NYC Round 8 - Broncos vs Rabbitohs

[Big Pete]

1. Corey Allen 2. David Faiud 3. Elijah Alick 4. Gehemat Shibasaki 5. Sam Smith 6. Haydyn O'Hara 7. Will Brimson 8. Jai Whitbread 9. Kalolo Saitaua 10. Max Elliott 11. Jaydn S'ua 12. Lachlan Lanskey 13. Michael Molo 14. Tristian Hope 15. Patrick Carrigan 16. Sam Elliott 17. Josh Rudolph	1. Tom Perrin 2. Riley Yates 3. David Wright 4. Tevita Cottrell 5. Latrell Robinson 6. Harry Leddy 7. Liam Coleman 8. Toby Rudolf 9. Maia Sands 10. Tim Davis 15. Gabe Hamlin 12. Jacob McCudden 13. Brock Gray 14. Joe Besgrove 16. Josh Saunders 17. Jamel Hunt 18. Rory Lillis
Coach: Craig Hodges	Coach: David Penna
Referee: Tyson Brough Sideline Officials: Tim Rutherford, Jacob Whiteford	Location: Suncorp Stadium Kick-Off: 5:10pm

 

[Big Pete]

Keegan Hipgrave suffered a hamstring injury against the Knights, the injury will keep him on the sidelines for at least four weeks.

And as we found out last week, Tevita Pangai Jr has been promoted to the ISC and will play for the Magpies on the weekend.

 

[mitch222]

20s are really struggling this year

 

[talanoa]

recruitment and talent scouting has seen a gradual decline over the past few years. coaching also has been found out this year.

 

[lionred]

Cant really blame coaching. Young team, few narrow losses. Was never gonna be the same as last year with so many boys at 20 been in the system together for a few years. Not to mention having ash and nik. They struggled last year too when they werent there. Next year they will be pretty good i predict. Will be hard losing the captain for a month now.

 

[Big Pete]

It was always going to be tough with so many key players moving on. A lot of these guys are learning on the job and it's difficult to build a cohesive unit when there are so many disruptions. I read somewhere that of the 17 regulars from last year, only 3 remain. When you have so many changes it's really difficult to build a side. I haven't seen enough of them to judge, but in Round 4 it appeared as if they relied too heavily on set-plays or individual performances that worked for them last year. It seemed as if it was all up to Jaydn or Kalolo to spark an opportunity and if didn't come then the Broncos were out of ideas. Again, maybe they've tried to play to O'Hara's or Allan's strengths but for whatever reason it isn't panning out. It's a shame too, I thought Corey Allan outplayed Kalyn Ponga the last time the two met. It appears as if his form has dropped off these past two weeks.

It's going to be a tough year. I just hope that by season's end we can see some improvement and the boys can put themselves in good stead for 2017.

 

[lionred]

Agree BP. I think Allan lacks a bit of confidence. But that will come in time.

 

[talanoa]

i personally would prefer to see faiud at fullback, he is quicker than allan and is a lot more likely when he touches the ball. faiud also has ball skill as well and would create more.

 

[Hardone]

i personally would prefer to see faiud at fullback, he is quicker than allan and is a lot more likely when he touches the ball. faiud also has ball skill as well and would create more.

I totally agree with you talanoa..

 

[Brad Miers]

Under 20's score please

 

[Unbreakable]

22-0 to us right now.

 

[GCBRONCO]

28-0

 

[Unbreakable]

34-0 :o

 

[broncos4life]

Jesus. Are the Rabbitohs rubbish this year or have we finally clicked?

 

[Super Freak]

I would say Rabbitohs are just rubbish.

 

[Big Pete]

That was a good performance from the U20s.

When Alick went down in the opening minutes I thought it was game over. Souths were rolling straight through the Broncos and it seemed like the referee was just handing out penalties like they were going out of fashion. It was their game to win inside the opening 20...but the defence held strong. One moment caught my eye around that time. Souths had numbers going down their right, the half gets it, shapes to pass and gets absolutely smashed into next week by S'ua. I've never seen a tackle completely change a game before because from that point it was all Brisbane.

Loved the first try. So many teams these days love to play laterally, sideline to sideline when sometimes the best thing you can do is test teams in the middle. It was simple stuff too, just Whitebread running off the playmaker (may have been Kalolo in this instance), bursting through and finding Allan through the middle brilliant stuff.

Also the coach must have had a word to Allan because he had a stormer. Souths challenged him through out with their kicking game and he was up to every single one, took on the defence and managed some clean breaks. What I liked is that he didn't shut up shop after the try. You see it so often where a gun back just says they've scored their try and they're done for the afternoon. Not this time. Corey backed himself burst straight through and set up Faiud in the corner.

While I'm talking first half tries, the Brimson one was just trademark Will stuff. He sensed there was an opportunity, pushed up on the ball, got the defence on the back-foot and took them on. He isn't Jayden Nikorima or Ash Taylor but there's components there he can work on.

Brisbane did their best to invite Souths back into it just before the break but in the second half it was all Brisbane. Even when Souths made a huge break, somehow it resulted in a 89m intercept from Faiud. He got dangerously close to scoring but credit to the Souths cover defender he somehow got him. I thought for sure Faiud was going to score too - he's a lot like Marmin Barba for the Jets in that sense. In the end, I think it was Lachlan Lanskey who scored it and I've got to give those fellas credit. I thought Souths were going to tear those guys a new asshole but they (being Lanskey and Rudolph) held that end up really well and even managed to make good metres there (along with Sammy Smith).

All in all, a good win for the boys. All the usual suspects stood up and the not so usual suspects held up their end of the bargain.

Misc Notes
- Not sure what the deal is but the first tackle Max Elliott second tackle David Faiud thing was not working AT ALL.
- Shibasaki needs to learn how to pass. He's nearing Josh Hoffman levels of never passing. Otherwise he's a damn good prospect.
- O'Hara has a really neat bomb, there was one that Tom Perrin didn't even try to get.
- Toby Rudolph for Souths was their best. Big bushy hair guy, was rolling through us like a runaway boulder.

 

[lionred]

I too thought that, with Souths beating the Cows easily so it was a pretty good hit out without TPJ and Hipgrave for sure. Broncos had a few near tries too (2 or 3 held up and a couple of bombed ones at the line), so they definitely can attack. But it was their defence that really did it. Souths had opportunity in their half but never really even got close to being over the line. Those front on hits from Sua in the first half made everyone stay away from his line the second half, but wow he can get his arm out in a tackle and offload. Fauid is really exciting to watch and it was good to see Lanskey play well. I thought we were lacking a little down the middle but to be expected losing 2 starting props. Have to mention the nice hit from Shibasaki on the full back in the second half too.

 

[Unbreakable]

Elijah Alick has torn his ACL again.