POST GAME Round 1 - Storm vs Broncos

[Super Freak]

It may well be R1 but sure is for Storm too and they absolutely crushed us.

There is a big difference there, though.

The Storm's structures and gameplans have not changed. They have spent years mastering their craft. Every player knows their role, they know exactly what they have to do. This is one of the reasons why they have been able to replace key players and still play at a higher level than most of the competition. That alone gave them a big advantage over us.

We are coming into this season with a new coach, new structures, new gameplan. Our spine has not played together since the final against the Dragons (one of them not even getting a trial match in), we suffered an injury which messed with our rotation.

 

[Super Freak]

I don't blame Bird all that much for the loss ball.

He still has some blame for what happened, but Milford's pass was also a big contributing factor. It was late and Vunivalu read it well. Before Milford even threw the pass, Vunivalu was already charging at Bird because he knew exactly who Milford was going to pass it to. By the time Bird got the ball, Vunivalu already had him lined up and Bird was not able to reel the ball in before he was crushed by Vunivalu. A lot of players in that situation would have lost the ball, as well. He did not have complete control of the ball and Vunivalu made the right kind of tackle to jolt the ball free.

Due to Vunivalu rushing up to mark Bird, Milford should have actually been aware of this and passed it to Glenn. I feel that would have been a better option and could have led to something with Oates being unmarked on that left edge.

Or even a grubber in behind the line which if done right, could have very likely led to a try.

 

[Huge]

Geez, can't believe you didn't know the word after reading so many of Morkel's...

There's heaps of words I'm sure I'm yet to discover . Was a totally new one to me. I admit I couldn't read most of Morkel's text walls because he was discussing something for which there's no evidence of its existence. It just seemed silly to waste time. It was like trying to discuss the Easter Bunny's characteristics.

 

[broncsgoat]

Wasn’t seibold meant to be our saviour?

He looked like a scared little boy sitting in the coaches box.

 

[Kimlo]

On the whole it was pretty disappointing.

It's exactly why all the **** stroking articles were annoying. I guess music at training isn't a revolution...

I'm not actually concerned though, Seibold has an entirely different coaching style from Wayne and he's simply not going to be able to get that across instantly. It's going to take time.

I'll only be concerned if come round 10 we aren't significantly more impressive. We're working with a good baseline, we weren't awful a few improvements in key areas and we are definitely in the top bracket of teams.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Line speed on defence was very poor. Scramble defense was pretty good I thought. Burnt a lot of petrol scrambling though.

Biggest concern once again is halfback. We don't have one. Nikorima and Milford a too similiar to form a halves combination that will get us through the big games.

 

[broncsgoat]

Melbourne played probably the best they'll play all year.

Disagree, if they were on song we lose by 30

 

[Aldo]

I know Niko cops a lot on here, and at times justifiably so, and I know it's early days in 2019 but I think Milf's form over the last few years is just as worrying and I have big concerns whether he'll ever really "get there". I've been a big fan of Milf since he burst onto the scene and had the rugby league world at his feet in those first few years of his career. I get that he is getting over surgery and injury and hasn't had the best pre-season this year, but every time I watch him now I get an Andrew McCullough feel about him...... like he is just never going to ever get there and live up to the hype.

Happy to see how he goes with an extended period under a new coach and happy to revisit this post in the next couple of months but it's just an annoying itch that I've been having for a while now. Hope I'm wrong (and I usually am) but we need our spine to step up big time and Milf is a massive part of this.

I know he made some inroads into his game management last year, especially with his kicking game, but still feel he has a long, long way to go to be even mentioned as a top player and demand the type of money he is getting. Maybe a stint at fullback could do him the world of good and take some pressure off. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Cult]

Line speed on defence was very poor. Scramble defense was pretty good I thought. Burnt a lot of petrol scrambling though.

Biggest concern once again is halfback. We don't have one. Nikorima and Milford a too similiar to form a halves combination that will get us through the big games.

You've got Ash Taylor?

 

[broncos4life]

View attachment 4586

Bromwich boys spark Storm as Broncos lose Roberts

March 14, 2019

The Bromwich brothers Kenny and Jesse each scored a try as Storm kicked off their 2019 campaign in style with a 22-12 win over the Broncos before their hometown fans at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.

Jesse Bromwich’s try in the 67th minute was the match clincher, and it also made up for a mistake the former Kiwis captain made just moments earlier when an offload ended up in Brisbane’s hands.

The last time the siblings both scored in a match was against Parramatta in 2013.

The biggest question mark for the Broncos, despite some loose defence, was the health of star centre James Roberts. He left the field after five minutes, limping badly from a lower back injury, and didn't return.

The Storm showed life without champion fullback Billy Slater will still be fruitful as they ran in four tries to two in a one-sided contest to continue their remarkable record in the first round of the season.

You have to go back to 2001 to find the last time the Storm lost a season opener and it rarely looked like being any other result as the hosts dominated proceedings in front of more than 16,000 fans.

Within 15 minutes of the opening kickoff the Broncos had given up two tries, lost Roberts for the entire match, and were being bossed around by a physical Storm pack led by Nelson Asofa-Solomona.

The Broncos were lucky to trail by only 10 at halftime and when they gave up a four-pointer to Kenny Bromwich early in the second half they looked dead and buried.

A pair of tries to Corey Oates in a quick three-minute burst around the hour mark gave the Broncos some hope. But that was as good as it got for new coach Anthony Seibold as the Storm steadied late to ensure their amazing opening round streak continued.

Jahrome Hughes may not have been first choice during the pre-season to take Slater's spot at fullback, but the young Kiwi scored the first try of the match and looked assured at the back under the high ball any time the Broncos attacked.

That happened little though as the Broncos struggled to gain any meaningful possession and much of Hughes' game revolved around showing off his attacking prowess with ball in hand.

The ever-reliable duo of Cameron Smith and Cameron Munster were on song with their kicking games right from the whistle and always seemed to make the right decision late in the tackle count.

The Broncos never really came to grips with the loss of Roberts and a more determined Storm outfit.

Apart from Oates' second-half cameo it was a disappointing night for the Broncos, who were outplayed by Craig Bellamy's side and made to look second best for much of the match.

It was fitting that Hughes opened the scoring in just the third minute right in front of the newly-unveiled Slater Stand and it didn't take long for the Storm to double their advantage when centre Curtis Scott sprinted 55 metres to score moments later.

Felise Kaufusi almost had a third shortly after and, with a wealth of possession the hosts were enjoying, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the Storm would cross score again.

The Broncos somehow managed to head to the sheds still in touch but then the Bromwich brothers show in the second half sealed the Storm win.

Oates' effort got his side within four points (16-12) with his second try coming from an errant Jesse Bromwich offload.

But the Storm veteran made up for his mistake by scoring a superb individual try from 25 metres out, throwing a dummy and diving low to slide over the line.

The visitors threw the ball around late in a valiant bid to pinch victory, but it was all in vain as the Storm defence held firm.

Source: NRL.com

Are they letting Craig Bellamy write his own articles now too?

 

[Lebbo73]

Meh, first game against the ultimate cheats away from home and we did alright. Intelligent folks amongst us will remember the last time we were well beaten in the opening round with a new coach at the helm. I saw signs of positivity so if I wasn't a fucking idiot I'd wait until at least a few rounds in before starting the usual tripe.

Cheers to the footy being back after an abysmal off-season!

Hello lads.

I’m glad you don’t care if we’re slack every year in round 1. A faster start to last season would have seen us finish 5th instead of 6th. What will this loss mean come finals time?

 

[broncos4life]

Wasn’t seibold meant to be our saviour?

He looked like a scared little boy sitting in the coaches box.

Bullshit.

 

[Lebbo73]

I hate losing to those Storm pricks but it wasn't all bad. Team kept trying even after going three tries down. However our attack isn't clicking yet, disappointing given how long the spine has been playing together despite the disrupted pre-season.

I'm over Macca though. He's slow and he makes poor decisions, his best work was when he was getting subbed out of the game by Kodi. We need Turpin on the bench to provide that uptempo dummy half play if Kodi is locked in at half.

I swore my arse off when we locked up Macca for as long as we did. Imagine what I did when we decided it was a good idea to give Boyd a 4 year deal worth $700k per season as a broken down crock at the end of 2017.

 

[Nashy]

Kodi Nikorima isn't a halfback. He has never been one. He will never be one. He needs to go. Just pull the trigger now, put a kid in there, and take the risk.

I thought there were rumours in the off season that Macca had been working on his service speed? What happened there?

I saw a lot to like, but without a 7, what's the point?

 

[Kyall]

I don’t understand why Flegler saw so little game time he was putting the shots on and the game was actually turning when he was on.

 

[Locky’s Left Boot]

Id rather kahu at fullback than Boyd tbh... Honestly boyd literally did nothing. Constantly out of position. Rushed up out of fullback and missed a tackle and let them get a repeat set, couple plays later bromwich scores running past nikorima. We get back into it, again they make a break and boyd watches... Im sick of his lack of effort. I don't care if people try hard and make mistakes, but he is our captain and just doesnt try at all. NEVER puts his body on the line. Im sick of people in here defending boyd, theres no aspect of his game that is even mildly impressive anymore.

Agreed. Biggest thing it seemed like we lacked out there when Melbourne had us under the pump is strong leadership. Darius Cartwright’s failure to
even remotely look like putting his body on the line
Is not a good look.

There are no excuses for him anymore. By all reports he is completely injury free and his testing was the best of his career. I though he showed decent signs end of last season so I though after his pre season he’d hit the ground running but it looked like nothing had changed. It’s definitely mental now and not physical.

Happy for guys to have a clean slate under Seibold but Boyd and the likes of Macca would want to hope their next month is significantly better otherwise I see Seibold bringing in players that can do the job he wants in his system. McCullough’s service will be a big problem again this season and last night looked more of the same can’t see Seibold putting up with it all season like Wayne did. Seibold knows he needs a dummy had with quick clean service to get the best out of his system. Don’t be surprised if there is some movement during the season. Like Mick Ennis said on Fox during the week, passing from dummy half should be a 9’s bread and butter and should spend hours a day practicing it. Macca is either incapable of this and doesn’t put enough time into this area.

 

[Gaz]

Wasn’t seibold meant to be our saviour?

He looked like a scared little boy sitting in the coaches box.

You were always going to post something negative about the first game and that’s all you’ve got ha haha.

 

[uptheguts]

Ok . Overall not good , not that bad. But one thing is really bugging me is the number of bad passes that Milford throws. The passes need to be crisp and in front of the receiver. His passes are often slow and wobbly and just not on target. He has had four years to get this right and I have not seen an improvement. I really don't see us win ing consistantly with him in the halves. If we are stuck with Milford at least send him to passing school.