POST GAME Round 1 - Sharks vs Broncos

[Bucking Beads]

I thought Ben Hunt did some really nice things last night. That said his issues are the same issues that have plagued his whole career. Very little organizational skills and no feel for the game. A really good win considering it was at Shark Park against a team with a big forward pack. I still feel the Broncos are missing that one big boy prop. Sims did ok but he's still a Sims which is troubling.

 

[Dash]

im not sure you watched the same game, ese'ese i thiught was very good tonight and played more minutes than pangai. also with pangai there is no doubting his ball carry but he is lazy in defense. he has a lot of work to do.
arrow plugged a hole late in the game but did anyone see how big his legs were??? thats a major concern as he will get slow real quickly..

It doesn't help Herman's cause when every time he does a good run the commentators call him Pangai.

 

[talanoa]

It doesn't help Herman's cause when every time he does a good run the commentators call him Pangai.

hahahaha, very true.

 

[mieko]

Great game from the boys. Forwards stood up, all of them and the backline looked pretty slick. Boyd has the best hands! Fantastic kicking from Kahu.

Bring on the Cowboys!

 

[Culhwch]

I was worried that they would carry their Warrington form into this game, so it was very encouraging to see the improvement. Hopefully that continues into next week.

Great game from Moga, I thought. Looked really strong, and if he keeps fit he could be super valuable for us. I think Kahu needs to stay on the wing - he's just so much better there. Actually all the outside backs played well, and I thought Roberts was particularly noticeably improved in defence.

Forwards were all strong as well. Sims impressed. The benchies were good as well, and at this stage I think that's our best mix. Happy to see a rotation though to give everyone an opportunity to stake a claim.

Hunt, Milford and Mecca all have to up their game, but at this stage of the season they get a pass. I don't think Hunt was as bad as is made out here. Did a couple of stupid things, but did a couple of good things as well. His short and mid kicking game isn't actually that bad, it's kicking for field position that eludes him, but that holds true for Milf too. I'd like to see Mecca take on that responsibility more to be honest.

All in all, looking forward to next week!

 

[pagey]

His pass to set Milford up in a bit of space for his try was pretty good. While he wasn't consistently excellent, I don't think he deserves the savage criticism he is getting in an important win against one of the benchmark sides in this competition.

I'll reserve judgement for a few weeks yet before I think of writing him off like many are doing already.

I im saying is he had a bad game and maybe the pressure is getting to him . I think he has a great passing game, but a lot of his passes were loose .

 

[theshed]

Man, I've always been a fan of Boyd's but his passing game has gone next level since last year. Every time he gets the ball at second receiver close to the line you feel a try coming. Has anyone been better at this particular skill? Safe as houses in every other aspect as usual and lead well like he always has since returning.

Kahu looks to have finally solved our goal kicking problem and makes you wonder what would have happened if Cozza got out of his way the last couple seasons.


As much as I rate Niko, I think having 4 forwards on the bench worked well and would probably like to see Wayne stick with it.

Halves played fine but a sick curiosity within me wants to see Benji have at least one game just for the spectacle of it.

 

[Super Freak]

Has anyone been better at this particular skill?

Karmichael was pretty close, if not on par with Boyd when it came to being able to put his winger or centre away.

He was excellent at the cut out ball to the winger.

Flat and always ahead of the winger slightly which allowed them to run onto the ball at pace and immediately dive for the corner.

 

[pagey]

To be fair with Hunt his service on the last from Macca was terrible in their 20. With hunt having to catch balls above his head it takes precious seconds away from decision-making. Often leading to rushed kicks or sloppy passing that causes our guys to look flat. It was a huge issue in England and was about 20% better tonight. Macca has to get use to passing right more the a metre.

Yeah macca had a shocker . I think we need to set up for the kick alot better, they all seem to just freeze up and wait for the kick. Hunt dosen't get much protection.

 

[theshed]

Karmichael was pretty close, if not on par with Boyd when it came to being able to put his winger or centre away.

He was excellent at the cut out ball to the winger.

Flat and always ahead of the winger slightly which allowed them to run onto the ball at pace and immediately dive for the corner.

Yeah, Hodgo was great at it too, as I'm sure Lockyer was. Still, Boyd is back at career best form and it's great to see other areas of his game improve as he loses some of the more dynamic parts of his game. It's how the greats transition into their twilight years while getting better and more well rounded as their bodies slow down.

 

[Brent81]

Few things

1) that Macca fucking dummy is back. There was one time he got held up when we had a massive overlap. Needs to keep that in his pocket.

2) 4 forwards on the bench works. Particularly against big packs. Let's do that again.

3) Defence was good. Two of the sharks tries were just arse. Proud that so many guys were trying to hold Maloney up. And how the third try got given I have no idea. The ball came down short and suddenly it ended up on the line....nah didn't promote the ball at all...

Goods first up win.

17 more wins and we secure the minor premiership....

 

[Brent81]

For a dummy half Macca cannot pass the ball well at all. Has he always been this bad, I've never noticed it before. Big rainbow lollipop passes just halt any attack we have. So from that point it's not Hunt's fault as he's pressured more than he should be.
Think if Sharks had Holmes we lose but who cares, you can only best who's in front of you on the day and we did that.
Is it just me or do others just want Kahu to stay on the wing and not play centre?
He's an awesome winger but really don't like him at centre. If anything I would look at Oates for forwards and bring Mead onto wing down the line when Oates is ready

Yes he has always been this bad.

Debuted in 2008 and serves up the same crap as he did then.

Puts massive pressure on Hunt and Milford.

Unfortunately there are a lot of apologists for him out there.

They seem to think that his shit service is made up for by his tackle count.

 

[pagey]

Man, I've always been a fan of Boyd's but his passing game has gone next level since last year. Every time he gets the ball at second receiver close to the line you feel a try coming. Has anyone been better at this particular skill? Safe as houses in every other aspect as usual and lead well like he always has since returning.

Kahu looks to have finally solved our goal kicking problem and makes you wonder what would have happened if Cozza got out of his way the last couple seasons.


As much as I rate Niko, I think having 4 forwards on the bench worked well and would probably like to see Wayne stick with it.

Halves played fine but a sick curiosity within me wants to see Benji have at least one game just for the spectacle of it.

I think the teams with the bigger packs we keep the 4 forward bench. Maybe we mix it up with the others with niko and benji .

 

[pagey]

Karmichael was pretty close, if not on par with Boyd when it came to being able to put his winger or centre away.

He was excellent at the cut out ball to the winger.

Flat and always ahead of the winger slightly which allowed them to run onto the ball at pace and immediately dive for the corner.

Yeah he also had a nice short kick on him

 

[Sproj]

That Sharks video review try felt wrong in every way but given it went up as a soft signal try, I guess it had to be given. As long as that is consistent over the year, fair enough. It looked like a clear double- movement and also short to me.

 

[Kyall]

1. I thought Milford had a soild game tonight, he wanted the ball as much as he could and it doesn't need to end with a try every time he touches.

2. Moga really made a strong hit out tonight made some great runs and good in defence. He just needs to work a bit on his ball play. Him and Roberts could be a perfect mix.

3. Sims and Blair were really hitting hard and running hard, both played like true props. (not as many stupid offloads from Blair)

4. Our defence looked strong tonight and was led by no surprise Gillett.

5. I thought that TPJ and Arrow were great when they come on. Glenn got hurt so I can't compare him with Arrow. Ese,Ese was ok I think that he needs to step it up to keep Offa out.

6. Kahu is playing exactly where he should be, a great quality performance and a great goal kicker FINALLY.

7. Boyd and Thiday played the usual strong performance games.

 

[Rally Towel]

Both teams below their best. Bit scrappy but entertaining. Surprised it didn't get too grubby to be honest.

Take aways from my perspective :

Early days but starting front row combination looks solid. Sims is delivering what we expected, some bollocking runs and an offload, felt his defence was a bit inconsistent though.

Blair really stepped up in my opinion. He's done a job there before largely through his work rate, energy and well timed offloads. Still he's quite often been out muscled by bigger book ends. Looks like he's really packed on some mass though, and was denting the line with regularity. Looked like a genuine prop rather than a backrower out there. Also perfectly walked that line with controlled aggression, harassing kickers and halves whenever they went to the line. Don't believe he conceded a penalty either. Top stuff.

Thought McGuire went well. He was heavily penalised in the WCC and seemed to get in the way a bit. Appeared more confident in his role, ran and tackled his heart out. Hopefully he can build on this.

Moga had a solid debut. Certainly has lost some speed but he's still got a step and some grunt in his runs. Solid under the high ball generally. Worth giving him a bit more of a run. Between him and Oates we can really get a roll on.

Gillett and Thaiday both proved their worth. Hard defense from Gillett and some excellent lines run in the second half. Wasn't as flash in the first but he's certainly matured into the consistent player we need him to be.

Sammy brought that infectious enthusiasm we needed, lifted the side when we were on our heels. Thought the quality of his runs was up there. Dented the line, found his elbows and knees, provided quick play the balls. Shades of his heroics vs Roosters in 2015.

Bench was good. Ese'ese was my pick of the bunch. Just solid. I kept expecting him to throw a horrendous offload though!

Impressed with Boyd also. Delivered on his trademark sweeping plays, and faultless defusing short kicks close to the line. Seemed vocal out there too. I'll have to check out the press conference but encouraging signs for the new captain.

Great kicking from Kahu. Really must have been putting in the work. Parker kicks 3/5 at best IMO, and the last 10 minutes have an entirely different complexion.

Can't read too much into any Rd 1 performance but happy to get the win. Constant improvement is the name of the game. Halves need to take charge and we need to recapture that swarming defence that has eluded us since 2015.

Good to have the footy back!

 

[Pushkin]

It was good win. Alex Glenn just played 10 minutes in the game. The young guys from bench played well. Herman ese'ese played 30 minutes. Tpj played 20 minutes. Arrow was most impressive from the bench. He played last 25 minutes without any break. Channel 9 Commentator forget that Broncos was playing with 16 players. They keep saying Broncos players look tired. The first away game win with 16 players.