PRE-GAME NYC Round 23 - Broncos vs Dragons

[Super Freak]

Brisbane Broncos vs St George Illawarra Dragons
Suncorp Stadium, Friday 14 August 2015
Kick Off 5:20pm

1. Josh Bowen-Bowyer 2. Nikau Terupe 3. Jordan Drew 4. Jarryd Dodd 5. Dan Russell 6. Will Brimson 7. Ash Taylor 8. Sam Lavea 9. Jayden Berrell 10. Keegan Hipgrave 11. Lachlan Lanskey 12. Alex Barr 13. Jai Arrow
Interchange: 14. Kalolo Saitaua 15. Sam Gee 16. Hiale Roycroft 17. George Fai

1. Matt Dufty 2. Dee Jay Harris 3. Topiese Taufa 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Tom Carr 6. Drew Hutchison 7. Jack Payne 8. Matt Jurd 9. Ryan Fletcher 10. Blake Lawrie 11. Ryan James 12. Jacob Host 13. Hame Sele
Interchange: 14. Kelly Tate 15. Jay Gallagher 16. PJ Lo'se 17. Nathan Leatigaga 18. Josh Daley

 

[Super Freak]

PLAYING the role of a ‘team man’ has earned Will Brimson a shot at his favoured position in the Broncos’ under-20s side.

Because of a host of injuries, Brimson has moved between the centres and fullback over the last couple of months.

But rather than hang his head about it, the 19-year-old has played to the best of his ability wherever he was put.

It has convinced coach Craig Hodges it is time to give him a go at his preferred position in the halves.

“He has been doing a fantastic job in all the positions we have been playing him in,” said Hodges.

“We need to tighten up our defence in the front line and sharpen up our attack, so we need to get him in there.

“He’s won the Players’ Player award playing elsewhere so we need to give him a shot in his preferred position.”

Logan Spaander has been left out of the team, with Josh Bowyer-Bowen brought in at fullback.

In another change, George Fai returns from a facial injury suffered two weeks ago, with Michael Molo dropping off the bench.

The young Broncos meet the Dragons at Suncorp Stadium at 5.20pm on Friday.

Brimson Gets His Shot - Broncos

 

[Big Pete]

3rd versus 15th makes this an easy night on paper for Brisbane, but if Drew Hutchinson plays, it's a different story. St George actually have a very decent team capable of beating any side on it's day. What's prevented them from doing so is that they haven't used their best talent or they've had injuries to their forwards and backs.

For Brisbane, I like Hodges' decision to move Brimson to five-eighth. I feel like he's a more mature player than Spaander, which is important at this stage of the season and will offer the Broncos more consistensy which is required. I just hope the new faces Dan Russell (who debuted last week but wasn't named) and Josh Bowen-Boyer (one of the Seagulls best in Colts) do a good job filling in for Pearson and Byrnes respectively.

The return of Fai is also timely. Brisbane will need big George firing on all cylinders if they're to challenge in the finals.

 

[talanoa]

craig bodges is an a grade muppet.
blind freddy knows that brimson should have been moved straight to 6 when jnik got injured.
as for molo being left out, this is another poor decision. he is a much better option than barr, lanskey, gee and lavea.

 

[Big Pete]

BRISBANE BRONCOS NYC 34 defeated ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS NYC 22

Win 16 was never in doubt. Broncos led 28-4 mid-way through the second half before the Dragons finished with a few tries to make the score look respectable.

Taylor is in scintillating form at the moment for the Broncos. The young half scored a double, set up two more and has been a real point of difference these past few weeks.

 

[Cult]

Taylor played well today. He does do some nice stuff in attack. The Dragons number 13 had the longest rats tail I've ever seen and so I hope they lose every game he ever plays.

 

[Big Pete]

:laugh: Sele. He's meant to be pretty good for them as well but I haven't really seen him run around.

Barring catastrophe, the Broncos SHOULD go to the semis relatively unscathed. Despite that giving them a 19-4-1 record, I can see them still finishing third which is ridiculous. Skimming through past ladders, the only other years it can be compared to is 2009 where Melbourne finished third on 42 points.

 

[Big Pete]

Players	Minutes	All-Runs	Metres	Offloads	Tackles	Missed-Tackles	Line-Breaks	Errors
Josh Bowen-Boyer	80	21	169	1	1	0	0	0
Nikau Te Rupe	80	12	118	0	2	2	0	1
Jordan Drew	80	12	140	0	11	2	1	0
Jarryd Dodd	80	8	40	0	22	2	0	1
Daniel Russell	80	17	166	1	5	0	0	1
Will Brimson	80	6	52	0	20	1	0	2
Ash Taylor	80	5	45	1	17	2	1	1
Sam Lavea	52	17	166	0	22	1	0	1
Jayden Berrell	57	8	109	1	24	1	1	0
Keegan Hipgrave	65	15	151	0	34	3	0	0
Lachlan Lanskey	80	9	92	0	24	1	1	0
Alex Barr	80	11	108	0	32	1	1	0
Jai Arrow	9	2	28	0	7	0	0	0
Kalolo Saitaua	35	6	49	1	18	2	0	0
Sam Gee	32	8	81	0	20	2	0	0
George Fai	28	7	75	0	13	0	0	1
Lindsay Collins	42	6	49	0	22	1	0	0
Overall	1040	170	1683	5	294	21	5	8

 

[1910]

Hippgrave did a lot of work on Friday night. Collins was in 16 too.

 

[talanoa]

im happy to see dan russell finally get a run. he is a central qld boy who has had to wait a l9ng time to get a crack.
he is a big rangy awkward thing too and may improve with more games under his belt.