POST GAME [Round 14, 2023] Broncos vs Sharks

[Santa]

 

[theshed]

Marty has played all 14 games and made 3 errors. Jensen 13 games 2 errors.

Marty had 5 tackle breaks and 3 offloads last night which is where he differs from Jensen. But I am not fussed which way Kev goes, both are good options.

Completely agree, neither are perfect but both are decent bench/depth options and you could put together a decent argument for either.

Jensen’s more of an honest workhorse type and Marty is more of a rip in for short minutes then sub off type. Given the minutes that Patty and Haas get through, and the quality of Flegler, you would say we get more value out of the Marty type than the Jensen. Unfair for Jensen but that’s just the reality.

Marty has incredible quick play the balls though, which really pushes him in front of Jensen. Jensen is no slouch in this area either but Marty’s quick PTB is up there with the best in league.

While no where near as damaging as he once was, Marty uses that elite strength of his to find his front and push up quick to play the ball.

 

[Swordfish]

Yeah but what a 10th, 12th and 14th they are, those are the heavyweights of the comp.

Premiership favorites & Heavyweights my ass. Team full of mercenaries & lunatics who think the rules don’t apply to them & their ring master in uncle Nick reckons cap doesn’t apply to them. It’s dubious club with rotten culture yet, they’re the darlings of media. Screw them. They won’t even make the 8.

 

[Super Freak]

Heard on ABC Grandstand that all 3 Sharks players that did illegal crusher tackles only have to face fines. Willing to bet my entire Bitcoin holding (all of $5 ) that if it was a different shade of colour, would have been minimum 1-2 games

That’s fair enough.

The crusher tackles weren’t that bad and a Grade 1 is only a fine.

 

[Xzei]

tapau would be laughing atm coming from the eagles and almost going to the eels

 

[Scorchie]

tapau would be laughing atm coming from the eagles and almost going to the eels

He can laugh in QCup next week. Needs a spell. Mistakes creeping into his game

 

[Dazza 92]

You know, i really thought Cronulla were a better team than last nights effort showed.

Still a work in progress. Cleary the armchair fans across the game must think they're better than they are...

But its been a pleasing two weeks for the boys. Not 100% but the NRL is a marathon and right now for us its the mountain section of that race.

And there are 3 byes in the not to distant future to rest up.

Hello Brendan Piakura....nice game tonight kid. Hope you gain some confidence. Was surprised with the Jenson decision but he is going to see plenty of football the next month.

Kotoni - really surprised his game hasnt received more plaudits. Outstanding effort par one bad read in defence (though he did come up square off the line so maybe just good hole running from Talakai?). But Staggs has actually been close to producing career numbers in his stats this seaosn. A bit of a quiet achiever in that regard.

Defence is first and foremost attitude. Thats the biggest difference for me this year. I think we've learned from the collapse last seaosn (i hope?) and tougher tests await, but surely this is a top 4 team at the very least?

 

[Xzei]

He can laugh in QCup next week. Needs a spell. Mistakes creeping into his game

Marty has played all 14 games and made 3 errors. Jensen 13 games 2 errors.

if that is accurate you are a hard marker

 

[Big Del]

He can laugh in QCup next week. Needs a spell. Mistakes creeping into his game

3 mistakes in 14 games ?

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

I'm thinking tapau being in over jensen may be a team dynamics thing rather than a pure performance thing. Tapau is obviously a leader for the young forwards and holds them to standards off the field. He also seems to bring a positive energy about the team and the club.

Additionally, whilst Tapau is far more prone to a poor game then jensen he is also a lot more likely to change a game via his intensity, offloading and ball playing then jensen is.

I think Walters might and should give him a rest though. He was great the first 6 or 7 rounds, then average for a few rounds, and now the last 3 weeks he has been below average. Give him longer minutes in qld cup for a round or 2 combined with a bye means a much fresher tapau. With capewell playing in the middle as well now means we have an experienced player there throughout the whole game. Give jensen time again and willison a game or 2 would be great as well. Take no game for granted but we also need to be prepared for injuries, nrl is a whole different beast/intensity/speed compared to qld cup and they need to be ready in case we need them in the big games....

 

[Morkel]

Oates looked soooo slow on that first break of his, my first thought was that his legs aren't right. But after a few more runs from him I remembered that that's just how he looks when running, it's a slow lope but he's so big and his stride is so long that it's deceiving.

 

[Volvo Driver]

You know, i really thought Cronulla were a better team than last nights effort showed.

They are 0-5 against top 8 teams so aren't actually going that well this year.

 

[Mr Fourex]

3 mistakes in 14 games ?

I find that stat dubious.....

 

[Foordy]

I find that stat dubious.....

a stat proving you wrong, doesn't make it dubious

 

[Super Freak]

 

[Skathen]

if that is accurate you are a hard marker

He's probably recalling the other issues, like the 8 penalties conceded for Marty to 2 for Jensen.
Six agains have been a few as well - but as that stat is hardly recorded anywhere - hard to tell

 

[McHunt]

Billy has had 2 really solid games. Despite my criticisms of him, I’ve always said I think he’s a smart player but just not physically gifted. He has seemingly developed skills that better match his footy IQ. Well done, Billy. I think he has surpassed Paix fairly significantly on form.

I think some of us are getting a bit carried away with praise here because he copped such a shellacking in the off season. That criticism mostly being that he wasn't NRL standard, the details varying. And that his father wouldn't be able to drop him in favour of a better player. Well, we wouldn't know about that because his father has so far only made two hookers available for selection, and the other guy has looked the better player up until the last couple of weeks. Not everyone agrees on that, but there's not a lot between them regardless.

It's fair to say Billy's proven to be "NRL standard" but beyond that would be generous. There are some terrific hookers in the NRL. Billy really isn't one of those. But he's also not a "bad" one, and arguably better than the one Nick Politis poached from us with his bottomless sack of funny money.

The test of footy IQ comes when Adam Reynolds isn't on the field, and the thinking gets delegated to someone else. I'm skeptical that Billy can handle that beyond the occasional grubber, but he can certainly pass the ball and tackle as per the job description.

Billy's not under pressure from me, but I still think 9 (and 14) is a position we can improve.

 

[Manofoneway]

I think some of us are getting a bit carried away with praise here because he copped such a shellacking in the off season. That criticism mostly being that he wasn't NRL standard, the details varying. And that his father wouldn't be able to drop him in favour of a better player. Well, we wouldn't know about that because his father has so far only made two hookers available for selection, and the other guy has looked the better player up until the last couple of weeks. Not everyone agrees on that, but there's not a lot between them regardless.

It's fair to say Billy's proven to be "NRL standard" but beyond that would be generous. There are some terrific hookers in the NRL. Billy really isn't one of those. But he's also not a "bad" one, and arguably better than the one Nick Politis poached from us with his bottomless sack of funny money.

The test of footy IQ comes when Adam Reynolds isn't on the field, and the thinking gets delegated to someone else. I'm skeptical that Billy can handle that beyond the occasional grubber, but he can certainly pass the ball and tackle as per the job description.

Billy's not under pressure from me, but I still think 9 (and 14) is a position we can improve.

I think there is some upside here mchunt. This forum was a bit unfair to billy given he had never professed to being a hooker and had never done a preseason in the role. This is his first full year as a 9, there's a likelihood he gets better from here. I'm sure Harry Grant would be a shithouse fullback if he was put into the role tomorrow too but give him a few years and he would improve.