos' forward pack for the last two seasons (09 and this year) and I still think that's the major weakness in terms of consistency. Still think the squad is missing some tough, mature bodies who are specialists in their positions. It's a versatile, interchangeable, mobile pack but its not really one that bends opposition teams back a la the Dragons pack et al.

Ok, Inglis is coming on board next year but it won't mean much unless the forwards can create a bit more free space for the showmen to play off of. Hopefully Hannant can help a bit.

 

[Fozz]

Sounds like I won't be watching the replay for this. Oh well.

 

[Coxy]

I am trully incensed at the refereeing of this game, starting with what should have been a penalty try and a sin bin, continued with a load of BS calls against us that put the Knights in advantage position. :evil:
On top of it, the Knights pretty much exausted their luck for the next 10 years. 2 missed kicks resulted in tries FFS. [icon_shady

You can all give the players sh!t, but a young inexperienced team like ours would always struggle against those odds! [icon_shru

Having said that...
Whatever happened to the excellent defence we had only a few weeks ago btw? Can't be just Locky missing...
Whatever happened to Thaiday, and why isn't he playing 80 mins anymore? Does he have a niggling injury?
Norman was absolutely horrible, which might explaing Gillett's choice at 5/8... [icon_non
Henjak has absolutely NO CLUE!

I hope we put another 70 on these f***s next season!

Oh, I almost forgot. Wallace is sh!t, it's all his fault. He should be sacked on the spot. Why didn't stop those offloads? Why didn't he catch those kicks? Why didn't he score 5 tries? Why didn't he push the try button for that Gidley penalty? He should have raised the flag for that kick that went out on the full. Actually I'm pretty sure his red hair was what started the whole GFC!

The effort was there.

 

[shadow]

contest the catch when they put up the bomb ffs.........

 

[rnabokov]

I still can't figure out why Henjak pulled Macca, the only player who had the remotest idea of how to go forward. In fact, Macca for the first time this season, actually looked like a decent dummy half. Kudos to him. I never knew he could be as good as he was, until Henjak pulled him off. Another great decision there Ivan.

As others have said before, we just can't afford Macca and Hunt in the same side. It's one or the other.

As for the defence, what's happened to that excellent defence we had a few games ago? What a bunch of marshmallows tonight!

Everyone knew Mullen had broken ribs. So we let him run amok. Why didn't someone hit him a few times in the rib cage with a good shoulder tackle?

Clearly, this team, and its coach has NFI.

 

[Mister Wright]

Henjak has made two howlers the last two weeks. Firstly, starting with Gillett last week and this week, why oh why would you take McCullough off after he looked to be the only player to be sparking anything in the Broncos attack? Very dud call! The guy must be sapped of confidence, honestly...he was having a blinder and leading from the front. Norman should have been raked from the field with 20 to go and Hunt and Wallace in the halves.

Wallace had an absolute shocker. Put in one good kick, but that was about it. But, honestly his forwards didn't help much. Tronc has no go forward and there was no penetration of the Newcastle line.

We were put on the back foot early with some very dud calls, but to win finals football you have to overcome those hurdles.

Panthers did us a favour tonight, and we're going to have to hope the Tigers do us another favour on Sunday (although it will hurt my tips).

 

[Alec]

Even though Macca got taken off, we should have kept going with the same gameplan. Knights looked shaky when we were just going straight up the middle, we should have stuck with that.

 

[garcia]

Incredibly enough, with Souths also getting thrashed,it will mean the Broncs will still be in 8th at weekend's end. The boys were a bit unlucky tonite with the Knights scoring two fluky tries plus penalties absolutely killed us and the scoreline may have flattered Newc. a bit as they only gained 100 more metres and missed one less tackle. But their halves blew our halves away, Norman had a shocker and Wallace was way below par once again, I have been sticking up for him all year but enough is enough, he just doesn't seem to have the intelligence to be a halfback. Locky will no doubt be rushed back for next Fri nite as one victory will clinch a spot. I'd like to see Kenny and Sims come in for Dodds and McGuire (not NRL calibre), I'd rather have experience in there rather than youth in these sort of big games. Shift Gillett to the centres where he is much more effective and git rid of Glenn who I reckon is not of first grade standard and hasn't been all season. and maybe chuck in Denan Kemp in there as well against his old team, it can't be any worse than having Winterstein out there who has had a woeful season. Of course, none of these changes will be implemented but if utilized properly, I still think the Broncs have the troops to be a contender. But that seems a million miles a way at the moment.

 

[nopatience101]

The refereeing in the first half was terrible, If Gidley was penalised how was it not a professional foul? How does a linesman not see a ball going dead on the full? How does a ref award a strip when anyone with common sense would conclude he offloaded the ball because he was caught with it on the 5th tackle? Its not an excuse but those decisions do swing a teams momentum and the way the game is these days its too hard to get it back.

The only thing worse than the refereeing was the Broncos defence, its awful atm and the signs have been there since the roosters game, they also didn't do themselves any favors with the poor discipline and dropped balls.

Norman seems to have a safety option whereby rather than passing to open men on his outside he straightens the play and kills it, he seems to be very hesitant to pass and would have made more hitups tonight than passes.

Dodds workrate atm does not justify his position on the bench.

Folau made a lot of noise about going looking for the ball throughout the week but he didn't seem too interested tonight.

One of the big differences between the sides tonight was the knights had options, every tackle Mullen or Gidley had at least 3 runners while for the broncos Wallace was left either taking the line on himself or the ball was shifted out to Parker or Gillett to crab across the field looking for an offload.

McCullough was great early and really took it upon himself to lead the side, not sure why at that stage he was hooked. Glenn was good again, hes really running hard and showing some good strength the last few weeks.

Its a long season and i think its starting to show on the young blood, they're not beyond sneaking into the 8 but i don't think they will be in any condition to challenge if they get there at this stage.

The knights were too strong and too fast for us tonight and if Locky's not back next week I think Hunt should probably be given a crack in the halves, it looks a bit beyond Norman atm.

 

[Jeba]

Even though Macca got taken off, we should have kept going with the same gameplan. Knights looked shaky when we were just going straight up the middle, we should have stuck with that.

McCullough is a player who likes to keep it tight and go up the middle. Tonight it was very effective........until he was taken off. I was on the road for the first half so listening on the radio and it sounded like Macca was having an awesome game, the commentators were wrapping him for everything, and they were shocked when he got taken off. Ridiculous call from Ivan there.

As far as the first half goes, all I could think to myself was WRAP UP THE FUCKING BALL WHEN YOU TACKLE!!!! I haven't watched the replay of the first half on TV but from what I was hearing, it sounded like the Knights were just throwing it around because of our shitty attitude in defence. And penalties on the last tackle [icon_non Poor form Broncos!!

Oh and what's that saying - don't weaken one position to strengthen another. Ben Te'o has been outstanding in the back row this year, and he is played in the front row. Stupid move IMO. Put either McGuire or Anderson there to partner Tronc, move Gillett back to the bench.

Was a tough night for Norman but he will learn a lot from that. I am not writing him off, though obviously he still has plenty to learn, as do most 19yo's in their first year of first grade.

 

[Ironbroncos]

damn didnt get to watch the game it was delayed coverage due to international cricket of all things...by the sounds of it and the scoreline I didnt miss much...

just great..got the Warriors next whom ALWAYS turn it up a gear against us...

top 8 [eusa_eh