Round 12 Discussion

[Ari Gold]

In here.

Twiztid, if you are reading this, what's the go with James Roberts. Not named in TYC or NSW Cup as far as I can see. I believe he resumed full running about a month back and am eagerly awaiting my fantasy saviour to return!

 

[Ari Gold]

Re: Round 12 Discussion Thread

Well Matt King is out injured tonight, so I'd have him probably ahead of Justin Hunt. I agree he doesn't crack the side without injuries, but given he doesn't seem to be playing NSW Cup or Toyota Cup, I'm curious as to where he actually is, as I haven't heard about any set backs.

 

[Twiztid]

Re: Round 12 Discussion Thread

He played the last 3 rounds in NYC. I think his knee has still been giving him issues, he looks to be lacking in confidence with his knee.

Plus it looked like he pulled up sore after the Dragons match so maybe they just gave him the week off to rest up due to the short turn around.

That is why King didn't play tonight.

Pretty sure Justin Hunt is the highest scorer for Norths this year (Madge's word at the after match function). He played well last week and again handled it and would have bagged a double if a few passes through the hands stuck.

If Raiders had a few more of their quality players in, they would have beaten us with our woeful defense at times and some poor decisions on our part.

But even though it was ugly, we walk away with the 2 points and that is all that matters.

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Round 12 Discussion Thread

Good day for the Broncos with both Manly & Cows missing out, allowing us to retain our place on the ladder.

Strange week, but most post-Origin weekends are.

Titans finally put back to back wins together for the first time since the 2010 Finals series. Good first half, but they fell away in the second half. Thankfully for them, the Knights were a rabble & couldn't do anything with the footy. It really looks like 2012 is going to stand as one of Wayne's worst years & the cynics will feel justified in critiquing his flexibility as a coach.

Parramatta suffered one of their typical tragic losses. Really, they should have won against the Dragons but they just invited them back in & allowed their hearts to be broken. A shame, because it was a better performance from them and something they could have built from, instead it's back to square one. Drags were very mixed. Trying to play a new style of footy but it isn't quite coming off, sort of reminds me of Broncos '09 minus the blow-out defeats.

Good to see Penrith get up against Manly. Was a dog of a match, but Penrith got the better of a struggling Manly outfit and put them out of their misery on the back of a couple of good performances, particularly from Grant & Mansour. Twiz, what's the go with Mansour? Why didn't the Bunnies hold onto him? Was it something on field or just off field problems? He was a gun in your 20s and would have thought he'd be a better player than Talanoa & the like.

Cowboys were their own worst enemy against a plucky Tigers. Typical Tigers really, start the season terribly & then pick up a few lucky wins like this game. Tamou was a beast & Woods has just gotten better as the season has gone on. With Galloway finding some form, the Tigers pack is starting to pose a threat & wouldn't surprise me to see them make it well into the finals again.

Roosters-Bulldogs tomorrow has the potential to be a cracker.

 

[Twiztid]

Re: Round 12 Discussion Thread

Good to see Penrith get up against Manly. Was a dog of a match, but Penrith got the better of a struggling Manly outfit and put them out of their misery on the back of a couple of good performances, particularly from Grant & Mansour. Twiz, what's the go with Mansour? Why didn't the Bunnies hold onto him? Was it something on field or just off field problems? He was a gun in your 20s and would have thought he'd be a better player than Talanoa & the like

I just think at the time we had too much depth in his position. I always rated him as a clone of Anthony Minichello, very hard runner of the ball, breaks tackles very well and backs himself in defence for not an overall big guy. I wanted him to get his first grade shot before James Roberts but when you saw how amazingly easy James Roberts was carving up NYC at the time it was a no brainer and he handled the pressure really well.

Mansour was just waiting for the call up by battling away in Norths and our injury toll came in the forwards so he was just unable to push his way in. It is such a shame as I have rated him since his first NYC games and glad he has been given the chance and has really excelled so far. Hopefully he can stay injury free and have a good career.

Frankly, I would love to see Junior Vaivai be given a one year contract at Penrith and have him replace Brad Tighe. I find Tighe hogs the ball too much and doesn't get the ball out to the wingers usually with a huge overlap. If Vaivai can stay injury free then it would be a nice attacking side of the field, though defence might be a little on the weak side.

I looked up an old post while looking up references to Mansour - http://broncoshq.com/showthread.php...nglis?p=2348117&highlight=mansour#post2348117

Quote Originally Posted by Big Pete
Should've just moved Roy, Rhys and Crocker on.

Lowe's a good club player and Champion is a decent prospect, makes me sad to think they're getting the shaft for a player like Inglis.
End Quote
A player like Inglis? Besides all the shit the Broncos have had with him. If he gets back to his more fitter days and stays injury free and he could return to his freaky best and be the thing that this team needs.

On the players you suggest on getting rid off.

People are quick to attack Roy but besides his really bad knee injuries, he has always come back and led the way. I just don't feel he is captain material. But we are light enough already on front row forwards, we can't afford to not have Roy, even more so if our injury list gets as big as 2010.

Rhys might be old and not as fast as we was but he has the safest hands at the club. We don't really have any young players up to fullback either at the moment. The closest prospect IMO is Josh Mansour/Dylan Farrell and they need atleast another year in NYC or Prem League to get bigger and get experience playing against men. People suggest Merritt but I don't think he is a confident player at fullback.

Crocker is the least I'm worried about. Great player and plenty of heart. Just the injuries and the hot head has been his downfall. We really haven't gotten the value out of him.

I bolded the parts of importance. Inglis - fit and back to his freakish best and hopefully it stays that way. Josh Mansour - extra year in Reggies and is now showing that effort in first grade for the Panthers. Dylan Farrell - Pretty consistent player. Merritt - not confident at fullback was a huge miss and when he had the chances last year he excelled but in times gone by when he was thrown there he looked like he hated it. Crocker seems to have mellowed and playing some pretty good footy at the moment, I used to hate him at the Roosters and when he played for QLD he has really changed my opinion of him.

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Round 12 Discussion Thread

Fair enough. Hindsight is 20/20 but it makes you wonder what his career would have been like if he got the nod over Evans or Talanoa. I'd even consider throwing McQueen in that lot purely for long term reasons. I kind of get the feeling Lang didn't care for the long term picture & just worked with what he knew, which in the modern game wasn't a lot.

:haha: Looking back it appears we were both spot on about GI, but then again it didn't take a genius to think a fit and firing GI would be a much better option at FB than Farrell or Merrit. :P It's great to see & almost makes me wish he had of left the Storm sooner to realise his true potential.

I'd be proud of Souths this season. Getting value out of GI, coming off a knee reco & charged with one of the toughest responsibilities in the game Reynolds is steering the side nicely and is firming as a top 5 halfback & the rest of the side is following nicely. In years gone by, Souths were the most temperamental team in the competition & were arguably the most frustrating side to watch. This year they've cleaned all this up & really setting themselves up as a Top 4 side.

 

[Twiztid]

Re: Round 12 Discussion Thread

I actually read your post after the one I just posted and yep you had said "put GI at fullback and you will get your value out of him". It is bloody true at the moment. Sad it only took a year and 3 rounds to do it.

Talanoa had his great moments but he followed them up with some really shit ones as well. He was sick last year and lost a lot of weight and this year had his chances and blew it and from what I have heard, Maguire has pretty much cut him. IMO McQueen is a better backrower but can fill the void out wide if required. Maguire obviously liked the looks of Evo (his dvd is awesome) and Hunt and they haven't disappointed, adding with the quality you know you get from Merritt. However both are very young players experience and haven't been fully tested yet so hopefully they can hold it together come those important games at the end of the year.

I have always been proud of Souths but I am still concerned. The Dragons match really showed our lack of spark without Inglis or DT. It was wet weather football so the game plan was obviously focused more on grinding out a win through the forwards and lucky enough we won in the end. It really worries me for any injuries later in the year but also next year, with losing DT. Hopefully Te'o and Lima can bend the line in the forwards like DT does against the little blokes.

I have watched Reynolds for a while through NYC and frankly never realised how good a player he was. My memory isn't great for matches as they all just blur together, but I guess he created the structure sort of like he does now and most of the scoring was created by Matt Mundine to Junior Vaivai and Kane Morgan or Josh Mansour on that damaging left edge.

The thing I like most of all from him so far has been his defensive efforts. Compare Reynolds to Sandow and I find teams don't have a spot player now. They do still direct plenty of attention Reynolds way but he does handle his fair share a lot more than Sandow ever did. Plus, his kick and chase has been very similar to Kimmorley. He is usually the first there and even if he doesn't make the tackle he slows them down enough for the rest of the line to be there. Where as Sandow would fail most of the times but come up with a few highlight reel shoulder charges.

I still don't see us as a top 4 team. I am happy to be there. I am still worried as consistently I feel we are still lacking behind a few of the teams around us. Going back to round 1 against the Roosters, though the end result was embarrassing. I feel that loss has really helped the mindset of the team to get us to where we are at the moment and Maguire's professionalism has really bought the best out of plenty of players who otherwise are not rated by non Souths fans, very Bellamy like in that regard.

/long rant.