Lets discuss Barba

barba's 2012 reputation magnifies his average games with the broncos. the guy's taking the fall for our shitty 5/8th in josh hoffman. not once has the media this year mentioned anything about hoffman's lack of ball playing skills costing us games. there's been no pressure on hoffman at all and it seems barba cops all the flak when we lose games.

get an actual 5/8th in the team and i believe barba can start playing his natural game again. it's something that all us fans on this board have been screaming for since round 3 or so ffs.
 
Foordy said:
this site seems to need one player to put the blame on for the loss ... for most of the season it has been Hoffman, now it seems to have switched to Barba
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I'm not putting all the blame on Barba at all.

But to say he's giving it everything he's got is rubbish.
 
Mr Fourex said:
I'm not putting all the blame on Barba at all.

But to say he's giving it everything he's got is rubbish.
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Yes, because there is nothing between that and saying he has no heart... sure!
His bomb defusing has always been like that, even in his Dally M year, but feel free to ignore that to push your point...
 
As much as Barba has been below par, trying to imply he has been worse for the team than Hoffman is absolute idiocy.
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:laugh:

I see this sort of post all the time and can't understand why posters bother with this nonsense. You're trying to put your points across, why would you actively insult the other party? It isn't persuasive and if anything just leads to all sorts of keyboard warrior posting.

Barba has easily been more influential in both defense and attack than Hoffman. He is the leading try saving player in the NRL, has set up more tries than Hoffman, and more importantly, he hasn't stiffled our left side attack like Hoggman has for most of the season!
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I agree that he's been more influential, but not necessarily for the better.

Apart of the fullbacks job is to be strong at the back, Barba is a complete liability. It's hard to be strong offensively when you're on the back foot from tackle one or worse have to return to the defensive line because Barba couldn't clean the ball up. He was never this poor in 2012 and actually was very damaging with his kick returns, it's a feature that's eluded him since then and quite frankly cannot be dismissed.

It would be fine if his work inside the opposition's attacking zone was effective but if anything it's very mixed and he's guilty of over-playing his hand on too many occasions.

The only aspect of his game that I'm a fan of his ability to save tries but I don't think it's enough to justify his spot at this time.

I'm not going to argue who was worse between Hoffman and Barba because at the end of the day, they've both been poor. However, only one has been copping it when both has been as bad as each other and there are definitely some positives that can be drawn to moving Hoffman back to the custodian role.
 
Porthoz said:
Yes, because there is nothing between that and saying he has no heart... sure!
His bomb defusing has always been like that, even in his Dally M year, but feel free to ignore that to push your point...
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Hey....I'd have no point to push if he was in there giving it a go. He's gone from being very poor at "defusing bombs" (pffft....LOL)

.....to not wanting a bar of it.

He made no effort to get to "that" ball ......so much so that the best position he could get into, was to make a half hearted attempt to kick it. He needed to put his body on the line.....he wasn't interested in doing that.

He's definitely become a huge liability at the back. There's nothing worse for a fan than to see the opposition put the ball in the air and shudder, knowing your fullback is going to make a hash of it

....or even worse, show complete disinterest in catching it on the full.
 
Mr Fourex said:
S'pose Griffin cut out Barba's heart as well......

he's certainly not playing with any.
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As I see it, it's his head, not his heart that's the problem.

A lot of the time, the heart follows the mind. For mine, Barba looks like his mind is somewhere else. He looks and plays like he is distracted, separately to his clear loss of speed and agility, and that loss isn't just 'cos he's bulked up. When I watch him closely, he just doesn't seem to be with it. When he is switched on, he does great things which is sadly, so inconsistent.

As for removing him from the side, the only way that would not cause irreparable damage (because of Hoffman's inability to play make or read the play like a true 5/8) is to have someone else, either at FB or 5/8, who can do the quality plays equally as well Barba has, but for 80 minutes.

I can't think of anyone who fits that bill.

For mine, Barba is critical to this sides chances of making the finals, and it is critical for the club to determine what it is that is distracting him from giving his all for 80 minutes for the team in all facets of his plays, not just saving tries, or putting players like Gillett through holes.
 
Agree with his distracted performances......there's also a fair whack of disinterest in there as well.

but, he's been distracted, for 2 yrs now.

Maybe he needs to go away and sort his shit out.
 
Big Pete said:
:laugh:

I see this sort of post all the time and can't understand why posters bother with this nonsense. You're trying to put your points across, why would you actively insult the other party? It isn't persuasive and if anything just leads to all sorts of keyboard warrior posting.



I agree that he's been more influential, but not necessarily for the better.

Apart of the fullbacks job is to be strong at the back, Barba is a complete liability. It's hard to be strong offensively when you're on the back foot from tackle one or worse have to return to the defensive line because Barba couldn't clean the ball up. He was never this poor in 2012 and actually was very damaging with his kick returns, it's a feature that's eluded him since then and quite frankly cannot be dismissed.

It would be fine if his work inside the opposition's attacking zone was effective but if anything it's very mixed and he's guilty of over-playing his hand on too many occasions.

The only aspect of his game that I'm a fan of his ability to save tries but I don't think it's enough to justify his spot at this time.
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That bold part right there is exactly what I mean though. Because of this bulking BS, he has lost that edge that made him such a danger on kick returns. Not only does it affect that, but his game as a whole, including his much needed confidence, because he undoubtedly knows he can't do what he used to because he's not fast enough.

Regardless, I don't think Barba's negative impact on the team is in the same ballpark as Hoggman's... in fact, it's not even in the same continent. Hoggman is part of Barba's problem too, as Benny has been forced to fulfil both the fullback and 5/8 roles at the same time too.

People are blowing up because unlike 2012, where he presented the same defensive flaws, he was tearing the opposition up in attack, especially when returning kicks.
 
I think you're placing too much stock in the bulking program Porthy.

I don't think anybody suspected it until Garry raised it in his little questionnaire and people have latched onto it ever since. I just wonder how much choice the Broncos had in the matter. He was recuperating from a serious ankle injury correct? Wasn't expected to recover until January and broke down a few times inbetween.

I honestly think the Broncos bought damaged goods. Fans were expecting instant results but it was always going to be a wait and see type deal.
 
Big Pete said:
I think you're placing too much stock in the bulking program Porthy.

I don't think anybody suspected it until Garry raised it in his little questionnaire and people have latched onto it ever since. I just wonder how much choice the Broncos had in the matter. He was recuperating from a serious ankle injury correct? Wasn't expected to recover until January and broke down a few times inbetween.

I honestly think the Broncos bought damaged goods. Fans were expecting instant results but it was always going to be a wait and see type deal.
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A few people have been saying it since the start of the season. It's very apparent that his thighs are much bigger, his chest is bigger and he's put fat on around his mid section. His Dad also said in an interview that Brisbane had him playing heavier this season and that it's affected his speed.
 
The interview came afterwards.

The big talking point until the Garry questionnaire was his ankle, now it's the bulking regime.

Quite frankly, I'd be very interested to see how we perform with an alternative back there.
 
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