PRE-GAME PRE-GAME [Round 8, 2023] Broncos vs Eels

[Super Freak]

We need to fix our starts and we need to fix them now.

If we start off poorly against the Eels, they will blow us off the park early and that'll be it.

 

[Wolfie]

I’d let you argue that he wasn’t our best but I won’t let you get away with saying he wasn’t close

I dont think he was. Take away his meter making ( and as i have always said, just making meters doesnt make you a good player ), which he will always make because he is just a freak athlete, the rest of his game was pretty ordinary last year. He was nothing like the player we are seeing now. He's streets ahead of the 2022 version of Payne Haas. A big reason for that is he isnt acting like a selfish brat who puts himself above the team. Thats to me is the biggest positive change in him.

 

[theshed]

I dont think he was. Take away his meter making ( and as i have always said, just making meters doesnt make you a good player ), which he will always make because he is just a freak athlete, the rest of his game was pretty ordinary last year. He was nothing like the player we are seeing now. He's streets ahead of the 2022 version of Payne Haas. A big reason for that is he isnt acting like a selfish brat who puts himself above the team. Thats to me is the biggest positive change in him.

He has definitely developed some parts of his game and is playing at a new level but he was still one of our best last year. You maybe over romanticising how good the rest of the team played if you care completely discounting Haas

 

[McHunt]

We need to fix our starts and we need to fix them now.

If we start off poorly against the Eels, they will blow us off the park early and that'll be it.

How would you suggest we do that?

You can look at it from a few different angles.

1. If you're to correlate with the personnel, we generally start getting our shit together around the time the second shift clocks in. Paix in for Walters. Taupau for Carrigan. Etc.

2. Although we're usually behind on the board around the time Billy and Pat are replaced, it's invariably our attack that's been failing to click.

3. The fact that we've ended up winning might suggest we're doing something right overall. Or it might suggest we're doing something better with the bench players. It's easy to scapegoat Billy, but what about Patty?

4. An alternate theory to us starting badly, might be we wear them out in the first thirty minutes, and then go in for the kill when they're buggered.

It's a bit of a glass half full paradox that only falls apart when we lose.

 

[Wolfie]

He has definitely developed some parts of his game and is playing at a new level but he was still one of our best last year. You maybe over romanticising how good the rest of the team played if you care completely discounting Haas

I dont think he was poor, but he wouldnt have been in my top 3 players. Oates, Carrigan and even Reynolds despite his injury plagued finish to the year were all better and more positive influences on the team imo. I'd actually put Jensen on a par with Payne last year.

This year is a lot different. Just quietly, I'm actually like Payne more a person. He was an absolute dog imo with that contract stunt he pulled. Hopefully it doesnt backfire on me, but i think something has changed in him as a person. Could be down to him finally realising he needs to distance himself from some of his vile family members. He doesnt seem like the **** he was. Hopefully he doesnt let his idiot management influence him again either. He cant afford to be that dumb again.

 

[Wolfie]

Oatesy back and his tough runs and one-two punch with Cobbo will be noticeable in getting us on the front foot. Arthars did really, really well and he'll get plenty of games but he isn't Oates.

I love Oatesy, but i'm not a fan of just dropping a player back in like this. I think a game in cup wouldnt have harmed him.

 

[Kimlo]

I dont think he was. Take away his meter making ( and as i have always said, just making meters doesnt make you a good player ), which he will always make because he is just a freak athlete, the rest of his game was pretty ordinary last year. He was nothing like the player we are seeing now. He's streets ahead of the 2022 version of Payne Haas. A big reason for that is he isnt acting like a selfish brat who puts himself above the team. Thats to me is the biggest positive change in him.

Are we ignoring the fact that he had two busted shoulders and was playing with an injection every week?

His form dip last year was exactly after he injured his first shoulder, then he did the other shoulder, and his form dipped a bit more. He was still top tier even playing busted but he didn't have the confidence to run full pelt into the line.

I think skipping the world cup was a pretty ace move from him, not many players of his age would miss rep football to do what's right for their club, huge respect to the young fella making that choice, and it's paid off with having an uninterrupted pre-season.

 

[Organix]

I dont think they hit as hard as flegs

That's what Gamble said: Flegler tries to hurt you. Nice to have a player like that in your pack.

Fair enough, though it is a question of timing the impact. I mean, Broncos seem to need to weather an early onslaught typically, but their fitness over 80 minutes seems to be winning them matches. Having a fresher, more aggressive middle period (second quarter) would, in my opinion, be something of a benefit against a grindier opposition. Flegler's movement just before the line in attack is very suited to the aggressive style Walsh has brought to the team, and when better than either side of halftime?

I understand the intimidation factor, but I kinda prefer having it out wide with Staggs/Riki protecting Reynolds, and I wouldn't mind Patty CJ and Payne hitting a bit harder to compensate, in any case.

The middle will be a battleground this weekend, regardless. Will need everyone switched on in D.

 

[Maroon4life]

Annoyingly I think we will lose. There’s a lot of talent in this side to like and enjoy but I still feel like we lack some serious and strong leadership (even with Reynolds) on the field to overcome the youth and uninhibited play style it brings. Parramatta has a pack that won’t stop coming at us and is just as powerful. Brown & RCG to be the difference.

 

[Wolfie]

Are we ignoring the fact that he had two busted shoulders and was playing with an injection every week?

His form dip last year was exactly after he injured his first shoulder, then he did the other shoulder, and his form dipped a bit more. He was still top tier even playing busted but he didn't have the confidence to run full pelt into the line.

I think skipping the world cup was a pretty ace move from him, not many players of his age would miss rep football to do what's right for their club, huge respect to the young fella making that choice, and it's paid off with having an uninterrupted pre-season.

Not ignoring it, but regardless of the reason he wasnt close to being our best player last year. I dont think he even was before he got his injuries. And tbf, he wouldn't be the first player who played a fair chunk of the season getting needled up to play. Its not that unusual in league, especially in the modern game where its become a fairly common thing for players to just get needled up to stay on the field. At a guess probably over half the team would have been playing with some fairly serious injuries. 2 of our best 3 players players last year were playing with pain killing injections. Its not something i'm a fan of personally, especially when it affects your performance to the level where you cant perform to your best. And when you look at it, it didnt do Kotoni or Payne any favours. Mind you, Payne didnt do himself any favours either. Hopefully all that nonsense is behind him now.

 

[Johnny92]

I dont think he was. Take away his meter making ( and as i have always said, just making meters doesnt make you a good player ), which he will always make because he is just a freak athlete, the rest of his game was pretty ordinary last year. He was nothing like the player we are seeing now. He's streets ahead of the 2022 version of Payne Haas. A big reason for that is he isnt acting like a selfish brat who puts himself above the team. Thats to me is the biggest positive change in him.

He has added the offload to his game and running with alot more aggression and purpose, against the dragons when he came back on and set up 2 tries be bending the line and popping the pass we don't see that in previous years Payne Haas. There has been times this season where it's like he's a man playing against kids.

 

[theshed]

I dont think he was poor, but he wouldnt have been in my top 3 players. Oates, Carrigan and even Reynolds despite his injury plagued finish to the year were all better and more positive influences on the team imo. I'd actually put Jensen on a par with Payne last year.

This year is a lot different. Just quietly, I'm actually like Payne more a person. He was an absolute dog imo with that contract stunt he pulled. Hopefully it doesnt backfire on me, but i think something has changed in him as a person. Could be down to him finally realising he needs to distance himself from some of his vile family members. He doesnt seem like the **** he was. Hopefully he doesnt let his idiot management influence him again either. He cant afford to be that dumb again.

If you include the off field issues then he definitely doesn’t deserve much praise but purely from an on field perspective he was definitely one of our best. Even if he was not playing to his potential. That being said, I do think Oatesy was our most consistent player last year.

 

[thenry]

Annoyingly I think we will lose. There’s a lot of talent in this side to like and enjoy but I still feel like we lack some serious and strong leadership (even with Reynolds) on the field to overcome the youth and uninhibited play style it brings. Parramatta has a pack that won’t stop coming at us and is just as powerful. Brown & RCG to be the difference.

I think Parra will be thinking the same about our pack to be honest...When we're at full strength we look formidable across the park.

 

[Big Del]

Annoyingly I think we will lose. There’s a lot of talent in this side to like and enjoy but I still feel like we lack some serious and strong leadership (even with Reynolds) on the field to overcome the youth and uninhibited play style it brings. Parramatta has a pack that won’t stop coming at us and is just as powerful. Brown & RCG to be the difference.

Dylan Brown is still there .
Nathan Brown is at the Roosters . Junior Paulo is RCG`s partner .

 

[nopatience101]

Eels 13+

We aren’t disciplined enough with the ball or without it and if we give the eels that many chances they will score.

 

[holdzy]

Eels 13+

We aren’t disciplined enough with the ball or without it and if we give the eels that many chances they will score.

I think we might see a more conservative attack this week in order to match it defensively with the Eels. I hope so anyway.

Feels like one of those games either a blow out or a field goal decides it.

 

[Mightybroncs2k17]

The eels are a side who are alot better then their position on the ladder suggets. We won't get away with the stunts we pulled against the Dragons and titans in the sense of only playing footy for 40 mins. The eels are a genuine tough side who can put a score on us if we don't turn up.

This will give a good indication on how we are really going so I'm super excited.

Its important we keep banking up the two points and building confidence when we have the ability to field these full strength sides because you just never know when injuries and suspensions will cripple you.

The best thing about this game is we literally have no excuses. Our forward pack starting with Hass, Patty and Flegs should go toe to toe with any pack in the comp then the reserves of Marty, Jensen and Kobe is really a gun set of middles.

I'm really looking for reynolds to steer us around the park and kick deep into the opposition corners here and get into a real grind to see who blinks flirst. If we be paitnent i think across the park 1-17 we should be to good for them.

 

[Santa]

How would you suggest we do that?

You can look at it from a few different angles.

1. If you're to correlate with the personnel, we generally start getting our shit together around the time the second shift clocks in. Paix in for Walters. Taupau for Carrigan. Etc.

2. Although we're usually behind on the board around the time Billy and Pat are replaced, it's invariably our attack that's been failing to click.

3. The fact that we've ended up winning might suggest we're doing something right overall. Or it might suggest we're doing something better with the bench players. It's easy to scapegoat Billy, but what about Patty?

4. An alternate theory to us starting badly, might be we wear them out in the first thirty minutes, and then go in for the kill when they're buggered.

It's a bit of a glass half full paradox that only falls apart when we lose.

I think it's more of a collective mindset. E.g. We can get really aggressive in defence (line speed and all that), but we don't seem to do it consistently. We seem to need to be initially shocked (through conceding a try) to step it up.