PRE-GAME [Round 1, 2022] - Broncos v Rabbitohs

[pagey]

Bellamy didn’t waltz into a bottom 4 team and start ripping everyone new arseholes though. He built it over time and was lucky enough to have a nucleus of players to help him do it.

Whilst I can’t stand the large proportion of delicate flowers we’ve had at our club the last 5 years or so, Michael Maguire is a good example of what happens when you do exactly what you’d like Walters to do.

Like it or not, coaches have to stroke the many egos at the club these days, otherwise player power (whatever the **** that is) wins out and the coach is sacked.

Yep players these days are very selfish, and its very hard to build up a culture when results are against you and players are jumping ship.
It's going to be a struggle trying to cuddle and caress players aswell as getting results, and that's what this team needs because the pressure of the outside noise will get deafening if results don't come quickly.
hopefully we can settle on our spine and get some results quickly and gain some momentum and confidence, otherwise a few disgruntled players could start another collapse.

 

[McHunt]

I'm expecting to see Pereira and Cobbo on the wings with Farnworth and Staggs in the centres. Lee if Farnworth is injured.

Isaako will be fullback. Cobbo didn't do a well enough job to take the spot from Isaako.

I'm expecting Walters to get the nod over Gamble. I think Gamble is going to be playing reserve grade and I think Paix will be starting hooker with Turpin playing from the bench.

I don't expect any surprises with the rest of the forward pack.

Farnworth isn't "injured." He has Covid. As does Albert. The question with all these post-covid players is how quickly - if ever - they'll regain their fitness. He might be available in a week, but that doesn't mean he'll be able to play a full game at full tilt, or he won't be a bit foggy headed. Good chance that's what's wrong with Selwyn, but that's just a guess.

 

[McHunt]

Watching Melbourne play Newcastle late on Kayo, all it does is illustrate how off the pace we actually are. Every play Melbourne make has some sort of structure about it. Is the ball coming out to the right fast? Jennings is on the run ready to receive it. Munster has made a break down the middle? His hooker is flying up in support. They don't even have to wonder if their teammate is going to be there to support or to play their role, they just know they will be, because if they don't they're gonna have to deal with Bellyache at the half time break and that's enough to intimidate the toughest footballer. Walters looks like a Retriever puppy by comparison.

That's what real accountability looks like. Not this silent treatment shit we see from our mob and the limp noodle attempts to pull a Bennett and manipulate the media that Kev busies himself with.

The Sharks looked better than us, too. Particularly at fullback.

 

[McHunt]

Yep players these days are very selfish, and its very hard to build up a culture when results are against you and players are jumping ship.
It's going to be a struggle trying to cuddle and caress players aswell as getting results, and that's what this team needs because the pressure of the outside noise will get deafening if results don't come quickly.
hopefully we can settle on our spine and get some results quickly and gain some momentum and confidence, otherwise a few disgruntled players could start another collapse.

It's hard to tell from afar. Every season we get the same old press about them never being fitter and we always fall for it. We even had Andrew Johns calling us a premiership contender a few weeks ago. Everyone had us making the finals, yet our near full strength team just got thoroughly smoked by one of the two teams who ended up below us on the table. And now our first choice playmaker is likely to be a bloke who wasn't good enough to make the team that finished two points above us.

It can also be hard to tell why a player looks like he's not putting in. We've had some fantastic players - Wally Lewis is the first to mind - who were only running on a couple of cylinders, but the quality of their effort made up for it. But I can really only name a few who looked like they were either unable or unwilling to put in the required effort. Off the top of my head that's Darius, Milford, Oates and most recently Selwyn. It's way too early to point fingers at Selwyn being lazy or physically lacking. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt right now.

I think it's easier to hide in the forwards. Matt Lodge was accused of that. Same with Fifita. You'd see their big plays but not notice when they went missing in action.

And then some of our most criticized players, like Jamayne, Xavier, Herbie, Brodie and Jake I've never thought any of them didn't put in 100%. It's been more about quality. Same with the fullback incarnation of Tesi. Patty, Flegs, TC, Jordan etc, these are fit guys with big motors. I don't think their shortcomings on the field are effort. When Flegler ***** up it's usually because he's pushing a pass or trying to dominate. I can't fault his effort. Same with Patty.

Bottom line: sorry Kevvie, it's looking a bit like skill and pattern coaching.

 

[BroncsFan]

I think a better coach would be getting more from this group tbh, but we will see when the real stuff starts if i'm wrong.

Jeez... you've got us winning by 30+ every week but you want even more!!!

 

[theshed]

It's hard to tell from afar. Every season we get the same old press about them never being fitter and we always fall for it. We even had Andrew Johns calling us a premiership contender a few weeks ago. Everyone had us making the finals, yet our near full strength team just got thoroughly smoked by one of the two teams who ended up below us on the table. And now our first choice playmaker is likely to be a bloke who wasn't good enough to make the team that finished two points above us.

It can also be hard to tell why a player looks like he's not putting in. We've had some fantastic players - Wally Lewis is the first to mind - who were only running on a couple of cylinders, but the quality of their effort made up for it. But I can really only name a few who looked like they were either unable or unwilling to put in the required effort. Off the top of my head that's Darius, Milford, Oates and most recently Selwyn. It's way too early to point fingers at Selwyn being lazy or physically lacking. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt right now.

I think it's easier to hide in the forwards. Matt Lodge was accused of that. Same with Fifita. You'd see their big plays but not notice when they went missing in action.

And then some of our most criticized players, like Jamayne, Xavier, Herbie, Brodie and Jake I've never thought any of them didn't put in 100%. It's been more about quality. Same with the fullback incarnation of Tesi. Patty, Flegs, TC, Jordan etc, these are fit guys with big motors. I don't think their shortcomings on the field are effort. When Flegler ***** up it's usually because he's pushing a pass or trying to dominate. I can't fault his effort. Same with Patty.

Bottom line: sorry Kevvie, it's looking a bit like skill and pattern coaching.

Kev has done a great job of improving attitude but so far that’s about all I’ve seen.

It’s exactly what the team needed but another season of being belted will undo his good work.

We will be able to measure it pretty well. Enough of our players have moved on this season to show us what they look like under other coaches and in different systems. The same goes for guys like Lee, Capewell and Reynolds

if their individual performances regress while guys like Dearden, Coates, TPJ, Lodge are playing well than it may be hard to find excuses.

 

[Wolfie]

Jeez... you've got us winning by 30+ every week but you want even more!!!

I'm a bit greedy!

 

[pagey]

It's hard to tell from afar. Every season we get the same old press about them never being fitter and we always fall for it. We even had Andrew Johns calling us a premiership contender a few weeks ago. Everyone had us making the finals, yet our near full strength team just got thoroughly smoked by one of the two teams who ended up below us on the table. And now our first choice playmaker is likely to be a bloke who wasn't good enough to make the team that finished two points above us.

It can also be hard to tell why a player looks like he's not putting in. We've had some fantastic players - Wally Lewis is the first to mind - who were only running on a couple of cylinders, but the quality of their effort made up for it. But I can really only name a few who looked like they were either unable or unwilling to put in the required effort. Off the top of my head that's Darius, Milford, Oates and most recently Selwyn. It's way too early to point fingers at Selwyn being lazy or physically lacking. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt right now.

I think it's easier to hide in the forwards. Matt Lodge was accused of that. Same with Fifita. You'd see their big plays but not notice when they went missing in action.

And then some of our most criticized players, like Jamayne, Xavier, Herbie, Brodie and Jake I've never thought any of them didn't put in 100%. It's been more about quality. Same with the fullback incarnation of Tesi. Patty, Flegs, TC, Jordan etc, these are fit guys with big motors. I don't think their shortcomings on the field are effort. When Flegler ***** up it's usually because he's pushing a pass or trying to dominate. I can't fault his effort. Same with Patty.

Bottom line: sorry Kevvie, it's looking a bit like skill and pattern coaching.

i think you're critiquing our trial form to much, we finished last season pretty strongly.
we've always been a mixed bag to start the season, even our better sides have been the same.
flegler, Carrigan, staggs , hass , rikki and palasia have all missed decent amounts of football or coming back from injury. Our spine will require time to gel also our edges will be different, our structures and game plan be given some time before we start pointing fingers.
like i said hopefully we get our spine all on the field together sooner rather than later , and then we should see where we're at.
i believe Walters had -
1 Nui
7 Reynolds
9 Turpin/Paix
pencilled in so the injury to Nui is a setback but hopefully he'll be back sooner rather than later and then they can get some stability in our spine.

 

[McHunt]

i think you're critiquing our trial form to much, we finished last season pretty strongly.
we've always been a mixed bag to start the season, even our better sides have been the same.
flegler, Carrigan, staggs , hass , rikki and palasia have all missed decent amounts of football or coming back from injury. Our spine will require time to gel also our edges will be different, our structures and game plan be given some time before we start pointing fingers.
like i said hopefully we get our spine all on the field together sooner rather than later , and then we should see where we're at.
i believe Walters had -
1 Nui
7 Reynolds
9 Turpin/Paix
pencilled in so the injury to Nui is a setback but hopefully he'll be back sooner rather than later and then they can get some stability in our spine.

We really only have trial form to go by and comparing our trial form to the Cowboys who were our nearest rival at the bottom of the table last season, well we looked pretty poor. So we didn't have Reynolds or Niu, but they also rotated their spine yet still looked more cohesive. And we're talking bottom of the table teams here. We weren't playing the Storm.

 

[heartly87]

Anyone watch the Palasia interview after the Cows up on the Broncos website. He says that they " obviously didn't do some of the right stuff in the preseason, but Kev will get us there". What the hell is he talking about, overtraining?

I hope these guys get it together, but as a fan I am not looking for excuses or blame. These guys are professional footy players and should be ready to go. Kev can't make them compete for kicks or put effort in defence. I honestly believe the last few years have damaged some these guys.

 

[JoeyK]

Anyone watch the Palasia interview after the Cows up on the Broncos website. He says that they " obviously didn't do some of the right stuff in the preseason, but Kev will get us there". What the hell is he talking about, overtraining?

I hope these guys get it together, but as a fan I am not looking for excuses or blame. These guys are professional footy players and should be ready to go. Kev can't make them compete for kicks or put effort in defence. I honestly believe the last few years have damaged some these guys.

It is like a repeat of the Justin Langer fiasco! Young players don't like to work hard. Wrap them up in cotton wool.

 

[pagey]

We really only have trial form to go by and comparing our trial form to the Cowboys who were our nearest rival at the bottom of the table last season, well we looked pretty poor. So we didn't have Reynolds or Niu, but they also rotated their spine yet still looked more cohesive. And we're talking bottom of the table teams here. We weren't playing the Storm.

they hardly rotated their spine and like i said to much taken from the trial , im not saying it wasn’t disappointing .
who's to say that the Cowboys haven't improved, you don't know how they will perform. you just can't tell from trial games.

 

[McHunt]

It is like a repeat of the Justin Langer fiasco! Young players don't like to work hard. Wrap them up in cotton wool.

Except for the bit where we won the Ashes and the World Cup.

 

[pagey]

Kev has done a great job of improving attitude but so far that’s about all I’ve seen.

It’s exactly what the team needed but another season of being belted will undo his good work.

We will be able to measure it pretty well. Enough of our players have moved on this season to show us what they look like under other coaches and in different systems. The same goes for guys like Lee, Capewell and Reynolds

if their individual performances regress while guys like Dearden, Coates, TPJ, Lodge are playing well than it may be hard to find excuses.

i don't think you can add Coates to the list , Melbourne are one of the most settled and successful teams with quality across the park.

 

[McHunt]

they hardly rotated their spine and like i said to much taken from the trial , im not saying it wasn’t disappointing .
who's to say that the Cowboys haven't improved, you don't know how they will perform. you just can't tell from trial games.

Give me an example of a team that shat its pants in the trials and went on to win a premiership.

 

[McHunt]

i don't think you can add Coates to the list , Melbourne are one of the most settled and successful teams with quality across the park.

Prediction: Coates will be one of the top 3 try-scorers in the comp this year. Who wants to bet against me?

I wouldn't want Lodge or TPJ back, but I think Tommy Dildonger might emerge from being the collective butt of our jokes.

 

[1910]

Give me an example of a team that shat its pants in the trials and went on to win a premiership.

Melbourne Storm 58
(B Slater 2, G Inglis 2, S Hill 2, M Geyer, J Webster, C Cronk, D Kidwell, C Smith tries; G Inglis 4, C Smith 3 goals)

Brisbane Broncos 10
(S Minto, D Kemp tries; M Ennis goal)

2006 trial game.

 

[pagey]

Give me an example of a team that shat its pants in the trials and went on to win a premiership.

uummm ! pretty sure us in 2006 , we had a shocking start to the season and got pumped by the storm in a tral then beat them in the GF.