Round 13 Discussion

[BroncsFan]

It should be part of the ref training as a video explaining double movement. I haven't seen a more blatant double movement awarded.

Totally agree, it couldn't have been more clear cut in normal motion or slow, it was yet another horrible decision by the Bungler.

Missed the try but did the onfield ref give it a try??

I swear half the time the vid ref just talks shit to make people think the guy on the field never gets it wrong... plus the vid ref gets absolutely roasted for double movement tries ( "gotta watch it at live speed", "momentum got him there", etc.)

I've seen some absolute shocking double movements given tries since about the start of last year... I think it was one thing they were adjudicating quite well and then they bowed down to Joey and Gus on Channel 9 and started ignoring blatant promoting of the ball after it had been grounded

 

[Sproj]

Missed the try but did the onfield ref give it a try??

I swear half the time the vid ref just talks shit to make people think the guy on the field never gets it wrong... plus the vid ref gets absolutely roasted for double movement tries ( "gotta watch it at live speed", "momentum got him there", etc.)

I've seen some absolute shocking double movements given tries since about the start of last year... I think it was one thing they were adjudicating quite well and then they bowed down to Joey and Gus on Channel 9 and started ignoring blatant promoting of the ball after it had been grounded

Yes this was a blatant double movement, it was totally inexcusable to give it.

 

[Sproj]

Billy Walters just had his knee go at an angle it shouldn't.

 

[BroncsFan]

So where does Madge go from here? Is he going to drop Benji again (he has had a shit game)?

I feel like he is burning his bridges somewhat. He comes out and blows up at the playing group all the time even though they actually put in... what I wouldn't give to see the broncos playing with the same intensity!!

And I'm not even sure it was Madge that instilled the current attitude that they play with because Ivan had them playing well before Madge took over and there was a clear change in the way the tigers played under Cleary compared to what they were doing prior

They're getting flogged in this game so does he come out and kick chairs around again and drop players left, right and center??

The playing group isn't that flash so I'm not sure what he expects to get from them

 

[Unbreakable]

I'll say it again, Mann needs to starting in the centres for QLD. Serious footy player.

 

[Broncos Maestro]

The one thing to take away from the Newcastle vs Tigers game - we missed out on Blake Green!

 

[rnabokov]

The thing that's becoming noticeable is a need for the prop to be agile with endurance rather than big and powerful... it's like prop has become the lock of years gone by.

RCG looks like he's lost weight and suddenly he's not getting dominated in games.

You also missed Junior Paulo who's been phenomenal this year.

Even Tino who is basically a second rower is dominating as an agile, powerful prop

A guy like Napa and Maclean are looking pretty useless at the moment, not to mention Offa and Lodge in Brisbane... although I think Lodge will be fine it's just that he lost half a season to an ACL injury and then jumped straight back into the starting side right when his rehab finished.

I think Offa needs to drop some weight and see if it makes him a bit more mobile... he doesn't exactly use his size to any sort of advantage so it's just a detriment to his game, because his lateral movement is non-existent

Adapting to the dictates of the 6 Again Rule and for mine, one important reason why Lodge is regressing. He just can't cope, and I think it is not because of his knee. Perhaps his bulk in the context of the faster game is retarding his rehab. But you are right about both Offa and Lodge while Flegler seems to have adjusted, mostly. Now it does come down to bench rotation more than ever.

 

[Big Pete]

The one thing to take away from the Newcastle vs Tigers game - we missed out on Blake Green!

Green is a good fit for a side missing pieces, not one that needs a complete overhaul.

 

[Big Pete]

Poor defence there from Canberra but that's the effect Koroisau can have on defences. He bobs around the field which makes him very unorthodox and it makes it easier to tear apart the ruck.

Love Martin as a player. Doesn't seem the most athletic or strongest player, but just runs flat out hit up after hit up. A good reward for him and he's one player I'd be keeping an eye on if I was in charge of recruitment.

 

[BroncsFan]

Adapting to the dictates of the 6 Again Rule and for mine, one important reason why Lodge is regressing. He just can't cope, and I think it is not because of his knee. Perhaps his bulk in the context of the faster game is retarding his rehab. But you are right about both Offa and Lodge while Flegler seems to have adjusted, mostly. Now it does come down to bench rotation more than ever.

The bench rotation at the broncos is just garbage... similar to the musical chairs each Tuesday afternoon.

I think Lodge will be ok... he was playing 55-60 mins a week last year, which is good minutes for a prop, and I think he does have enough mobility to survive in the modern game.

He injured his knee on Feb 18th, so basically did the whole preseason and then got injured... and to me copping a knee injury would restrict your ability to maintain fitness. From memory his knee injury was scheduled to have him out till late May - early June (so it's not like he was scheduled to be full health several weeks before the season restarted) and we played our first game on May 28th, but when you consider how much the rule changes have impacted on speed and fitness in the game I just don't think he would've had enough time to get his fitness back up to speed for what was required.

He then copped another knee injury in the titans game a month after the restart (June 27th), which kept him out till this week... so it's basically been 6 weeks since he copped the second injury and I think MCL's are usually 4-6 weeks... so again it's unlikely he's been able to do much fitness work whilst he's been injured.

If the rules were the same I don't think he'd be having as many issues, but he's basically coming in fresh and trying to get up to speed by playing the game... and to me he plays in the area of the field which has probably been impacted the most under the new rules, due to the drop in stoppages.

This differs when you consider Joffa's situation... he missed the first rounds due to suspension and has missed more games due to suspension... to me he has absolutely no excuses for not being fit and yet he looks completely ineffective in the current game.

 

[rnabokov]

The bench rotation at the broncos is just garbage... similar to the musical chairs each Tuesday afternoon.

I think Lodge will be ok... he was playing 55-60 mins a week last year, which is good minutes for a prop, and I think he does have enough mobility to survive in the modern game.

He injured his knee on Feb 18th, so basically did the whole preseason and then got injured... and to me copping a knee injury would restrict your ability to maintain fitness. From memory his knee injury was scheduled to have him out till late May - early June (so it's not like he was scheduled to be full health several weeks before the season restarted) and we played our first game on May 28th, but when you consider how much the rule changes have impacted on speed and fitness in the game I just don't think he would've had enough time to get his fitness back up to speed for what was required.

He then copped another knee injury in the titans game a month after the restart (June 27th), which kept him out till this week... so it's basically been 6 weeks since he copped the second injury and I think MCL's are usually 4-6 weeks... so again it's unlikely he's been able to do much fitness work whilst he's been injured.

If the rules were the same I don't think he'd be having as many issues, but he's basically coming in fresh and trying to get up to speed by playing the game... and to me he plays in the area of the field which has probably been impacted the most under the new rules, due to the drop in stoppages.

This differs when you consider Joffa's situation... he missed the first rounds due to suspension and has missed more games due to suspension... to me he has absolutely no excuses for not being fit and yet he looks completely ineffective in the current game.

I get your points about the problems Lodge has faced, and will continue to face, until our fitness and conditioning staff also start to adapt to the needs of a faster game. It's on them to get our forwards in the best shape to cope with a much faster game. It is no longer the same rules, and we are for mine seeing natural selection in action.

As for Joffa, agree, however again, it's more on our coaching staff to get him fit. Based on the boneheaded bullshit spouted by Lodge and Turpin in their media after the game, leaving such things up to the players simply won't work.

 

[rnabokov]

Watching Kikau on the edge makes me wonder how Haas would go out there, swapping with TPJ. Haas and Fifita, what a back row

 

[mrslong]

I can’t wait to play the panthers and have Cleary tear our edges apart

 

[Kimlo]

I can’t wait to play the panthers and have Cleary year our edges apart

They're the best team in the comp for mine, I think we'll crack the 60 conceded record that game.

 

[BroncsFan]

I get your points about the problems Lodge has faced, and will continue to face, until our fitness and conditioning also staff start to adapt to the needs of a faster game. It's on them to get our forwards in the best shape to cope with a much faster game. It is no longer the same rules, and we are for mine seeing natural selection in action.

As for Joffa, agree, however again, it's more on our coaching staff to get him fit. Based on the boneheaded bullshit spouted by Lodge and Turpin in their media after the game, leaving such things up to the players simply won't work.

100% agree.

I've said a few times that I think we focussed on big powerful middles to roll through the opposition and keep us on the front foot ... Haas, Flegler, Lodge, TPJ, Joffa, Kennedy are all big middle forwards, but Haas and Carrigan are the only guys really able to play long solid minutes (with Lodge's fitness in question), and even then this is Carrigan's first year of having to play long minutes in the NRL ... and then the rules changed making the job much much harder for big middles.

If the rules stayed the same the workload on those middles allows them to get some breaks during the game (stoppages for penalties, etc.) and then if you are really struggling you give away a blatant penalty to allow a reset of the defensive line.

A lot of play was also happening inside the 20's under the old rules, because of kicks for touch... so you didn't have the added miles for moving up and down the field at game intensity ... now under the new rules a lot of the play is happening between the 20's. It's end to end and the players are having to do a lot more running and also having to do a lot more running at game speed intensity (they're not trotting downfield waiting for a kick to touch or going to a scrum... they're having to get downfield for the kick chase or having to run back to get onside for their set of six)

To me our roster was built to play a certain way and then that changed overnight, and we haven't been able to adapt... which is not unexpected given we had 4 weeks to prepare for a complete change to the rules... but we have had long enough now to get our players in shape for the new form... so that is on the conditioning team OR the coach (if he doesn't want to lose the size of his forwards)... you can see examples in JWH, RCG, etc. of props looking leaner and playing long minutes in the middle. I doubt Robinson is telling JWH to trim down under last year's rules

The 5 middle forwards in the 17 each week are more important than ever in this version of the game and the bench rotation is really killing us... guys on the bench should not be playing 20mins a game.

You really need full contribution from the whole 17 in the current game... at least until the players adapt, which I think will occur over the next offseason.

The fittest team will win the comp this year

 

[Unbreakable]

They're the best team in the comp for mine.

I genuinely don't think it's even close atm. They're unbelievable defensively, are clicking in attack (without their first choice Fullback) and are fitter, faster and stronger than every team in the comp.

I'd put them at $1.50 at the moment to win the comp, it'll take some insane improvements from the Roosters / Eels / Storm to be able to match them in the finals.

 

[Big Pete]

Penrith are just a class above tonight.

The Raiders haven't been at their best, but they would be leading most teams in the competition with that effort. The Panthers have kept them to 0 and lead comfortably.

I like what Tetevano has provided them coming off the bench. I tend to think of him more as a hard running no-nonsense prop, but he's providing some great passes and doing a great job of getting guys like Kikau onto the ball.

They've really made life easy on Cleary who just gets to focus on his best qualities. He's not there 100% as a player, there's still a few qualities he needs to work on but his kicking game is world class and he's coming up with some fantastic efforts. Areas like just cleaning up a kick in the in-goal and getting the ball into the field of play is such an important feature and one that doesn't appear on any stat sheet so hardly anyone talks about it.

 

[Foordy]

and many people including Nathan Cleary have credited Barrett (rather than Ivan) for their form this year ... lol