PRE-GAME NRL Round 1 - Cowboys vs Broncos

[Super Freak]

NRL - Round 1
Friday, 13th of March, 2020​

1. Valentine Holmes 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Justin O’Neill 4. Esan Marsters 5. Ben Hampton 6. Scott Drinkwater 7. Michael Morgan 8. John Asiata 9. Jake Granville 10. Jordan McLean 11. Gavin Cooper 12. Coen Hess 13. Jason Taumalolo 14. Reece Robson 15. Mitchell Dunn 16. Shane Wright 17. Francis Molo 18. Corey Jensen 19. Connelly Lemuelu 20. Tom Opacic 21. Jake Clifford	1. Jack Bird 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Darius Boyd 5. Jesse Arthars 6. Anthony Milford 7. Brodie Croft (c) 8. Tom Flegler 9. Jake Turpin 10. Payne Haas 11. David Fifita 12. Tevita Pangai Jr 13. Pat Carrigan (c) 14. Jamayne Isaako 15. Andrew McCullough 16. Rhys Kennedy 17. Jamil Hopoate 18. Xavier Coates 19. Herbie Farnworth 20. Tom Dearden 21. Ethan Bullemor.
Coach: Paul Green	Coach: Anthony Seibold
Referees: Gerard Sutton, Gavin Badger Sideline Officials: Rickey McFarlane, Liam Kennedy Video Referees: Jared Maxwell, Ben Galea	Venue: Queensland Country Bank Stadium Kickoff: 7:05 pm Broadcast: Channel 9; Foxleague; Kayo

 

[Super Freak]

With kick off just a week away, I'll be uploading a few old matches between the Broncos and the Cowboys.

First up, Round 1 2001.

 

[ostin86]

I think we are going to go down in this one unfortunately. First time playing at the Cowboys new home stadium, I'm just praying it won't be as bad as our exit from last year's final series.

 

[Renegade]

We've had a pretty meh pre-season but you don't get competition points in Feb so I'm not looking too much into the results, but some of the player performances have been questionable at best. Oates, Milf, Boyd are all under the microscope and their trial performances won't have doused any concerns.

I haven't paid attention to how the cows have gone (and I was drugged out on morphine for bris cows trial) so I don't really know how they've been shaping up or how Holmes has gone reintegrating. Outside of him and JT13, there's no one that really bothers me in their team so we should theoretically have the firepower to win, but with a new halfback, new fullback and centre/wing pairing, no lodge and a (by all reports) questionable bench... i'm not confident.

 

[HarryAllan7]

Boy I miss the days I would have been confident going into a game like this against a bottom 8 side from last year.

Nowadays I'm not even confident that we won't get embarrassed and steamrolled.

Having said that, hoping for a positive start to the season. A win isn't essential, but I hope to see some good signs and developments and steps in the right direction which we can build on. We're not going to be world-beating contenders from day 1 but as long as we are building well.

At the end of the day no matter the result at least we're one week closer to no Darius in the team.

 

[The Strapper]

At the end of the day no matter the result at least we're one week closer to no Darius in the team.

OK but how many more weeks to go before that happens?

 

[Renegade]

OK but how many more weeks to go before that happens?

the real concern is him reaching 15 games, which triggers a 2021 contract.

 

[vertigo]

Can't see the Cowboys christening the new stadium with a loss.

Picturing Eels Bankwest vibes when they put 50 on the tigers.

 

[Waynesaurus]

Yeah well.....if we chose to stand back and wait in defense like in the trial then their direct runners are going to chew up the metres and eventually carve us open.

 

[pagey]

Yep not seeing a win here, hoping for a strong showing and I'll be happy.
Excited by the new spine and arthars ,and hoping Fifita doesn't dip.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

This is the least enthused I've been in the immediate leadup to a season. It's like we already know we're in for another long one.

The Cows will do us over at their new ground.

 

[Slippin Jimmy]

I'm less blindly optimistic than I was this time last year, but I'm still more optimistic than I have any right to be.

 

[Harry Sack]

I'm optimistic about the season as a whole, not so much this game tbh. I'm hopeful though

 

[Battler]

We should win this. We have a better pack, a better backline, and our spine is roughly equal if not better (Granville and Morgan are shit, Drinkwater is untested, and Holmes is overhyped).

 

[winslow_wong]

Boy I miss the days I would have been confident going into a game like this against a bottom 8 side from last year.

Nowadays I'm not even confident that we won't get embarrassed and steamrolled.

Having said that, hoping for a positive start to the season. A win isn't essential, but I hope to see some good signs and developments and steps in the right direction which we can build on. We're not going to be world-beating contenders from day 1 but as long as we are building well.

At the end of the day no matter the result at least we're one week closer to no Darius in the team.

I also miss the days when we would flog the cowboys every single time without a shadow of a doubt.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

We should win this. We have a better pack, a better backline, and our spine is roughly equal if not better (Granville and Morgan are shit, Drinkwater is untested, and Holmes is overhyped).

I'm not a fan of Morgan or Granville, both over rated, but their spine is still way ahead of ours AT THIS STAGE. I emphasise that because on potential ours is better

 

[Locky’s Left Boot]

This is the least enthused I've been in the immediate leadup to a season. It's like we already know we're in for another long one.

The Cows will do us over at their new ground.

Feel the exact same way mate.

Thought the 58-0 finals drubbing would bring on the change we have been desperate for in years and was excited for the bloodbath that would ensue to start moving forward.

Unfortunately the bloodbath was more like a paper cut and the only culling of the team was the forced retirement of Matt Gillett, Segeyaro and some half decent fringe forwards which would have come in handy right about now. Mago would have been handy for this one.

On paper our team is worse than last season. Granted I think Croft is a great addition and am backing him to the hilt, but when you consider what we paid for him and for what we lost in the off season, it is still very underwhelming. Doesn’t help that we now have to accommodate an injury plagued Kahu who will be lucky to even play NRL again. We should be thankful Lodge isn’t out for the season because if he was, I reckon we struggle to make the 8. We have zero depth and we will be lucky if we can even keep Jack Bird on the park. There is still way too much problems with our cap to even build our team for the future. This had better be the end of Boyd, Kahu and Macca for good after this year.

For us to have a good year this year with this current, we need a lot of things to go right as we just don’t have the mental toughness or defense to win consistently.

So far this off season we’ve had the following:

- Almost lost Lodge for the year
- Captain Alex Glenn hamstring injury
- Having to take Kahu back on decent coin just to do rehab
- Segeyaro gone for taking drugs
- Perese gone for selling drugs
- Ofahengaue suspended for first 2 games
- Boyd and Macca being guaranteed a spot in the 17 again
- Issako losing all confidence during the trials

Literally the only positives was signing Croft and even then that was a fucking haggle. Arthurs was a handy pick up but was a bargain basement signing. And Matt Gillett retiring when he knew he couldn’t play at a first grade level anymore *take a hint Darius*

I now have severely lowered my expectations because I already feel it is going to be more of the same again and the whole Darius circus will drag on yet a fucking gain. Already the ‘this is the fittest Darius has ever been’ and ‘Milford is looking the best he ever has’ articles ad nauseum have literally made me detest the season kicking off knowing that this time I am not falling for the bullshit media talk anymore and am going into this season dreading it already. The positivity was sucked dry last season and all the credits have been used up.

Granted I still won’t accept mediocrity nor will I spend my hard earned to attend any games this year unless I see actual progress after what the club put it’s fans through last year.

 

[McHunt]

Seibold firming on Arthurs in the Courier Mail:

"I’m a big believer in giving people opportunity when they deserve it. I haven’t given anyone a debut who hasn’t deserved it. They’ve had to work hard for it during pre-season. Jesse will debut for our club but he’s earnt that opportunity through his work ethic. He took a leap of faith I suppose going from Titans to here. He sort of had to work his way into the team down there. Coming here, he knew that one particular area we were strong at was our outside back. He took a leap of faith but it goes to show hard work and belief gets his opportunity.”

And last year's debutantes:

“Our best performers (last year) were those young guys. Payne (Haas) had 60 minutes of NRL prior to last year and I think I showed my hand starting him in the very first game he was available for. Giving guys like Tommy Flegler and Patty Carrigan their debuts last year and backing them, they’ve played over 20 games.”
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Fifita speaks to Badel & Mayne:

“I enjoyed myself over the Christmas break. I tried to get away from footy. That’s what the off-season is for, to enjoy time with family and friends. I really enjoyed my off-season and when I got back into training I struggled a bit. I eventually hit all my targets I needed to get to - my skinfolds and fitness levels. My skinfolds have dropped majorly, that’s something I needed to get down. I’ve done that and I’m happy with where my fitness levels are at. I’ve reached my targets. My combinations with the edge I’m playing on are all coming together. To get a full pre-season under Anthony (Seibold) has been really good. All the boys are gelling really well. We can look forward to this year.”

McHunt