NRL 2024 Round 1 Discussion

[Foordy]

Billy Slater said on his podcast that he spent the majority of his career playing at Olympic Park in Melbourne which had similar dimensions

 

[BroncosFever]

Having read the thoughts of people in this thread I am sure of one thing, if we get beaten it's going to be a great read.

Let's not get too carried away, it's a new season. They have a good team.

 

[Tim K]

For those of you across the NFL. What kind of surface are they playing on?

 

[IceWorks]

Having read the thoughts of people in this thread I am sure of one thing, if we get beaten it's going to be a great read.

Let's not get too carried away, it's a new season. They have a good team.

Yep, they got ambushed by the Dolphins in Rd1 last year so I think they will be motivated to start well.

 

[IceWorks]

Betting odds about even for Broncos-Roosters... Seems right. Roosters couldn't even find a spot on their team for Angus Chrichton.

 

[Sproj]

Very little difference between the Vegas field and the fields in England. I don't think there's going to be any dramas.

Yep and fortunately both the Broncs and Roosters have lots of experience playing in England, so should be fine.

 

[Finbar]

For those of you across the NFL. What kind of surface are they playing on?

I think we'll be playing on this, it's a real grass field that they roll into the stadium for play.

 

[Culhwch]

I think we'll be playing on this, it's a real grass field that they roll into the stadium for play.

Think that's State Farm in Arizona but Allegiant is much the same, have to assume they are rolling in the real thing for us.

 

[Finbar]

Think that's State Farm in Arizona but Allegiant is much the same, have to assume they are rolling in the real thing for us.

Yep I realised just after I posted that it was the wrong one. Edited the post with the Las Vegas field.

 

[Culhwch]

Yep I realised just after I posted that it was the wrong one. Edited the post with the Las Vegas field.

I was so confused after I posted, haha!

 

[Finbar]

I was so confused after I posted, haha!

Haha! Probably thought you were losing it for a second.

 

[Big Del]

 

[Culhwch]

Should have sent Canberra for the brand synergy.

 

[Big Del]

Weather will not be a factor on Saturday .
The Death Star has a roof .

 

[Santa]

Yep, they got ambushed by the Dolphins in Rd1 last year so I think they will be motivated to start well.

Roosters are notoriously slow starters though. They've only won 1 round 1 game in the last 6 years.

 

[JayPee]

Yep and fortunately both the Broncs and Roosters have lots of experience playing in England, so should be fine.

Are we sure the English fields are smaller in diameter. I know they are shorter in length but I didnt think they were smaller across the field.

 

[Big Pete]

The team selected for the rorters looks pretty similar to last year and seems like Robbo is planning to play a similar style if not double down on it.

BSmith is most dangerous running and close to the line, so I suspect Robbo still wants those quick ptbs and targetting through the middle behind the ruck... that's where Teddy used to carve teams apart, and in that sense I'm surprised Watson hasn't been selected in the 17... I expect him to be a late in.

They've got Leniu starting hoping he can get early ptb's and create a roll on for Bsmith, but that seems a risk to me... he'll be up against Haas and Patty... IF broncos can control the ball and get into a groove those two just eat up meters and Leniu could be spending his time on the field defending and burning up energy. Would not be surprised to see him dropped back to the bench, but not sure who could actually come into the starting side. May is a serious talent, but found a home bringing impact from the bench, is he going to have the same issue as Leniu up against Patty and Haas?

Whyte seems like he doesn't get trusted enough from Robbo to start and play some decent minutes. Maybe they go Butcher, but he might be a bit undersized to be dealing with Haas and Patty... but he might be the most likely to start and then maybe shift to the edge, but I'm not sure how they'll work those second rowers.

Victor playing 13 is the stock standard that rorters have played for some years now... and would expect them to spread it wide off him out to Keary or Walker on the back of quick ptbs to get it to the edges. It may have been falling down over the last couple years, because that ownership of the middle between Victor, Walker and Keary seems a little uncertain. If Victor is there and is ball playing then I'm assuming Walker and Keary are operating either side of the field and then they're relying on Teddy to play both sides and finish backline movements.

Is that the best approach for them?? possibly not based on the last few years. Teddy has been a bit of a handbrake and utilising Walker to dig into the line and dump out the back to Teddy potentially isn't the best use of him. Keary does it and does it well, but I think Robbo wants to move on from him, but he just can't seem to get the balance right.

If all else fails they do have their two giants on either wing as easy targets for the cross field kicks.... and that is something we struggle to deal with, because our centres are not the best at blocking the opposition kick chasers.

I'm not convinced that Spencer will start and wouldn't be shocked at all if he made way for Terrell May. I certainly think you're right about his game complimenting Brandon's but that's one selection I'm not reading a lot into. I think that's a coach acknowledging Spencer's value before letting one of the other interchange players come in.

If I was Robbo, I'd certainly copy a page out of the Storm playbook and would be bringing in Tupou/Suaalii mid-field and having them take Walsh 1-1 with a high ball ala Xavier Coates. It didn't work out that night for Melbourne, but Walsh certainly looked vulnerable and you want to try and unsettle the Broncos as much as possible.

Again, I'm curious to see what Tupouniua and Wong bring to the side after a proper pre-season. I expect them to bend the line and really open up space out-wide. Especially with Piakura coming into the game under an injury cloud, I can't see him playing 80 which is really going to overload Carrigan early on in the season.

 

[Sproj]

@JayPee Hess has torn his ACL. This might actually help you guys a bit do you think? He hasn't been that good in a few years and you've got a lot of talent coming through.