POST GAME Round 12 - Broncos vs West Tigers

[Super Freak]

You know what's funny?

Jarrod Wallace put in a better kick than what Hunt did for most of the night.

 

[Super Freak]

The Wests Tigers have continued their mid-season resurgence with an upset 19-18 win over a disorganised Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night but it was a result that hung in the balance until the final seconds.

After failing to put the Broncos to the sword for the final quarter of the game the visitors bought themselves a seven-point buffer courtesy of a Mitchell Moses field goal five minutes from full-time but any celebrations were premature.The Broncos regathered a short kick-off from the restart and after a largely disappointing night Ben Hunt hit Lachlan Maranta with an inch-perfect cross-field kick to set up a grandstand finish.

That try set up a thrilling final flurry that finished with a fluffed Hunt field goal attempt on full-time and Brisbane's third one-point loss of the season.

The win was Wests' third in their past four games and their first at Suncorp Stadium since 2010 and keeps them within touch of the top eight heading into next Sunday's clash with the Roosters at Allianz Stadium.

Brisbane didn't deserve to be within striking distance but such was the failure of the Tigers halves to take control of the contest that they gave the more credentialed Broncos team every opportunity to steal two competition points at the death.

Moses and Luke Brooks gifted Brisbane four seven-tackle sets from poor kicks in the first half but such was their territorial dominance that they were still able to post tries through Elijah Taylor and Tim Simona for a 12-8 lead at half-time.

Their dominance continued unabated in the second half but other than a Jordan Rankin penalty goal they were unable to find a killer blow.

They had the Broncos on the ropes when Tim Simona bombed a golden opportunity to score his side's third try of the night, a perfectly weighted grubber into the in-goal from Brooks giving Simona the simple task of collecting the ball and planting it on the ground but instead he juggled it five times before losing control completely.

The error was compounded by two penalties to invite Brisbane for a rare trip into Tigers territory and they came away with the rich reward of four points courtesy of a try to James Roberts following an excellent offload from Hunt.

The Tigers quickly regained their dominance and eventually earned their reward with Josh Addo-Carr's third try in three weeks but they waited far too long before taking the option of the one-pointer that would ultimately prove the difference.

After an injury scare in the opening minutes Jordan Kahu showed his class with a perfect cut-out pass for Greg Eden to score his maiden NRL try in the 11th minute.

On the back of a penalty and repeat set inside the Wests Tigers half the Broncos set up their favoured sweeping play to the left and lured David Nofoaluma off his wing so that Eden could flash across in the corner untouched.

They suffered from an awful kicking game from both halves in the first 20 minutes so it was of little surprise that the Wests Tigers struck paydirt when they kept the ball in hand on the last tackle, Elijah Taylor scoring his first try for his new club after 18 minutes.

Taylor, who has added significant energy and direction to the Tigers attack, powered through from an inside pass by Brooks back through the ruck and had just enough momentum for the Steeden to brush the stripe and his team's opening points.

On the back of a long-range bust from Kevin Naiqama and repeat set from a clever Brooks kick into the in-goal the Tigers kept attacking the Broncos' right-edge defence and came up trumps through Tim Simona.

Brooks went to the line and drew Roberts out of the line so he could hit Simona in open space, the Samoan international impossible to stop from such close range.

Such was the Tigers' dominance late in the first half that Hunt took the odds to a short drop-out four minutes from half-time which gifted Wests great field position and only an obstruction call on Kyle Lovett stopped Naiqama from extending their lead further.

Wests Tigers 19 (Elijah Taylor, Tim Simona, Josh Addo-Carr tries; Jordan Rankin 3 goals, Mitchell Moses field goal) def. Brisbane Broncos 18 (Greg Eden, James Roberts, Lachlan Maranta tries; Jordan Kahu 3 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Crowd: 27,153. Half-time: Wests Tigers 12-8. Holden Cup: Broncos 38-12.

Wests Tigers beat Broncos in thriller - NRL.com

 

[Stix]

You know what's funny?

Jarrod Wallace put in a better kick than what Hunt did for most of the night.

I hope Hunt is made aware of this fact... This moment summed up our current halves situation perfectly.

 

[Super Freak]

4-6 weeks for Macca according to The Broncs site.

Where on the Broncos site?

 

[Stix]

Apologies for the rambling posts my phone is cactus

 

[ivanhungryjak]

Where on the Broncos site?

Sorry - Twitter.

 

[Huge]

Our clearing kicks were weak and setting up for them, the usual rush job. The truth is simple when on the fifth ! A slow play the ball is critical, it simply is not neccesary to rush, there is absolutely nothing to gain and invariably the defence synchronises itself with the play the ball, springing the moment the ball hits the deck. Have a close look next time you see a very slow play the ball, if the defence is forced to wait and then act you will see the same pause you witness at traffic lights. Then watch a play the ball that is faster, the defence 'times' it so much better. A strategy I'd employ is having the kicker directly behind the play the ball with the dummy half snapping the ball, NFL style. Combined with a slower play the ball this would buy us 20 metres breathing room and protect the kicker as well.

Perhaps McCullough hurt his thumb early in the game, I don't know but I'd like to see him kick more often in the style of Cam Smith. I don't believe it was the young forwards that cost us a win against a very depleted team, it was the ineptitude of the little generals. Hunt must accept the most blame and share some with Milford. I don't blame Blair either and I thought Glenn and Wallace were good. Instead of Nickorima I would have preferred the rock solid Waddell as the game was never going to be the sort Nickorima is useful in. Truthfully I don't care what others think of Waddell, his last three halves of football have been excellent and I expect with McC out to see him back.

 

[rnabokov]

I hope Hunt is made aware of this fact... This moment summed

Indeed. I wonder why - unless I am missing something - there are so few creative set plays in this team which are used consistently, especially ones based around kicking.

The Hunt-Milford inside-out play is a classic we seem to use once a blue moon (and to great effect when the blue moon shines).

I mentioned a short kicking one (for Roberts in that post) and the reply from Unbreakable was it was low percentage play and Bennett doesn't like those ... well, we saw that low percentage play last night. Why don't we kick short for Roberts in the middle this when we are in a tight spot - like last night?

Someone posted above Roberts must be livid about how little he is used, involved in set pieces which are designed to maximise a strike player's primary skill - in his case his speed. I hope Roberts isn't regretting his move to us and contemplating going elsewhere where he will get some decent ball.

 

[Dash]

The Broncos, and other teams, take the two because sides give away intentional penalties to reset their line knowing that sin bins practically don't exist in the sport; the likelihood of square ups later in the game is another sweetener to employ this tactic. Just watch the last twenty minutes (the entire second half was slanted towards the cows to be fair) of the GF if you want an example of refs ignoring the rule book.

I fully understand why they do it, but I think you at least need to have one crack at the line before giving up and taking the two. The fact that it forces the opposition to scramble on their line for another 6 tackles, tiring themselves out, is just icing on the cake. How often do you see repeat sets lead to tries? And here we are, voluntarily giving up the chance to have a repeat set on their line. I think at this point in time, the tactic is just stifling our attacking combinations.

 

[Super Freak]

Macca could be back earlier from the thumb injury.

It's quite obvious he is a fast healer.

I think two weeks.

 

[bazza]

Bazza bazza bazza.. do not blame the young guns... our spine needed to answer questions.. they did not create. Pangai... esesese... arrow... never brought into game... SuA better than most.. and why was he left for 80... because he was doing his job well... our senior players should hav been better and our juniors respected more and given more opportunity tbh

No, no, no. I think you've got the wrong impression. I am not laying any blame on the young guys. I'm just stating the obvious. It was always going to be a tough ask coming up against an inspired, almost desperate Tiger's outfit, who realistically were playing for their season, when you remove 6 key players, all in key positions, 5 of whom largely contribute to our go forward.

Lets be honest, with those 6 players, we win that match. That's not blaming the young guys for the loss, that's just stating the obvious. Whichever way you put it, we lacked go forward, which happens to be the job of the forward pack. It widely known, that for the spine, and more particularly the halves to function, they need to be playing on the front foot. We were barely out of our own half, and were often camped inside our 40m mark.

As for Su'a, don't you think he deserved a break, with the amount of defence he had to do? He was out on his feet from the opening 20 minutes. He didn't stop trying, but some fresher legs or someone less fatigued, even for a short period of time, may of helped. I was very impressed with the young guys, in particular Su'a and TPJ. They were one of our best last night.

As for your other concerns of not bringing the players into the game, well that was my questioning of Bennett's tactics and gameplan...

 

[Porthoz]

Great post though I disagree about Glenn. Thought he had a great game and super consistent as usual. Ran hard at the line and tackled his arse off, top game.

I thought the Tigers were coming out of trouble way too easy on his side, Nofoaluma and Simona were getting past him with too much ease, time and time again.

Like every Bronco on the field, there was no lack of effort, but I don't think he was any better that the rookie forwards on the park, and I have to measure him by different standards.

 

[austin71]

Ok on the last page someone said Reed was the best player on the park last night. I'm hoping that was just sarcasm. I still don't understand how Reed keeps his spot week after week. Nothing creative...Ambles up to the line to take a hit up and gets pushed back 5 metres. Wish it was Reed that broke his thumb Tbh!

 

[Super Freak]

I never thought I would say this, but we missed Boyd so much last night.

We missed all of them, but I thought Boyd was the one we missed the most.

 

[bazza]

I never thought I would say this, but we missed Boyd so much last night.

We missed more than just Boyd. But I agree, Boyd is crucial to our halves. We just looked a tad lost without him. We lacked a bit of direction, even in defence. His communication skills, is quite exceptional, which is quite hard to say with a straight face, considering his past media interviews.

 

[vertigo]

Macca could be back earlier from the thumb injury.

It's quite obvious he is a fast healer.

I think two weeks.

Helps we have the bye after those two weeks.

He'll be back for Round 16.

 

[Mr Fourex]

If you think that we can win the gf this year with our halves performing the way they are, good on you, but I think you are either an eternal optimist or slightly delusional. That is my opinion, sorry it gets up your nose so much.

On last nights form, you may have a point. But over the entire season, Milford has been probably the stand out performer over the entire NRL.
Yes....he's put in a couple off games now in a row. Still, he has too much class not to rise above having 2 or 3 bad games.

The scope for criticism (as harsh as yours re: can't win a GF) has a fairly small criteria base if we're talking about both our halves.

Ben Hunt is a worry, it's hard to argue against that. If I've been delusional, it's most likely been in hoping he is actually better than he is.

Barba had one purple patch of a season....and then went back to playing to his usual potential, a slightly above average standard. Was 2015's Ben Hunt's purple patch?

After letting Taylor get away......**** I hope not.

 

[vertigo]

Barba had one purple patch of a season....and then went back to playing to his usual potential, a slightly above average standard. Was 2015's Ben Hunt's purple patch?

After letting Taylor get away......**** I hope not.

I've only just come to this realisation, how badly we fucked up by not winning last year and how hard it will be to get another opportunity like that.