Pretenders or contenders?

[lynx000]

Sure, okay, I'm tired after shift no 13, 12 hours of night work and yeah, that was snarky of me...I agree, Melbourne are beatable....any given day so they say. Not sure if Melbourne need to be at their best quite honestly especially if their opposition on the day aren't either.

An old saying...it's not how good you are when you're good, it's how good are you when you're bad.

(Melbourne are very good even when they're bad)

This is probably the best summary/conclusion I have seen on the issue. I agree with Huge that it is unlikely bordering on impossible to foresee a scenario where Melbourne produce a result like ours from Thursday night. But, and it is a big but, that does not mean that they are unbeatable or that it is foregone conclusion. You have to know that if you are going to beat them this year, you have to win it, they will not beat themselves (like most of the other teams including us do on occasions).

 

[WASSHHH]

I've bagged the round 25 Broncos to the hills and back, and deservedly so - they were worse than terrible.

The reality is though, if we can play tough, dogged football through the forwards and set a platform - the actual 2015 Clive Churchill medal winner rises to the occasion when it matters and single handedly put us in a position where we could have beat Parramatta without much support.

Our forward pack is light, but mobile. These qualities have won us numerous games this season and will hopefully do so for a few more weeks.

Yes Brisbane have come back to earth, yes Melbourne are favourites and so they should be. If the GF was this week, no-one would get near them based on the round 25 performances. But the GF is not this week and a lot can happen between now and October.

Go back to basics, simplify and solidify our defence and actually use the weapons we have in attack, I guarantee we'd have every team in the comp worried, including Melbourne. Give Roberts a license to roam (see my earlier comment regarding him simply being around the ball making defences worry) and let Milf do his thing. Our for-and-against is not a worry, so we don't have to win by 50 any weeks, we only have to win.

In 10 years time, no one will know or care who was minor premier, they only care who wins the big dance - that can still be us!

 

[Thelmus]

I've bagged the round 25 Broncos to the hills and back, and deservedly so - they were worse than terrible.

The reality is though, if we can play tough, dogged football through the forwards and set a platform - the actual 2015 Clive Churchill medal winner rises to the occasion when it matters and single handedly put us in a position where we could have beat Parramatta without much support.

Our forward pack is light, but mobile. These qualities have won us numerous games this season and will hopefully do so for a few more weeks.

Yes Brisbane have come back to earth, yes Melbourne are favourites and so they should be. If the GF was this week, no-one would get near them based on the round 25 performances. But the GF is not this week and a lot can happen between now and October.

Go back to basics, simplify and solidify our defence and actually use the weapons we have in attack, I guarantee we'd have every team in the comp worried, including Melbourne. Give Roberts a license to roam (see my earlier comment regarding him simply being around the ball making defences worry) and let Milf do his thing. Our for-and-against is not a worry, so we don't have to win by 50 any weeks, we only have to win.

In 10 years time, no one will know or care who was minor premier, they only care who wins the big dance - that can still be us!

Perfectly put. Bend/break the line, then play football. Put your opposition on the back foot, then go for the throat. Know where and when to roll the dice, make sure there's only one man making that decision and when he does, dont hold back. Forwards and backs need to play football, but only when the risk is worth it.
Offloading on 1st tackle was bad, but failing to defend the next set of 6 was far worse. We made semi radrada look like Roberts because we failed to recover from that 1st try and went into our shells. No communication when it got tough, left our defence in tatters and caused all manner of brainfades.
As to your comment about Roberts given licence to roam, I could agree more. An offload to the fastest man in rugby league is bound to cause the opposition defence a moment of concern if nothing else. But, it can't be done when youve 3 men around you and pushing you backwards. Thats when 2nd man plays and the like, those ones we've used all year should come into it. 3rd or 4th tackle kicks from hunt wouldn't hurt either to turn them around.
All those count for nought though if your in your own red zone trying to get out. Then, you've just got to take your medicine, play through your sets, and kick for touch. The last is the most important. Its boring, won't score you points but it can be the difference between winning 16-10 and losing 30-50. No one remembers your tries or how exiting your tries were if you end up being flogged, never in the contest. And if you're working harder than your opponents, better to be doing so with a break at the end of a kick. Simple logic, but somehow lost on our team at the moment.

 

[Aldo]

You are the only one with an apparent fascination with the number 50. The point raised was can you imagine Melbourne conceding 50 points this year ? Please pick a number that you think qualifies as big. Most of us would think conceding 30 was a lot, 40 a fucking lot and 50 or more a fuckton...it's about not being able to imagine the 2017 Melbourne standing behind the posts while 51 points has been added to any opposition side. I mean you could nearly field 26 players, all forwards one after another running straight at them and I'd still think they'd let in less than 49, 50, 51 ...

How'd you come up with this haha. Just noticed the number 50 thrown around by a few people and wondered where it came from. No need to be a smart arse.

 

[Morkel]

Either there are no contenders besides the Storm, or there are 3-4 contenders. If it's the latter, we're contenders. End/

 

[Broncapz]

Either there are no contenders besides the Storm, or there are 3-4 contenders. If it's the latter, we're contenders. End/

Pretty much this. I think we're first in line for contenders of the pretenders.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Sure, okay, I'm tired after shift no 13, 12 hours of night work and yeah, that was snarky of me...I agree,

FTR.....you work a lot of long shifts, don't you. :p

 

[Huge]

FTR.....you work a lot of long shifts, don't you. :p

Work long hours often, make lot's of money. I have an opportunity to make enough to fund a comfortable retirement, not a wealthy one but just enough to cover the bills and afford a steak and a beer whenever I want one.

I work 14 days straight, 7 days and 7 nights 12 hours a shift. Then 7 days off and repeat. 75% of my life spent at work but not for a lifetime, just until C3PO and R2D2 replace me in 12-18 months then feet up....happy to do it even though it's a 11000 kilometer round trip

 

[ZTop]

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...r/news-story/267f0cb11a11f8d683f830a6e56150a2

 

[Astro]

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...r/news-story/267f0cb11a11f8d683f830a6e56150a2

So one way or another the NRL will be making history happen again.

 

[winslow_wong]

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...r/news-story/267f0cb11a11f8d683f830a6e56150a2

Might be best the broncos miss a home final and play away as under dogs. Last week they were overwhelming favourites at home and didn't bother to aim up.

 

[WASSHHH]

Work long hours often, make lot's of money. I have an opportunity to make enough to fund a comfortable retirement, not a wealthy one but just enough to cover the bills and afford a steak and a beer whenever I want one.

I work 14 days straight, 7 days and 7 nights 12 hours a shift. Then 7 days off and repeat. 75% of my life spent at work but not for a lifetime, just until C3PO and R2D2 replace me in 12-18 months then feet up....happy to do it even though it's a 11000 kilometer round trip

I don't want to come across as a douche, but reading the first bit of this was like reading click-bait - I was just waiting for the Nigerian prince to offer me $1 trillion!!
Poor fella, he has all this money to give away and no one seems to trust him - who knew philanthropy could be so difficult.

On a more serious note, sounds like you've got a plan that's working for you. Best of luck to you!

 

[BroncsFan]

So one way or another the NRL will be making history happen again.

Please NRL is where fairytales happen.

Our story just doesn't matter this year:
- Hunt leaving meh
- Benji retiring not anymore
- Sammy retiring not anymore
- Blair retiring not anymore (he's also king grub to anyone in Sydney)
- Redemption stories - nope

Other contenders
Storm - Cronk leaving tick, salary cap redemption tick
Roosters - Sydney tick, missed finals last year so must be an underdog tick
Eels - salary cap redemption tick, Semi leaving tick, missed finals tick
Sharks - first team back to back since us tick

The issue with those teams is they need someone to be the antagonist of the story and that's where broncos tick all the boxes to Sydney folk... I mean what would actually get Sydney siders to barrack for Melbourne.

Qld team tick, apparent infinite cap tick, steals juniors tick, Bennett's a dick tick.

 

[mitch222]

Please NRL is where fairytales happen.

Our story just doesn't matter this year:
- Hunt leaving meh
- Benji retiring not anymore
- Sammy retiring not anymore
- Blair retiring not anymore (he's also king grub to anyone in Sydney)
- Redemption stories - nope

Other contenders
Storm - Cronk leaving tick, salary cap redemption tick
Roosters - Sydney tick, missed finals last year so must be an underdog tick
Eels - salary cap redemption tick, Semi leaving tick, missed finals tick
Sharks - first team back to back since us tick

The issue with those teams is they need someone to be the antagonist of the story and that's where broncos tick all the boxes to Sydney folk... I mean what would actually get Sydney siders to barrack for Melbourne.

Qld team tick, apparent infinite cap tick, steals juniors tick, Bennett's a dick tick.

Oh this is all setup for the Eels wankfest. You can see it from here, the redemption of a salary cap cheating team, Moses mid year swap, the premiership the eels diehards have been waiting for 30 years etc. They are going to get some serious rub of the green in the finals no doubt

 

[Morkel]

So we'll make the GF and lose?

 

[Astro]

So we'll make the GF and lose?

If we make the GF we won't lose. No matter how lopsided the calls are. These guys lost one before they won't let it happen again.

They also can't stiff Milford twice for MOM in a grand final.

 

[tommy]

So we'll make the GF and lose?

We are the perfect villains.


The salary cap redemption is a favourite of the NRL's. Canterbury 2004, Melbourne 2012. Could be the Eels year.

 

[Battler]

Might be best the broncos miss a home final and play away as under dogs. Last week they were overwhelming favourites at home and didn't bother to aim up.

It's not the rorters home crowd (all 20k max of them) will be intimidating, we just need to win this weekend to make sure that we don't play the Storm.