PRE-GAME Round 10 - Tigers vs Broncos

[mrslong]

Our right edge defence is a mess. How do you fix this? A proper fluid sliding defensive line? The Tigers will tear us to shreds out there if the defence out there isn't fixed this week.

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Gillett is a massive loss. He had his edge shored up. Dearden and he had it on lock in their couple of games together.
Croft makes Kodi look like a defensive messiah.

 

[BroncsFan]

Why say Fifita is meant for the right edge when he went so well on the left?

He has a right arm carry and a left arm fend... as well as a great flick pass offload. All of these things are counter-intuitive when playing on the left hand side of the field.

He's played right side all his juniors and was playing right side in the broncos initially when Gillett was first injured... I believe he only moved to the left last year because Glenn got injured and then Glenn was moved into left center.

I think Gillett may have been back as well, who was our long term right edge backrower and was rightly kept in his spot .. who then got injured and saw TPJ moved to the right.

The reason why Fifita should be playing right is the same reason why TPJ was so devastating on the left for the last 20mins last night... TPJ is a natural left sided player with his left hand carry and right arm fend. The last try last night was TPJ running with huge space fending off the inside defenders with his free arm... he went a little too sideways, but he dragged so many defenders in with him that he could've offloaded to someone coming back on an unders (basically what happened with Isaako) or if there was anyone lax in the defensive line he would just step off his left foot and overpower any 1v1 to score.

Fifita on the left last year was forced to go back inside a lot, because it was freeing up his left arm to fend off players. It became his go to move, but it basically shepherds him back into the middle defence and is far less damaging than being able to get one on one with the opposite defender and draw the outside defenders in.

He was clearly hesitant to run straight through the line on the left side because the defence could attack the ball in his right hand... so he would stop and prop and start heading back infield. He's just such a dominating runner that even when he's doing the wrong thing he has so much power and athleticism to power through anyway.

Fifita and TPJ are both playing on the wrong side of the field when they're in the backrow. They want to get their outside arm out to fend off the inside defenders, which doesn't work, so they often catch it flat footed and stutter around trying to get the defence where they want them... TPJ didn't have to break stride last night because the defence was already where he wanted them.

 

[Huge]

There's no way in hell I'd drop Croft at this time. We all marvel at the stories about Allan Langer especially when we remember his size and age. He was 22 in his debut season, the Bronco's first which started off with a bang but fizzled out through wear and tear.

Well Croft is only 22. 22 years old is young, really really young and he's got the same responsibility as Langer had then but Langer wasn't an organising halfback, he was just a cog in an team layered with current test and origin players. Alf was instinctual and quite often off the cuff. Wally called the shots and how!!!

My point is Langer got better and better until finally he became the organiser and that didn't happen when he was 22. Before you start squealing but but Croft isn't equal to Langers bootlaces remember that most halfbacks aren't either yet they develop a skillset.

I'd keep his job simple because we have the pack to play the simplest game and I'd trust him knowing he'll mature as Langer did. We don't need flashy, we need reliability, repeatability and combination. We can achieve that with Croft.

 

[rnabokov]

He has a right arm carry and a left arm fend... as well as a great flick pass offload. All of these things are counter-intuitive when playing on the left hand side of the field.

He's played right side all his juniors and was playing right side in the broncos initially when Gillett was first injured... I believe he only moved to the left last year because Glenn got injured and then Glenn was moved into left center.

I think Gillett may have been back as well, who was our long term right edge backrower and was rightly kept in his spot .. who then got injured and saw TPJ moved to the right.

The reason why Fifita should be playing right is the same reason why TPJ was so devastating on the left for the last 20mins last night... TPJ is a natural left sided player with his left hand carry and right arm fend. The last try last night was TPJ running with huge space fending off the inside defenders with his free arm... he went a little too sideways, but he dragged so many defenders in with him that he could've offloaded to someone coming back on an unders (basically what happened with Isaako) or if there was anyone lax in the defensive line he would just step off his left foot and overpower any 1v1 to score.

Fifita on the left last year was forced to go back inside a lot, because it was freeing up his left arm to fend off players. It became his go to move, but it basically shepherds him back into the middle defence and is far less damaging than being able to get one on one with the opposite defender and draw the outside defenders in.

He was clearly hesitant to run straight through the line on the left side because the defence could attack the ball in his right hand... so he would stop and prop and start heading back infield. He's just such a dominating runner that even when he's doing the wrong thing he has so much power and athleticism to power through anyway.

Fifita and TPJ are both playing on the wrong side of the field when they're in the backrow. They want to get their outside arm out to fend off the inside defenders, which doesn't work, so they often catch it flat footed and stutter around trying to get the defence where they want them... TPJ didn't have to break stride last night because the defence was already where he wanted them.

Well, can't argue with that now can I. What an excellent analysis. Hats off.

 

[WASSHHH]

Well, can't argue with that now can I. What an excellent analysis. Hats off.

Yeh, I’m getting aroused just reading it and thinking of what could be - where is the erection emoji?

 

[rnabokov]

Yeh, I’m getting aroused just reading it and thinking of what could be - where is the erection emoji?

I'm working on it

 

[rnabokov]

Totally agree which is why we need more than one voice organising the defensive line.

Even if an Oates, Croft or Staggs knows they’re outnumbered they should be communicating it.

If they know they’re outnumbered they’d know the attack is coming at them and instead of trying to slide on an overlap they could’ve shot off the line to put pressure on the ball and force them to make tougher passes, potentially causing an error.

Likely they still score but it makes the execution harder on the attack despite there being a massive overlap.



They need to be training these structures non-stop, because defence is our number 1 issue... errors, penalties and 6 agains hurt us because we can’t defend them. If we can defend then we will score enough points to win the game

That's the key. That's what the top sides do. That's what Seibold should be focusing on. If it doesn't improve over the coming weeks, I'm renting a pitchfork

 

[Unbreakable]

Boyd's carries weren't too bad last night

I actually agree. At one point I caught myself saying "Good run Darb" out loud and nearly vomited in my mouth.

 

[Tim K]

I actually agree. At one point I caught myself saying "Good run Darb" out loud and nearly vomited in my mouth.

The issue with Boyd’s carries is that he only really chimes in when he sees a quick play the ball. That’s fine. But he never ever looks to shift the ball wide on the back of that advantage. It’s a bit greedy. Makes him look good but there is a lot of potential creating width from that point. His runs a fine, but he needs to consider other options.

 

[BroncsFan]

Yeh, I’m getting aroused just reading it and thinking of what could be - where is the erection emoji?

I can't believe there's no highlights videos from his 2018 season when he was primarily on the right.

The QRL video, is him on the right... largely it's him being bigger and faster than the opposition, but realistically he's bigger than most NRL players as well. It does give a good idea of how he likes to skip onto the outside shoulder



The 2019 highlights vid has a bit of him on the right and a bit on the left... the ones on the left show him having to come back in (try against dogs, try vs cowboys, etc.).

A potentially good representation of what he would bring on the right is in the nines highlights... he's not going to have the same amount of space in the 13 a side a game, but it shows him at the top of his game getting into 1v1 situations on the right hand side of the field

 

[rnabokov]

I can't believe there's no highlights videos from his 2018 season when he was primarily on the right.

The QRL video, is him on the right... largely it's him being bigger and faster than the opposition, but realistically he's bigger than most NRL players as well. It does give a good idea of how he likes to skip onto the outside shoulder



The 2019 highlights vid has a bit of him on the right and a bit on the left... the ones on the left show him having to come back in (try against dogs, try vs cowboys, etc.).

A potentially good representation of what he would bring on the right is in the nines highlights... he's not going to have the same amount of space in the 13 a side a game, but it shows him at the top of his game getting into 1v1 situations on the right hand side of the field

He can charge what he bloody well likes. Worth every penny wherever he plays

 

[ostin86]

I can't believe there's no highlights videos from his 2018 season when he was primarily on the right.

The QRL video, is him on the right... largely it's him being bigger and faster than the opposition, but realistically he's bigger than most NRL players as well. It does give a good idea of how he likes to skip onto the outside shoulder



The 2019 highlights vid has a bit of him on the right and a bit on the left... the ones on the left show him having to come back in (try against dogs, try vs cowboys, etc.).

A potentially good representation of what he would bring on the right is in the nines highlights... he's not going to have the same amount of space in the 13 a side a game, but it shows him at the top of his game getting into 1v1 situations on the right hand side of the field

How long until the NFL starts chasing Fifita?

 

[Footy Fanatic]

There's no way in hell I'd drop Croft at this time. We all marvel at the stories about Allan Langer especially when we remember his size and age. He was 22 in his debut season, the Bronco's first which started off with a bang but fizzled out through wear and tear.

Well Croft is only 22. 22 years old is young, really really young and he's got the same responsibility as Langer had then but Langer wasn't an organising halfback, he was just a cog in an team layered with current test and origin players. Alf was instinctual and quite often off the cuff. Wally called the shots and how!!!

My point is Langer got better and better until finally he became the organiser and that didn't happen when he was 22. Before you start squealing but but Croft isn't equal to Langers bootlaces remember that most halfbacks aren't either yet they develop a skillset.

I'd keep his job simple because we have the pack to play the simplest game and I'd trust him knowing he'll mature as Langer did. We don't need flashy, we need reliability, repeatability and combination. We can achieve that with Croft.

The problem with Croft is that he is not just not an organiser, he's not a halfback.

His kicking and passing game isn't great, he isn't great defensively and he doesn't have a good feel for the game.

All he has is an ok running and even then he doesn't usually use it at the right time.

It is time for Croft to be dropped for Dearden.

It may not make a huge difference now, but he will be better than Croft for sure.

 

[Huge]

The problem with Croft is that he is not just not an organiser, he's not a halfback.

His kicking and passing game isn't great, he isn't great defensively and he doesn't have a good feel for the game.

All he has is an ok running and even then he doesn't usually use it at the right time.

It is time for Croft to be dropped for Dearden.

It may not make a huge difference now, but he will be better than Croft for sure.

No, sorry I cannot agree as I pointed out earlier. Dearden may well be better in the years ahead but 22 years old is a tad early to be put out to pasture. Sure, he's a horse but really?

 

[Jedhead]

The Tigers have changed their playing style this year to that of controlled aggression and are really trying to put a hard edge on what they do. Madge will have them all fired up and ready to bully our young kids if we're not careful.

Pies needs to stress to the whole team how important it is to not lose concentration and not to get dragged into the niggle as we could end up losing after at the MRC.

 

[Broncos Maestro]

Damn Fifita!!!! Watched both vids above and the speed he has puts most speeders to shame. When he is fit to be back in, he can replace Oates and then Oates can be benching it till kingdom come.
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The Tigers have changed their playing style this year to that of controlled aggression and are really trying to put a hard edge on what they do. Madge will have them all fired up and ready to bully our young kids if we're not careful.

Pies needs to stress to the whole team how important it is to not lose concentration and not to get dragged into the niggle as we could end up losing after at the MRC.

Seibs would be better off grading high school exams with his Harvard qualifications than telling the team on how to play. I dare say most of BHQ would agree that Glenn should be the coach (& getting the $$ for it) while he is sidelined.

 

[rnabokov]

The Tigers have changed their playing style this year to that of controlled aggression and are really trying to put a hard edge on what they do. Madge will have them all fired up and ready to bully our young kids if we're not careful.

Pies needs to stress to the whole team how important it is to not lose concentration and not to get dragged into the niggle as we could end up losing after at the MRC.

My thoughts too. Another reason why we need TPJ in the front row and with Lodge there as well off the bench. This game will be a real test of our defensive resolve in the middle.

 

[BroncsFan]

The Tigers have changed their playing style this year to that of controlled aggression and are really trying to put a hard edge on what they do. Made will have them all fired up and ready to bully our young kids if we're not careful.

Pies needs to stress to the whole team how important it is to not lose concentration and not to get dragged into the niggle as we could end up losing after at the MRC.

Tigers are very focussed on attacking through the middle this year, with Harry targetting the middle and bringing the forwards onto the ball well to keep the roll on.

Unfortunately our defence has struggled with fast moving play through the ruck seemingly forever... so it could spell a difficult night.

The telling moment of the game will come with the bench.

TPJ went off last night at the 15min mark and then replaced Haas at the 30min mark. It wasn't until about 50-60 minutes in the game when TPJ and Haas were back on the field at the same time again

Flegler came on at 15mins and for whatever reason he is playing pretty poorly, but it's largely simple errors that is doing him in... I thought his defence was better last night and if he cuts out the errors I feel he is more useful than Offa.

The issue with Flegler is that the errors seem to come when he's fatiguing so playing a long stint like he did last night starts to lead to errors later in his stint (the 1v1 strip and lazy forward pass).

I think if Lodge is back this week it will be a boost... I think Lodge is struggling with fitness due to his knee injury at the start of the year, but having him come off the bench with shorter stints should help him with that. I think Lodge will be able to maintain the intensity in the middle when TPJ goes off.

We lost a lot of momentum when TPJ was off the field.

In the current game you need 5 good reliable middles (2x props + lock + 2x bench middles)... Up until last night we had Haas and Carrigan as really the only reliable middles.

TPJ being in there provides another one so we just need two of either Lodge, Flegler, Offa, Kennedy and Teo to step up and fill in those 4th and 5th spots, and then I think we will start to see consistent improved performances.