PRE-GAME PRE-GAME [Round 5, 2023] Broncos vs Wests Tigers

[Jonnytiga]

Happy to have you here mate. What do you make of the club hiring Tim Sheens again as head coach?

Hard to say, I was sceptical and hopeful it would do well because It's been proven no manager goes well going back to their former clubs. I hope by the end of the year he leaves and Benji takes over, his approach hasn't worked so far.

 

[Allo]

You make some great points Ningers.

One thing I'm a bit wary of is how we finish our sets. The question is - do we kick it into the in-gaol for a goal line dropout or not? Most teams will pull the trigger on a short dropout and take the odds at trying to win the ball back. The more they practice the better they get at it. which means all of a sudden we've lost momentum and the opposition have their tails up coz they managed to 'steal' possession back.

When they fail it just means the opposition get the ball as was expected. So kicks in goal to sustain pressure can be a game of Russian roulette nowadays.

I'd much prefer we play safe and only kick in-goal when there is a genuine chance of us scoring. Otherwise turn the ball over as close to their try line as possible.

To balance it out, they need to reverse awarding 7 tackle sets for any ball kicked dead within the attacking 30 or 40.

The rule was brought in for one player a decade ago and has really reduced the number of attacking kicks

 

[Jedhead]

To balance it out, they need to reverse awarding 7 tackle sets for any ball kicked dead within the attacking 30 or 40.

The rule was brought in for one player a decade ago and has really reduced the number of attacking kicks

Yip some of the times when the ball goes dead is really no fault of the attacking team and the defending teams are the ones who are rewarded regardless of the situation. It's a shit rule.

 

[Stix]

As Wayne Bennett said in his presser ' We beat them everywhere except on the scoreboard' Wayne being Wayne of course but still some truth in it. We were never fully in control of that match and it was in doubt until the KotonI runaway try. Much work has to be done yet before we can claim to be a genuine premiership threat. Hate to put a dampener on things but if that were not the case why are we 'here' being so concerned about a top of the table team beating the bottom of the table. Bogey team or not.

Sometimes we need to take the rose coloured glasses off for a proper look.

I’ve watched this game three times now and I think we were in control for most of the game. We kept letting them back into the contest but were quick to regain momentum. We played like busted arses and still won. If they had a full strength side and we played the same way maybe they get enough ball through our own doing to pip us at the post but I didn’t really feel the game was out of reach at any stage. If we had played well it would have been a bloodbath even if they were full strength.

 

[Mustafur]

Good teams can play shit and still win.

 

[LittleDavey]

Nervous as ****. I have no right to be, based on form.

But we are the only undefeated team; Tigers the only one yet to taste the winning feeling. First v last. It should be a slaughter, but our recent history against these guys is nightmare fuel.

Kev needs to make sure they improve from the last 2 weeks. As others have said - respect the ball, focus on completions, and bash them up the middle. I expect they will fold in the first half hour and we can run riot after that. But the focus MUST be on completions and the middle - and continue the great defence as well. If they do that well, we win by 30+. If they do that well, we beat most of the other teams in the comp at the moment by a lot.

However, if we don't...we run the very real risk of having our pants pulled down and crashing back to earth at a time when we really need to be banking every win we can in the leadup to a very tough period of the draw. I know we have said it the past few weeks, this is yet another indication of the headspace of the guys. We can't afford to fail this test.

Kevvie, PLEASE make sure they are well aware of the recent history against this side and let's put another bogey team to the sword.

 

[Big Pete]

So Broncos should be 1-17.

John Bateman had scans on an injury, but the Tigers haven't revealed the results just yet.

 

[Thelmus]

Nervous as ****. I have no right to be, based on form.

But we are the only undefeated team; Tigers the only one yet to taste the winning feeling. First v last. It should be a slaughter, but our recent history against these guys is nightmare fuel.

Kev needs to make sure they improve from the last 2 weeks. As others have said - respect the ball, focus on completions, and bash them up the middle. I expect they will fold in the first half hour and we can run riot after that. But the focus MUST be on completions and the middle - and continue the great defence as well. If they do that well, we win by 30+. If they do that well, we beat most of the other teams in the comp at the moment by a lot.

However, if we don't...we run the very real risk of having our pants pulled down and crashing back to earth at a time when we really need to be banking every win we can in the leadup to a very tough period of the draw. I know we have said it the past few weeks, this is yet another indication of the headspace of the guys. We can't afford to fail this test.

Kevvie, PLEASE make sure they are well aware of the recent history against this side and let's put another bogey team to the sword.

This is kevie's test and its something even wayne bennet struggled with, with the broncos.
Theres something in our DNA that lets us take on any team, no matter good and beat them, only to find a downright horrible team and invite them to win.
I havent seen it in us this season but that doesnt mean it isnt there.
Kevie was also an understudy under Belamy and if there is one bloke who conquered that hill it was him. I hope he uses whatever he learnt from both of them (and his own coaching charisma) to stop any kind of complacency this week.
We are doing far better than i thought we would and id love this ride to continue. I would love hethrington back in the side for this game as ive never seen the bloke take his foot off the pedal and not give it everything he has. That kind of attitude is necessary for these games.
I hope he had chats to cobbo, mam and walsh with regard to the last game. There are a couple of worrying signs (more so from Cobbo) that could escalate in a game like this where you think you can take a few chance and be left unpunished.
I wish all young players would approach every game like the opponents like they are top 4 contenders but i guess that is what seperates haas, carrigan and farnsworth from others.

 

[Foordy]

As Wayne Bennett said in his presser ' We beat them everywhere except on the scoreboard' Wayne being Wayne of course but still some truth in it. We were never fully in control of that match and it was in doubt until the KotonI runaway try. Much work has to be done yet before we can claim to be a genuine premiership threat. Hate to put a dampener on things but if that were not the case why are we 'here' being so concerned about a top of the table team beating the bottom of the table. Bogey team or not.

Sometimes we need to take the rose coloured glasses off for a proper look.

if you believe that then I have to seriously question if you watched the match.

let's start with the 4 tries to 2 that we scored.

they had more possession and more runs ... yet we beat them in run metres, Post contact metres, line breaks, tackle breaks, avg set metres, kick return metres and avg play the ball speed.

we also made more tackles, missing less.

 

[Dash]

if you believe that then I have to seriously question if you watched the match.

let's start with the 4 tries to 2 that we scored.

they had more possession and more runs ... yet we beat them in run metres, Post contact metres, line breaks, tackle breaks, avg set metres, kick return metres and avg play the ball speed.

we also made more tackles, missing less.

Not to mention we bombed at least 2 more tries.

 

[BrentTatesChin]

Havent beaten em since 2017. I still have nightmares over 2020.

We need to be fucking on our game.

 

[theshed]

So Broncos should be 1-17.

John Bateman had scans on an injury, but the Tigers haven't revealed the results just yet.

Please tell me Luke Brookes is fit

 

[Morkel]

Please tell me Luke Brookes is fit

He's been training the house down.

 

[Sproj]

So Broncos should be 1-17.

John Bateman had scans on an injury, but the Tigers haven't revealed the results just yet.

Do you think Hetherington will come back in?

 

[kman]

Do you think Hetherington will come back in?

I am a massive fan of Hetherington, but I want him to have one more week in Q cup to get a bit more match fitness. Palasia should be dropped for him, I will give Palasia some praise for his effort but Hetherington is just a better player.

 

[Kimlo]

I am a massive fan of Hetherington, but I want him to have one more week in Q cup to get a bit more match fitness. Palasia should be dropped for him, I will give Palasia some praise for his effort but Hetherington is just a better player.

Hetho with one lung would still outperform Palasia. Now that's a guy who should be no higher than 18th man. Hope Hetho is back this week.

 

[thenry]

if you believe that then I have to seriously question if you watched the match.

let's start with the 4 tries to 2 that we scored.

they had more possession and more runs ... yet we beat them in run metres, Post contact metres, line breaks, tackle breaks, avg set metres, kick return metres and avg play the ball speed.

we also made more tackles, missing less.

Also the eye test. We looked like we had their measure defensively all night. We were bashing them.

 

[Gaz]

if you believe that then I have to seriously question if you watched the match.

let's start with the 4 tries to 2 that we scored.

they had more possession and more runs ... yet we beat them in run metres, Post contact metres, line breaks, tackle breaks, avg set metres, kick return metres and avg play the ball speed.

we also made more tackles, missing less.

I’ve watched this game three times now and I think we were in control for most of the game. We kept letting them back into the contest but were quick to regain momentum. We played like busted arses and still won. If they had a full strength side and we played the same way maybe they get enough ball through our own doing to pip us at the post but I didn’t really feel the game was out of reach at any stage. If we had played well it would have been a bloodbath even if they were full strength.

We beat a busted team by a converted try. A busted team that was beating us 12 points to 8 at the 64th minute of the match. We were still only up by two with nine minutes to play. We can do better and we must. Foordy your stats only serve to make the result look worse - with all that going for us we really should have brained them - don’t you agree?