POST GAME Round 1 - Sharks vs Broncos

[rnabokov]

Tautau Moga was voted players player.

And well deserved too. All things considered, he was outstanding against seriously good opposition.

In my view, the Sharks did play only as well as we let them and that counts for a lot. They are the premiers and a bloody good, well coached side.

For mine, our centre pairing has been sorted, as have our wingers, and come to think of it, our front row, back row ... in fact, I really like this team on yesterday's performance.... all things considered, and with huge improvement to come as the team gels, confidence builds and combinations keep developing.

 

[meady]

Yes but then the only worry is milford at half back?

Boyd would fill whatever role nicely, actually

And well deserved too. All things considered, he was outstanding against seriously good opposition.

In my view, the Sharks did play only as well as we let them and that counts for a lot. They are the premiers and a bloody good, well coached side.

For mine, our centre pairing has been sorted, as have our wingers, and come to think of it, our front row, back row ... in fact, I really like this team on yesterday's performance.... all things considered, and with huge improvement to come as the team gels, confidence builds and combinations keep developing.

My boy Meady will keep massive pressure on all the backs, noway he gets stuck in Q cup for the entire season, he's way better that

 

[Wild Horse]

Just as a note of caution here, the Sharks HEAVILY contributed to our success. I know I know you can only beat what's in front of you and the old, 'they only played as well as we let them' line can be trotted out too but the truth is they made a lot more mistakes and conceded twice as many penalties as us. They weren't good and we should keep that in mind while celebrating our win. It was a narrow win and truthfully I was disappointed we weren't ruthless when we got to 20-8.

That said, **** the Sharks !

I agree with this. We constantly let teams back into the contest, and RIGHT back into the contest. So much so that you can just feel it coming. It notoriously happens around the 60 minute mark. Bigger, stronger teams start to batter us and make the meters.

The Cowboys are coming to town next week and we need to be ruthless god dam it! We need to be ruthless to be any chance at a premiership.. I like the how Sims and Moga played their roles. I am excited about the youth and size that is on the bench. I think the team is headed in the right direction, but we'd all love to see them push on with the leads they establish early in the game. It's coming.

 

[_noosh]

Boyd would fill whatever role nicely, actually

Does Boyd have any long kicking game? Considering that's our glaring weakness right now, you seem strangely certain over Boyd in the halves considering I can't recall ever seeing him kick anything other than some grubbers. It could happen, but it won't address the real problems in our halves right now.

My boy Meady will keep massive pressure on all the backs, noway he gets stuck in Q cup for the entire season, he's way better that

Mead is definitely better than the Q cup, but he's simply not gonna displace Kahu or Oates from the wing. It's not gonna happen.
Mead's only chance of getting into the starting line-up is if something happens to one of our centres and Kahu has to shift across. If Moga disappoints or gets injured again, or if Roberts screws up for the last time and gets fired.

If a centre drops, Kahu is not guaranteed to play centre anyway, so even then, there's a chance Mead won't get to play. It's unfortunate, but Mead's skillset makes him have to compete with some of our most certain players.

 

[Nashy]

Just as a note of caution here, the Sharks HEAVILY contributed to our success. I know I know you can only beat what's in front of you and the old, 'they only played as well as we let them' line can be trotted out too but the truth is they made a lot more mistakes and conceded twice as many penalties as us. They weren't good and we should keep that in mind while celebrating our win. It was a narrow win and truthfully I was disappointed we weren't ruthless when we got to 20-8.

That said, **** the Sharks !

I thought the same thing. There was none of that fun footy. I just assumed that Bennett had told them to just grind out the game plan. First game of the season, he likely needs to see who can go the distance with sticking to the plan and who drops off towards the end of the match.

 

[Huge]

One player we should have kicking more is McCullough. One time during the match with Cronulla I couldn't believe McC passed to Hunt, it was so slow and Hunt still had time yet he hesitated first before kicking straight to the fullback. McC had time to simply put it on the boot in behind the wingers. I would be way happier with 7 tackle sets starting from the 20 than 6 tackle sets caught on the 20 and running over the defensive 30 and beyond. At least if you're kicking towards the dead ball line you will still get the occasional one stop, it's not such a bad thing that it goes touch in goal. The defensive side still has to get everyone back on side giving you time to get set.

I'm not talking about kicks from 20-30 out rather when we are on our forty line on the fifth tackle, kick long,,long as you like even going over the dead ball line...it's just not that much of a disadvantage.

 

[winslow_wong]

Sigh Macca and hunt.. the constant frustrations

 

[uptheguts]

Great start to the season. Sure there's work to do , but we seem to have the makings of a very competitive team again this year. For mine the most impressive players were Moga and Thaiday. Some of Sam's charges were just awesome.

 

[Mister Wright]

Watching the Cowboys last night, they aren't the team they have been the last two years and I reckon they will struggle to make the top 4. I actually think our team matches up well against them. Obviously we will need to keep Thurston & Morgan out of our 20-30 and I think if we can do that for the majority of the match, we'll put ourselves into a strong position. We haven't lost to them at home for a couple of years now and I can't see that trend changing for this game.

 

[Big Pete]

Just when it appeared the Broncos were starting to wane and the Sharks were coming to get them, these four senior players came to the game in a big way to steady the ship and steer their younger teammates towards victory.
Sam Thaiday came up with a huge run at a vital time in the second half. With his team struggling for yardage and deep in their own territory, Thaiday recognised the need for something special. He raced from the left side of the field to the right and demanded the ball. He charged at the Cronulla forward pack with venom, elbows and knees pumping, a get-out-of-my-way look in his eyes. He bent the opposition backwards with a powerful surge and earned his team a penalty when the Sharks players couldn't clear the ruck area.
It gave his team the oxygen they needed. It was an act of selflessness and inspiration. The actions of an Origin player who cared enough for his team and the result to make things happen.
Thaiday's forward partner, Kiwi international Adam Blair, responded in kind. He, too, charged onto the ball, attacking the defenders and dishing out punishment with his ball running. These two forwards made a real statement with their physical efforts.
The contribution of back-rower Matt Gillett was priceless. In attack and defence Gillett continually threw himself at his opponents, imposing his will on the contest. What a great player he has become.
So, too, did fullback Darius Boyd. In his first match as Broncos captain, I thought he played a real skipper's knock. We saw his special skills and finesse as he produced a couple of great Broncos tries with beautiful quick-hands passes to his wingers, Jordan Kahu and Corey Oates. These moments of brilliance are not uncommon for this talented fullback playmaker.
But more than these flashes of genius and individual talent, it was Boyd's courage and determination in fielding difficult kicks close to his own try line and pushing through the pain and restriction of a serious hip injury to stay out there on the field that I believe most contributed to his team's success.
Boyd took the knocks and never flinched. He threw himself in the path of heavy collisions on several occasions. He made sure he was never thrown back into his in-goal area by the advancing Cronulla defenders. He came up with the right play, the tough play, at the right time, every time.
It's only round one of the premiership and all teams will improve as the season continues. The Broncos were far from perfect in many aspects of their game, even though they were able to win this hard-fought affair.
The one thing that will please their old coach, Wayne Bennett, is the way they won. They won because their senior players came to the contest in the toughest possible manner when it was most needed.
That's the value of great senior players. Broncos fans should feel proud of these lads and the way they presented themselves for this battle on Thursday night. It's a great sign for the season ahead to know their experienced players are so committed to the challenges ahead.
Good stuff.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...hey-have-the-right-drive-20170304-guqsdm.html

Some good observations from Gus.

 

[jd123]

Great start to the season. Sure there's work to do , but we seem to have the makings of a very competitive team again this year. For mine the most impressive players were Moga and Thaiday. Some of Sam's charges were just awesome.

Agreed, Sam really stood up when needed. Hope he keeps it up all season, really impressed with his game on Thursday night.

 

[Horseheadsup]

Thaiday is still such a valuable player. Going to hate it when he retires.

 

[Wild Horse]

Did anyone notice that we were wearing our home Jersey against the Sharks? I wonder why we didn't wear our away jersey. No biggy..

 

[Pushkin]

I thought the same thing. In my guess away jersey may confused player with sharks player.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Thaiday is still such a valuable player. Going to hate it when he retires.

You know it might sound harsh(but that isnt my intention) but I feel that one hitup showed more leadership from him then when he was captain, very impressive display of leadership on his part and I hope we see more of it.

 

[Wild Horse]

I thought the same thing. In my guess away jersey may confused player with sharks player.

Ah true that.. I saw the away jersey the other day and it's more grey than I would have thought. On computer screen it looks white but in person it is quite grey.

 

[Cult]

So I'm calling bullshit on the whole McCullough gives slow service from dummy half thing. I'm re-watching this game and it's not even a thing. There were a few inaccurate passes but I could show you the same from any hooker this round. It wasn't a thing last year either as I've re-watched all of those games too.

 

[Super Freak]

So I'm calling bullshit on the whole McCullough gives slow service from dummy half thing. I'm re-watching this game and it's not even a thing. There were a few inaccurate passes but I could show you the same from any hooker this round. It wasn't a thing last year either as I've re-watched all of those games too.

For me, the service isn't too slow. Comparing it to other hookers it's pretty much on par with most and if it is slower it's only very marginally slower.

But when it comes to the accuracy of the pass, he is inconsistent.

You really want the pass to be passed just a little bit ahead of the player at chest level so he isn't reaching down or up to grab it and isn't flat footed when he does.

But in saying that, there isn't another hooker that's a realistic chance of coming to the Broncos that I would want over Macca.

Granville is definitely quicker out of dummy half and can provide that spark, but I would take Macca's defensive ability over that any day of the week.

And his kicking is far better than what Granville's will ever be.