Our chances of making the eight

[GCBRONCO]

To be fair to rnabokov I can understand you wanting more from our fullback in attack but in present I don't really see too many options available unless you go with someone like Kahu or even Granville, I'm not against bringing in someone like that as long as we are prepared to back them for the rest of the season, not turn on them if they falter in one game.

 

[coreyh88]

Our attack was quite good tonight. We had a very good strike rate when we had multiple tackles in the attacking 20(errors excluded) especially considering the focal point of our attack was injured. We had a few line breaks from outside of there and the forwards were consistently running in pairs (this was undone due to parker refusing to pass). The only issue with the team was defensively, all our tries were due to the lack of Hodges in defence. Stagg and Gillett found themselves mis reading and poorly positioned for two tries and then there was a bomb. Our biggest issue was the refs. Look at the penalty count particularly the first half. I seriously think the ref was being paid. Penalty for staying in the tackle for two seconds for first penalty. Additionally one of their tries was thanks to the ref letting them get away with a knock on. I think it's unreasonable to have expected anymore under the circumstances. Not to mention we hardly did 4x one out then kick. I saw the ball shifted early on multiple occasions some of which ended in breaks or half breaks. Good effort by the boys tonight. How about some positivity for a change. Things are finally looking up.

 

[Broncoman]

Yep. And on that performance ... that was one of the most idiotic game plans I have seen this year.

Hoffman is not a FB. This must be repeated over and over. He adds 0 from the back.

0

Fair dinkum are you kidding me?

Hoffman has been playing pretty well at fullback. He has been putting his body on the line and making good meters on the kick return and has been pretty safe as well.

 

[broncos4life]

Fair dinkum are you kidding me?

Hoffman has been playing pretty well at fullback. He has been putting his body on the line and making good meters on the kick return and has been pretty safe as well.

Is nice to see one other person on here is on the same page as me

 

[Alec]

Can't see us beating both the Dogs and the Knights without Hodges.

 

[rnabokov]

Fair dinkum are you kidding me?

Hoffman has been playing pretty well at fullback. He has been putting his body on the line and making good meters on the kick return and has been pretty safe as well.

I must be speaking in tongues.

My problem with Hoffman, which btw, I recall has been echoes by many posters, is that he adds ZERO in attack.

No one questions his courage, defence, determination. He is just not a FB is all I am saying at a time when we are desperately short of ball players.

That's all

 

[Alec]

Yeah, I agree rnabokov. Hoffman is brave and tough, but he really adds nothing in attack at fullback. We'll definitely benefit having him on the wing next year, where he is really gun.

 

[rnabokov]

Yes, and he is not bad in the centres either, but that is it, although we have no other option this year, so let's hope in miracles: Hoffman does a crash course in ball skills, and Maranta stays OUT

 

[gordjw]

Nothing against Oates (who has looked fantastic so far), but that try chance in the first half would have been taken if Hoffy was standing there.

 

[CaptainHook]

Oates' ability to bomb a try is fast reaching Maranta-like levels.

 

[CaptainHook]

Cunning insight that, Pearl.:001_rolleyes:

 

[broncos4life]

I must be speaking in tongues.

My problem with Hoffman, which btw, I recall has been echoes by many posters, is that he adds ZERO in attack.

No one questions his courage, defence, determination. He is just not a FB is all I am saying at a time when we are desperately short of ball players.

That's all

No one is disputing this, but what do you suppose is the answer for this year? Maranta FFS?

 

[Kimlo]

I agree, Hoffman sucks at fullback (even if he is worlds better than Norman) however he is our best option this year. If we get Barba or Milford next year we can return Hoffman to wing where he is amazing. Everything he does well in fullback can be transferred to wing + more, or even centre. Maybe "sucks" is a harsh term, he's a fantastic player but he sucks at fullback in our team makeup/gameplan, he might be a great fullback for say Manly but not for us.

I'm fine with Hoffman keeping #1 for the rest of the year, his attitude is absolutely top notch and he deserves to play in his favoured position.

 

[rnabokov]

No one is disputing this, but what do you suppose is the answer for this year? Maranta FFS?

Some thoughts from the left field kitchen during my dinner break:

broncos4Life - I understand where you are coming from, and my issue is this. It's a balance between defence and attack. Will Hoffman's defence contribute more to the team than his attack?

We must win our last 4 games. We need to maximize our scoring opportunities (and lift defensively a lot - line speed AND bloody wingers not coming in and leaving their opposites, no matter what). We leak a lot of points this way.

Some of our best tries throughout this season have been from 2nd man plays with (gulp) Norman making the extra man.

I cannot recall Hoffman contributing to a try by making the extra man in a 2nd man play since .... (someone refresh my memory?). Have we scored any tries from 2nd man plays since Norman was sent packing? How many Try Assists has Hoffman made? How many tries has he scored from FB?

That tells me we have lost one of our key weapons in attack: the 2nd man play, a void made much much worse by Hodges's injury.

That leaves 2 alternatives: bring Norman back, which I doubt will be a popular decision, although there is talk of it, or give Hoffman intensive training in 2nd man plays and add them to our arsenal.

The question then becomes, if Norman returns, and we get our 2nd man plays working again, will the tries we score (and we will score them) outweigh any defensive lapses by Norman which will lead to points against us?

It's a real headache.

Finally, the Eels are looking at the wooden spoon. No one likes the wooden spoon. The Eels have Hayne back, and their overall game will lift a lot.

The Tigers have a much much worse draw than the Eels. If the Eels beat us and they will go all out to do it, they will most likely not finish with the Spoon - the Tigers will, assuming their current form is an indication of their next 4 results: Roosters, Rabbits, Cowboys and Dragons.

Eels last 4 games: Broncos, Storm, Dragons and Knights.

For mine, the Tigers will lose all their games and the Eels will beat the Dragons, which means if they beat us, the Spoon in my opinion, will goe to the Tigers.

For mine, the Eels are going to put absolutely everything into beating us. We need to be at our absolute best against tehm.

 

[Porthoz]

Use Norman the same way as Hodgo was being used.
There is no way in hell that Hoffman will learn to ball-play quick enough to be effective this season, and quite frankly it would be a bit of a waste if we get Barba and/or Milford...

 

[Mr Fourex]

Some of our best tries throughout this season have been from 2nd man plays with (gulp) Norman making the extra man.

I cannot recall Hoffman contributing to a try by making the extra man in a 2nd man play since .... (someone refresh my memory?). Have we scored any tries from 2nd man plays since Norman was sent packing? How many Try Assists has Hoffman made? How many tries has he scored from FB?

That tells me we have lost one of our key weapons in attack: the 2nd man play, a void made much much worse by Hodges's injury.

That leaves 2 alternatives: bring Norman back, which I doubt will be a popular decision, although there is talk of it, or give Hoffman intensive training in 2nd man plays and add them to our arsenal.

The question then becomes, if Norman returns, and we get our 2nd man plays working again, will the tries we score (and we will score them) outweigh any defensive lapses by Norman which will lead to points against us?

It's a real headache.

It's a no-brainer for mine .......

I think the defensive lapses re: Norman you're talking about are being overstated.

It's either Griffin has drawn a line in the sand and feels Norman isn't part of the team any more under any circumstances and leaves Hoffman at FB, maybe Oates into the centres and I'm guessing Maranta onto the vacant wing.

or Griffin plays what's in front of him and puts still making the finals as the first thing on his agenda and uses the best available talent he has at his disposal....

I still wanna make the semi's......and if it's still mathematically possible that can be done, we should be going for it.

 

[Kimlo]

If both Kahu and Copley are still not fit to play I'd support giving Norman another run at fullback and moving Hoffman to Hodges' centre position and then he can go back to qcup once Kahu/Copley are back. Fucking injuries. Please stop.

 

[Porthoz]

No way do I want Norman at fullback when we are defending, not ever again!

I'll accept him defending in the line as a centre, and attacking as a fullback, but that's as far as I'll go...