NYC Round 4 - Broncos vs Cowboys

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys
Suncorp Stadium, Friday 25 March 2016
Kick Off 4:50pm

1. Corey Allen 2. David Faiud 3. Samuel Leach 4. Gehemat Shibasaki 5. Sam Smith 6. Haydyn O'Hara 7. Will Brimson 8. Sam Lavea 9. Tristan Hope 10. Keegan Hipgrave 11. Jaydn S'ua 12. Joshua Rudolph 13. Michael Molo 14. Logan Spaander 15. Tevita Pangai Jr 16. Sam Elliott 17. Max Elliott 18. Kalolo Saitaua	1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Gideon Gela-Mosby 3. Nathan Traill 4. Enari Tuala 5. Marcus Jensen 6. Ty Carucci 7. Cooper Bambling 8. Darryn Schonig 9. Brandon Smith 10. Nick Brown 11. Coen Hess 12. Cody Grills 13. Jordan Kenworthy 14. Calum Gahan 15. Mitchell Dunn 16. Ross Bella 17. Jack Lote 18. Emry Pere
Coach: Craig Hodges	Coach: Aaron Payne

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[Big Pete]

Only one change to the side that went down by 48-16 to Penrith with the return of Kalolo Saitaua to the extended bench.

North Queensland on the other hand are coming into this game on the back of two consecutive victories with wins over Parramatta 34-12 and the Sydney Roosters 36-16 respectively. They're considered one of the favourites for the Holden Cup and with their star-studded backline they should prove a real handful for the Brisbane Broncos.

Names like Kalyn Ponga, Gideon Gela-Mosby and Enari Tuala provide the Cowboys with plenty of strike and with Hess, Brown and Schonig in the middle the Broncos are going to have to be on their game physically if they're going to compete.

It's going to be a real test for some of these Broncos players. They're representing a club that is conscious of their image and they won't stand for performances like last week. The players have to see this as their opportunity to prove themselves against some of the best juniors in the game and get some much needed belief.

 

[Big Pete]

George Fai has been promoted to the Intrust Super Cup.

He played last weekend in the Magpies loss to the Blackhawks and will represent them when they take on the Jets.

 

[talanoa]

for any one going to this game, keep an eye on cooper bambling. i havent seen him for a log time but the kid was an absolute freak during school years.
also have a look at the size of jack lote from the cows as well. he is freaking enormous.
im not sure who will be on coen hess' side of the field but all i can say is good luck, this guy will play origin in the near future.

 

[1910]

Hippgrave has been strong; trying hard to make a difference. He and Pangai have been the two best Broncos' forwards the first month. Brimson has a huge job this week. Hope's defence has been strong- been really impressed with that.

Ponga will do his normal 7 line breaks, 400m and three tries, Hess will be looking to destroy, Tuala breaks tackles with ease, Traill loves to get out of dummy half.

It's a huge ask.

 

[lionred]

Bambling is a real talent. Our 20s boys will have a hard task against the cows strike power across park and the more experienced players will need to be at their best. Only seen the home game so far and thought Fai played really well there so he is a loss to the squad this week. Pangai was quiet in warriors game i saw but would still be getting the feel of the team and how they work. I did think the players from last year Fai, SuA, Hipgrave, Lavea, were strong across the whole game and some of the backs look good but some are very ordinary. Hope they can get it together. Even that warriors game, they should have beaten them far more convincingly than they did.

Anyone know how young Ponga is going so far in these first few weeks?

 

[Unbreakable]

Hippgrave has been strong; trying hard to make a difference. He and Pangai have been the two best Broncos' forwards the first month. Brimson has a huge job this week. Hope's defence has been strong- been really impressed with that.

Ponga will do his normal 7 line breaks, 400m and three tries, Hess will be looking to destroy, Tuala breaks tackles with ease, Traill loves to get out of dummy half.

It's a huge ask.

Are you majorly over-exaggerating, or has he actually done that this season? :eek:

 

[1910]

Are you majorly over-exaggerating, or has he actually done that this season? :eek:

Exaggerating but not majorly.

Av metres last year was 184 pg, line breaks 2, and a try a game.

He's pretty special to watch bring the ball back.

 

[1910]

From the little I know, that could even be an understatement.

Hence Coote being shown the door.

Can't wait to see him and Hess in the NRL.

His best last year was 327m v the Warriors with 5 line breaks. Very agile and a beautiful mover.

 

[lionred]

Yeah his last years start was phenomenal and helped the cowboys were stellar at back end of season. Looked at stats this year and pretty much on a par with broncs fullbacks average so far in season.

 

[mitch222]

A big difference to the under 20s and NRL for one being the NRL sides defences are not papier-mâché like the 20s

 

[talanoa]

A big difference to the under 20s and NRL for one being the NRL sides defences are papier-mâché like the 20s

dead on the mark mitch, dont get me wrong ponga can play but he is very slight and hasnt grown since he was 15.
he will most likely continue to have a monster season in the 20's but its a massive jump to nrl for the kid, i hope the cows take there time and dont rush him.

 

[Danoz Direct]

A tight win to the Cowboys with a field goal to win 23-22.

 

[sus]

youre shitting me?

 

[Big Pete]

A gallant performance by the Broncos, but in the end they were simply outclassed by the better team.

If one thing is apparent, it's that the Broncos are a work in progress. They showed some nice qualities in the performance but the lapses and the absent minded plays are emblematic of a team that's still trying to develop combinations and confidence in each other.

It's all apart of the learning process and the real test for them will be in July where they would have been playing for months and would have a good understanding of each other's games.

What I saw yesterday was an over-reliance on Jaydn S'ua and a few individuals trying too hard without doing what was best for the team. Blokes would spend more time running side-ways trying to find gaps, forwards would lose the ball running risky lines trying to cut through and players would often take more runs than they should have.

They should take a lot out of this performance and be able to build on it ahead of next week's clash against the Titans. If they can't then a few players won't have a spot come the end of the Mal Meninga Cup.

 

[lionred]

This game could have gone either way. Cowboys were not as impressive as i thought they would be. Few calls went their way too. Ponga had a quiet night going from the stats mentioned in earlier posts and Broncos fullback had a strong game. Sua seems to have a knack of making something out of nothing and did it again in the second half. I heard after the game he was carrying an injury into game so did a good job as he was the one on Hess side and he Hess didnt get much of a sniff. Very impressed with Pangai and in a few months BP your right him and this team will be pretty good together i think. He really put his hand up. Three forwards are of the top quality and others look promising esp in backs and hopefully the team is building.

 

[sus]

well if the cowboys were anything like they were last year then im stoked to hear the boys actually put in an effort.

sure the panthers.were.slick last week but even such it was genuinely difficult to say there were many promising signs on display besides hargraves in that category even though i was critical of him in the pre-season, TPj looked like a bit of.a beast but a chicken without a head last week and i guess previous NYC halves have spoilt irregulat viewers like myself cause the 6 & 7 looked like the first chefs kicked off a gordon ramsey cooking show last week.

dont know hodges real well so curious to hear if he's imprint is likely to matetialise at any time or if WB or anyone else provides any input or direction?

'work in progress' i can handle. hope they put in and worked for eachother a bit more at home. can be a bit of a characyer builder to make those.efforts in front of a friendlier crowd