Round 1 2014

Also, Oates is not a Winger, Tasi is going to another club, Gillet plays 12, Thaiday plays 11 and Mildord is on the bench... Sorry, just calling it as I see it...


Well Brett, of course Oates is not a winger - we just need to put someone out there who will score less tries than him. Simple
 
yeah true about the gillett thaiday thing. just heard about tasi, shame too cause i think he would have gotten better. Thing is, hoffman over milford at 6 becuase we keep demoting hoffman and eventually he will get fed up and leave (too good a player for that to happen). if we take fullback off him to promote barba, he wont be happy playing in wings or centres, need him in the play more at 6. milford would be a good impact player off the bench, and oates surely on the wing, cause we have a million second rowers
 
1. Barba
2. Oates
3. Reed
4. Hodges
5. Yow Yeh
6. Hoffman
7. Hunt
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Hannant
11. Thaiday
12. Gillett
13. Parker (captain)
Interchange
14. Milford
15. Glenn
16. Kennedy
17. Stagg/Hala
 
I don't see Hoff at 6 - at least not in 2014

Don't see him with necessary skills, but that's just my opinion
 
yeah true about the gillett thaiday thing. just heard about tasi, shame too cause i think he would have gotten better. Thing is, hoffman over milford at 6 becuase we keep demoting hoffman and eventually he will get fed up and leave (too good a player for that to happen). if we take fullback off him to promote barba, he wont be happy playing in wings or centres, need him in the play more at 6. milford would be a good impact player off the bench, and oates surely on the wing, cause we have a million second rowers

People should play wherever they are needed; what is best for the team

Not what makes them happy

Hoff has proven himself a strong finisher, and very good winger

Play him there
 
If Hoffman left, we'd lose a very good winger...
 
1. Barba
2. Oates
3. Reed
4. Hodges
5. Yow Yeh
6. Hoffman
7. Hunt
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Hannant
11. Thaiday
12. Gillett
13. Parker (captain)
Interchange
14. Milford
15. Glenn
16. Kennedy
17. Stagg/Hala

1. Barba
2. Hoffman
3. Reed
4. Kahu
5. Oates
6. Milford/DCE :biggrin:
7. Hunt/DCE
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Hannant
11. Thaiday
12. Gillett
13. Parker (captain)
Interchange
14. Granville
15. Glenn
16. Kennedy
17. Stagg/Hala

I also think Kennedy will start, and I guess it depends on whether we use Granville or not but if we do, there's no room for Stagg on that bench (too lite).

re: the backline...the only locks are Barba and Reed IMO. The other 3 spots will be a combo of Copley, Kahu, Hoffman, Oates and Yow. I think Oates and Hoff will definitely have a spot somewhere in the top 17 but that last spot is up for grabs. I don't think Yow will have the speed that we need to play on the wing anymore unfortunately. Could give him a run at the 3 or 4?

FTR, I want Hoffman to get first shot at the vacant 4.
 
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yeah, yow yeh in centres maybe. what about second row. we could use his enthusiasm running at the line
 
What I've noticed this year is how burnt out our forwards appear to get towards the back end of the game. We have started well, but faded out around the 30-60min period, then struggle to recover. I noticed a huge negative change in momentum this year, consistently, at a defining point. When the coach would rotate a strong starting Andrew McCollough. For what reason?? He wasn't fatigued! The idea was, to bring on a replacement hooker who would be fresh and flaring with 10 to 5mins remaining in the half to potentially steal a try in the "danger period" and put a dint in the opposition. Then, they would not rotate Macca back on because it was a waste of an interchange!? ummm...it's a waste of an interchange as it is!!!

Okay, for most of the year we had Ben Hunt filling this role. We all know why this wasn't working and the negative repercussions of playing Hunt in this role instead of giving him an entire year in the intrust supercup as a halfback. But, when Hook switched Hunt to 7 and Wallace to 14, we found our new halfback, but scorned another. There was never an incentive for Wallace to play any kind of inspiring role off the bench after being dropped. This was done out of loyalty. Detrimental to the team a thing like loyalty. I liked Granville in this role when he got a chance in 2013. But seriously!? Shouldn't we be focusing more on the issue of it being a waste of an interchange if the replacement hooker doesn't perform? Here is why we have burnt out forwards!!!!!

Lets train McCollough to be an 80min hooker. There aren't too many in our game, but I already know the Broncos have been putting McCollough through extensive Cameron Smith mimicking sessions where he studies his style of play. I strongly disbelieve the talks of the Broncos chasing Smith with all their cash. They want to build one up as their first option because lets face it, no matter how much money you have to throw at Smith, he can still say no! And he's not a long term option! He'll have what, three years left by that point? Plus we need a solution for 2014!? Smith is on contract til 2015....silly.

Broncos, train McCollough to be an 80min player. Cement our spine. I'm so pissed about Corey Norman being a pussy and leaving now, and I bet he feels extremely remorseful heading to a club with such turmoil now the Broncos are desperate for a good running 5/8th. So unfortunate! But, he's done what he's done. And we are in need of a young 5/8th who is there for the long haul. I hope and google news search Anthony Milford to the point where I have been checked by google spam alert more than twice for "unusual search traffic" while looking fo great news! Unfortunately we aren't going to find out anything til Novemeber it seems :/ but yes, without Milford....we are in very desperate territory! So we need to get that figured out ASAP! Do not run anyone currently in the side at #6. Just don't. (Also liking Karmichael Hunt at 6, he's only 26. Plenty of NRL years in him yet as AFL are saing he's done!)
 
Lets train McCollough to be an 80min hooker. There aren't too many in our game, but I already know the Broncos have been putting McCollough through extensive Cameron Smith mimicking sessions where he studies his style of play.

Now that's a mistake. No one should be trying to replicate Smith, he's one of a kind, and his game really doesn't suit modern RL unless you are a genius like he is. And McCullough, for the lack of a better word, is a bit of an idiot on the field when it comes to decision making. He should be working on quick service more than anything else, that's the most important thing for a hooker in attack, and he is below average at it.
 
Ok ok, so let's say we get all the guys supposedly coming and lose Hannant just as a hypothetical.

1. Barba
2. Hoffman
3. Reed
4. Oates
5. Yow Yeh
6. Milford
7. DCE
8. McGuire
9. Luke
10. Kennedy
11. Glenn
12. Gillett
13. Parker (c) (This way, DCE is promised the captaincy after CP13 sadly calls it a day)

14. McCullough
15. Thaiday
16. Hala
17. Stagg

Oates to the bench when Hodgo returns. I would personally leave Macca out and play Hunt at 6 with Milford off the bench but most of you wouldn't agree with that understandably.

Even so, how good does that team look!!!
 
Considering my stance on the not rotating the Hooker policy....this would be my team:

#1 Barba. (Lets stop playing players out of position out of desparation. He's a proven fullback. Don't muck with it!)
#2 Hoffman (Get the broncos to inspire him properly. He obviously has a problem with playing anywhere other than fullback despite the fact he was the competition's leading try scorer in this position. Need someone quick on the outside of Reed's running and draw/pass ability. Give him a licence to roam around the park to scrape up offloads and find gaps with Barba & Hoffy both doing this, how can we be stopped?!)
#3 Reed. (As stated above, he is a fantastic running centre where he can draw and pass around the back to create gaps fr a flyer on his outside. Wingers on his flank score a try per game or more. Simple selection)
#4 Hodges (before he's back, whoever is fittest to perform. Copley or JYY would be preferred. They are experienced and bigger.
#5 Oates. (Lets have him keep developing on the wing with his size and guts. He has a lot of quality in his composure and tenacity. Like the kid)
#6 Milford (If we get him. Another ball runner with lightning speed coupled by an amazing ability to expose and open gaps on the field. Hoffman, Barba, Milford. Seriously....SERIOUSLY need the right coaching to create synergy between these weapons. If we don't get Milford, I've menioned my intrigue in the Karmichael Hunt romours. Better than spending our banked money on Smith & DCE in my opinion, providing he agrees to a reasonable price. Karmichael comes with a considerable amount of risk. And the broncos can argue that with buying him through a code swap and the fact je was injured most of the AFL season. He doesn't have a lg to stand on for asking super big money, but should be given the chance to prove himself FOR the big money after at least two seasons. The fact we need to urgently cement a sustainable spine in 2014 rules out DCE and Smith.)
#7 Hunt (Let the man grow with a full preseason under his belt. With a good 5/8th to complement his style of play, he will be fantastic)
#8 Kennedy (Strong. Tough. If he proves himself in preseason, screw loaylty! Look how it turned out the last few years. Best man for the job is best man for the job!)
#9 McCollough (Keep on with guiding him under Cam Smith highlight videos and build his fitness to be an 80min player. Especially now we have the Mebourn Storm performance coach on staff, surely this is now possible!)
#10 Hennant (Played under injury this year, preseason to prove himself worthy of this starting spot again)
#11 Gillett (Had a great year! You can't give Glenn back his spot. Gillett has created too many individual opportunities in 2013 to dent him this spot)
#12 Thaiday (I'm against the thaiday haters. He also played with injury this year and had to be played out of position for most of the season by Hook's stupid tactics. With a good preseason, he shouldn't be played out of position again! I will agree he was lazy this year, a new performance coach will rectify this I hope, and a co-captaincy with Parker is a great idea!)
#13 Parker (best offloader in the game. my favourite player of the year. This stat machine should be rewarded with the co-captaincy as a few have suggested. He leads by example and leaves nothing in the tank! He will also be converting again next year! H will be my supercoach captain too, so why not :P)

#14 Stagg (Now, this is where things will get controversial. Abolishing the backup hooker role, [which I would give to Granville if it was kept]...but we need extra forwards on the bench to keep our men fresh for the 80mins and to reduce strain on our origin rep players. However, Stagg is versatile If you were to argue that a utility player is a must, then he's your man)
#15 Maguire (Replacing hennant. Both these guys are interchangeable depending on form and fitness. Quite easily could be the other way round!)
#16 Glenn (Now, he'd play in the backrow. Replacing Thaiday on interchange. He had a great 2012 top scoring for 2nd rowers for I believe th majority if not entirety of the year? This was because of Norman. They had a great combination. This year, he was awful. Lazy. This must change! Cannot get his starting spot back til injury or origin)
#17 Hala (hmmmm he's got a lot of potential! Injury prone :S needs to improve on fitness a considerable amount! But I dislike Anderson! Awful player! Lazy, submits constantly! Dropping off taskles for a man his size is abysmal dodds improved towards the end of the year. He got a bit of fire in him which was good! But his discipline killed him for me....he's a huge step in front of Anderson though. If Hala isn't it and ready to step up, Then Dodds should get the remaining bench spot.)

I am hopeful of Milford, JYY and copley. All unknowns for which I am holding out for news on. With a bit of better luck in 2014, we are a serious force!
 
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Alec;2535520 No one should be trying to replicate Smith said:
Why can't he be trying to replicate Smith? Everything he does, he does on camera...simply saying he's a "genius" I don't buy. What he does surely can be analyzed and taught. Teach Macca how Smith calculates his decisions. I've seen the difference in the last few rounds in McCollough. He's looking more and more like Smith in his style, and to be honest.....it was working! Wasn't until we swapped him with the (idiot) Wallace that we lost our momentum.
 
It's just like you can't teach Norman to be Darren Lockyer, or Ben Hunt to be Allan Langer or whatever. They aren't in the same league.
Melbourne's structure works because of Smith's brilliant footy mind. The entire structure revolves around him and the play the ball.

That method is becoming a bit outdated though, and it only works for Melbourne because of how good Smith is. Most teams rely on quick and reliable dummy half service, and let the ball do the work afterwards. It's how we should be playing, especially if we get DCE and/or Milford.
 
iously
I don't see Hoff at 6 - at least not in 2014

Don't see him with necessary skills, but that's just my opinion

People used to go crazy on here when Norman butchered overlaps. Hoffman would be much worse. His strength is his finishing ability and running game which suits the centres/wing (obviously).
 
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I think Griffin's Round 1 will be:

1. Barba
2. Hoffman
3. Reed
4. Copely
5. Kahu
6. Qld cup/Under 20's option, basically whoever steps up drung the trials. I'm not convinced Milford is a gimme atm
7. Hunt
8. Hannant
9. McCullough
10. McQuire
11 . Thaiday (c)
12. Gillett
13. Parker
Bench: Kennedy, Glenn, Dodds, Granville

1. Barba
2. Hoffman
3. Reed
4. Copely
5. Kahu
6. Milford
7. Hunt
8. Hannant
9. McCullough
10. McQuire
11 . Thaiday (c)
12. Gillett
13. Parker
Bench: Kennedy, Glenn, Dodds, Granville

I believe Milford is coming.

Otherwise that team's not a bad start to the year. Dodds would be on notice, however in saying that I thought his game lifted this year.

I'm wary of Kennedy. I'm not completely sold on him yet.

Granville and Barba and Milford ....FMD, could really reek some havoc.
 
Why can't he be trying to replicate Smith? Everything he does, he does on camera...simply saying he's a "genius" I don't buy. What he does surely can be analyzed and taught. Teach Macca how Smith calculates his decisions. I've seen the difference in the last few rounds in McCollough. He's looking more and more like Smith in his style, and to be honest.....it was working!

You can't just teach instinct and footy intelligence

I don't think McCullough is smart enough to learn it even if you could.

He's been around long enough (McC)........make or break year for him at the Broncs IMO.

Wasn't until we swapped him with the (idiot) Wallace that we lost our momentum.

:loool: ........agreed!
 
Why can't he be trying to replicate Smith? Everything he does, he does on camera...simply saying he's a "genius" I don't buy. What he does surely can be analyzed and taught. Teach Macca how Smith calculates his decisions.


If it was that easy, every team would have a Cameron Smith.

There is a reason why Cameron Smith is going to go down as one of the best hookers to ever play the game, and its not because he is easy to copy. Its a combination of skill, athletic ability, talent, composure, leadership, discision making and intellect. You can't replicate that from watching videos of Storm games
 

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