C
Coxy
International Captain
- Mar 4, 2008
- 31,212
- 1,886
Ivan has trotted out "The effort was there" yet again as some kind of defence of a loss. Followed by the equally cliched "our execution let us down".
To me the "effort was there" line is just utter rubbish. This is first grade, professional rugby league. If you have players or a team that is NOT putting in the effort then you should be dropping players and sacking them from the club. EVERY player should be putting in 100% every single week at this level. To not do so would be to let yourself and your team down.
So to me it's not a positive that "the effort was there". That's like having the incompetent douche at your work who stuffs everything up, never gets anything right - and come performance review the boss says "at least he turns up every day".
Bare minimum!
The fact the "execution" was so poor last night, and in reality has been poor since Origin, is very worrying with 3 games left before the finals.
It's not just one person who's responsible. But significantly, of the crucial 1, 6, 7 and 9, the only 2 who have been performing consistently well are Hoffman and Lockyer. Lockyer's out, and so we're left only with a fullback who's chiming in well but without Lockyer there is getting precious little quality ball.
Wallace's stilted performances at halfback are still a huge concern. McCullough is equally or more stilted at hooker and comes up with some absolutely mind bogglingly bad decisions. Hunt has had some good touches, and some absolute horrors.
Lockyer's replacements last night were both horrible.
Is there an easy solution? No. We can't drop Wallace or McCullough, they are, whether in bad form or not, the best two options at 7 and 9 at this stage.
Norman seems to suffer stagefright now. He's young and inexperienced, so it's forgiveable, but it's notable that his first game at fullback in round 1 - excellent. Subsequent games, crap. First game at halfback against Melbourne - excellent. Subsequent games, crap. First game at five-eighth against Souths - excellent. Subsequent games, crap. He sets the bar high and then seems to be petrified with the prospect of having to repeat it. That fear of failure will disappear as he gets experience, but that doesn't help us now. The fact I think he's thrown 2 passes in his last 2 first grade appearances means we can't have him in the halves.
IMO, the solution is Hunt to play five-eighth. As I said, he's had some horror plays over the season, but some touches of class. And he doesn't seem to lack confidence.
The other problem has plagued the Broncos for years. Passive defence. Very poor at wrapping up the offload, and very poor at bringing players down quickly, especially those with strong leg drive. Josh McGuire is a breath of fresh air there. He hits and finishes. The way players like Mateo and Anthony Tupou tease us is so frustrating to watch! Unfortunately there's no quick fix there. That takes coaching and technique and clearly nobody in the Broncos ranks has bothered with that, ever.
But simply accepting poor performances with the silver lining that "the effort was there" is frustrating!
To me the "effort was there" line is just utter rubbish. This is first grade, professional rugby league. If you have players or a team that is NOT putting in the effort then you should be dropping players and sacking them from the club. EVERY player should be putting in 100% every single week at this level. To not do so would be to let yourself and your team down.
So to me it's not a positive that "the effort was there". That's like having the incompetent douche at your work who stuffs everything up, never gets anything right - and come performance review the boss says "at least he turns up every day".
Bare minimum!
The fact the "execution" was so poor last night, and in reality has been poor since Origin, is very worrying with 3 games left before the finals.
It's not just one person who's responsible. But significantly, of the crucial 1, 6, 7 and 9, the only 2 who have been performing consistently well are Hoffman and Lockyer. Lockyer's out, and so we're left only with a fullback who's chiming in well but without Lockyer there is getting precious little quality ball.
Wallace's stilted performances at halfback are still a huge concern. McCullough is equally or more stilted at hooker and comes up with some absolutely mind bogglingly bad decisions. Hunt has had some good touches, and some absolute horrors.
Lockyer's replacements last night were both horrible.
Is there an easy solution? No. We can't drop Wallace or McCullough, they are, whether in bad form or not, the best two options at 7 and 9 at this stage.
Norman seems to suffer stagefright now. He's young and inexperienced, so it's forgiveable, but it's notable that his first game at fullback in round 1 - excellent. Subsequent games, crap. First game at halfback against Melbourne - excellent. Subsequent games, crap. First game at five-eighth against Souths - excellent. Subsequent games, crap. He sets the bar high and then seems to be petrified with the prospect of having to repeat it. That fear of failure will disappear as he gets experience, but that doesn't help us now. The fact I think he's thrown 2 passes in his last 2 first grade appearances means we can't have him in the halves.
IMO, the solution is Hunt to play five-eighth. As I said, he's had some horror plays over the season, but some touches of class. And he doesn't seem to lack confidence.
The other problem has plagued the Broncos for years. Passive defence. Very poor at wrapping up the offload, and very poor at bringing players down quickly, especially those with strong leg drive. Josh McGuire is a breath of fresh air there. He hits and finishes. The way players like Mateo and Anthony Tupou tease us is so frustrating to watch! Unfortunately there's no quick fix there. That takes coaching and technique and clearly nobody in the Broncos ranks has bothered with that, ever.
But simply accepting poor performances with the silver lining that "the effort was there" is frustrating!
