PRE-GAME Round 14 - Broncos vs Rabbitohs

[Browny]

This is one from the Broncos website.

LIKELY BRONCOS NRL SQUAD
1. Darius Boyd ©
2. Corey Oates
3. James Roberts
4. Tautau Moga
5. Jordan Kahu
6. Anthony Milford
17. Kodi Nikorima
8. Korbin Sims
9. Andrew McCullough
10. Adam Blair
11. Sam Thaiday
12. Matt Gillett
13. Josh McGuire
Interchange:
14. Alex Glenn
15. Tevita Pangai
16. Herman Ese’ese
Reserve: Joe Ofahengaue
Reserve: Benji Marshall
Reserve: Jai Arrow
Reserve: Jaydn Su’A
Coach: Wayne Bennett

3 man bench, that's confidence

 

[john1420]

Wayne is being vindictive because Hunt is going to the Dragons. I don't care what he says. He could have told him to run the ball more and kept him in first grade.

Wayne is making the right call, in his view, for the team's best chances in 2017

Making the wrong call just to be vindictive, essentially lessening your chances, is the move of an idiot

Wayne isn't perfect and like all of us he can make a mistake, but an idiot he ain't

No way this is vindictive

 

[tommy]

Gone get it from Kevin Walter.

Nah he is ex KGB. Has Bennett's office bugged.

 

[winslow_wong]

Is it gonna be bloody wet weather again tonight? These grey clouds just appeared ffs

 

[Kyall]

I've red that the bench is Benji, Glenn, Pangai jr, offahengaue and if that's true bloody good on offa for the effort he's put in.

 

[mitch222]

Is it gonna be bloody wet weather again tonight? These grey clouds just appeared ffs

No rain predicted on the bureau but take that with a grain of salt

 

[KnToad]

Wayne is being vindictive because Hunt is going to the Dragons. I don't care what he says. He could have told him to run the ball more and kept him in first grade.

I don't think so.

When Hunt got injured Bennett said that Kodi had 6 weeks to show if he had what it takes to be the Broncos 7. He was given the chance to audition for the role. Talk about putting the kid under the spotlight.
To Kodi's great credit he didn't take a backwards step and came through his audition with flying colours.
Was the opposition the best - no
Was he perfect - no
But he stood up and delivered when he was given the chance. He did EXACTLY what Bennett gave him the chance to do.
Then Hunt comes back and after a couple of weeks, like many of us, Bennett does not like what he is seeing so with half an eye on the future and the other half on winning matches now he makes the call that after both guys were given a fair crack Kodi has come out on top (for now maybe) and has earnt his spot.
Hunt gets sent off to do some work on his game and Kodi gets the spot he has earnt.
Might not be for the rest of the season - might be.
Either way he is doing what any good coach will do and recognizing when something needs to be addressed.
At least he is not doing a Griffin and sticking to his bad decisions regardless of the outcome because he doesn't want to look like a doofus that got it wrong.
I'm sure if Kodi stinks it up the same call will be made with him.

 

[Broncos Maestro]

As once said by a wise man "insanity is doing to same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The Hunt experiment has not lived up to scratch and Kodi has come out firing.

Can't stick to same old formula or you'll get found out sooner than later (e.g. Game 1 of Origin)

 

[Big Pete]

Ahhh the old master coach, he certainly knows how to throw the cat among the pigeons.

If I had it my way, Hunt would have had the rest of the Origin period to prove his worth. However, Bennett was clearly concerned with the lethargic performance from Brisbane last week and was prepared to make the big call to wake his team up. It's a big gamble from Wayne, especially since there were a lot of ducks and drakes during the Broncos 5-0 run with Kodi as halfback.

Not only was the quality of opposition weaker, they had all suffered disruptions leading into the contest. The Gold Coast were without Konrad Hurrell, Jarryd Hayne, Kevin Proctor and Agnatius Paasi when Matt Gillett produced a huge play to steal the game at the death. Souths were without Adam Reynolds and had seemingly run over the top of Brisbane until a few controversial decisions saw Brisbane barely finish on top. Against Manly, Brisbane were absolutely woeful in the first half and it took a freak piece of play to turn the game on it's head. Before finally Brisbane were able to beat on two very poor Penrith and Wests outfits to spruce up their record. I couldn't say the Broncos ever played that well during that period, the only thing they proved is that they could win without Ben Hunt.

This is the real litmus test for Kodi Nikorima. The jury is still out on him as a player, but if he can rise to the occasion and develop his combination with Anthony Milford he maybe another wonderful story in the proud history of this great club. The question is, how much time should Kodi have? And like Hunt, I'd be prepared to give it until Round 17 to declare it a success or a failure. For the club's sake I hope it's a roaring success.

I expect South Sydney to provide Brisbane with a real contest in the coming hours. Not only are they a stronger side with Reynolds in the team, the return of Bryson Goodwin should fill in a major weakness in their defensive line. Last week Parramatta had a field day running at Fuimaono who's decision making was very poor on the edges. While most fans wouldn't consider him a superstar, Goodwin is the best defensive centre they have at the club and with a backline consisting of Gray, Hunt, Goodwin & Johnston Souths will be far more potent than they were last time. The key for Brisbane will be their defence, if they can put pressure on the Souths forward pack, history has shown that they will turn a lot of ball over as they're far more concerned about the contact than ball security. Brisbane will need to sacrifice some ruck speed and look to make some hits to get on top of South Sydney early and force them to play catch up football.

I've been confident of a Broncos victory, but they'll have to earn it against Souths. Outside of their Round 6 performance against Sydney, I've yet to see anything from Brisbane to suggest they'll be there come October.

 

[Unbreakable]

I think I'd give Nikorima the rest of the season honestly.

You could argue that it decreases our likelihood of winning the premiership this year, because at his best he's still not as good as Hunt at his best.. But I feel like for the long-term continuity and development of this roster we need to get a large sample size of Nikorima against quality opposition, week-in and week-out before we can determine if he's a potential long-term Halfback for us.

I know Wayne has already deemed him the starting Halfback for 2018, but I don't buy that, I think he said that to ease a bit of the pressure of Kodi (And Milford for that matter, you'd imagine it'll help his confidence knowing he's playing with the guy he'll be partnering for the next 18 months), I think if Kodi under-performs or doesn't make the position his own by the end of the season, Wayne will have a back-up plan, whether it be someone like Connor Watson or a 1-year rental of Josh McCrone, I'm not sure, but he'll have a plan.

 

[Danoz Direct]

I think baring injury, Kodi will be our halfback next year.

 

[Brett]

I've got a strong feeling about tonight's game. I think the inclusion of Kodi will see Roberts and Gillett get good, early ball, and the team will build confidence off that. I see Roberts getting a couple and Kodi being solid.

 

[Mightybroncs2k17]

Anyone else really excited to see what Milford offers tonight? After a week in Origin camp being mentored by some of the best in the game then playing a solid 50ish minutes in the highest class of rugby league there is and now coming off a 9 day break It would be good to see him take his game to the next level. Add to that a full straight forward pack to work behind and the demotion of Ben hunt means he will be the main play maker.

There's no excuses tonight for anyone what so ever.

 

[Stix]

I think I'd give Nikorima the rest of the season honestly.

You could argue that it decreases our likelihood of winning the premiership this year, because at his best he's still not as good as Hunt at his best.. But I feel like for the long-term continuity and development of this roster we need to get a large sample size of Nikorima against quality opposition, week-in and week-out before we can determine if he's a potential long-term Halfback for us.

I know Wayne has already deemed him the starting Halfback for 2018, but I don't buy that, I think he said that to ease a bit of the pressure of Kodi (And Milford for that matter, you'd imagine it'll help his confidence knowing he's playing with the guy he'll be partnering for the next 18 months), I think if Kodi under-performs or doesn't make the position his own by the end of the season, Wayne will have a back-up plan, whether it be someone like Connor Watson or a 1-year rental of Josh McCrone, I'm not sure, but he'll have a plan.

Not long ago Wayne deemed Copley to be Hodgos replacement... Kodi will need to impress, that's for sure.

 

[rnabokov]

I've got a strong feeling about tonight's game. I think the inclusion of Kodi will see Roberts and Gillett get good, early ball, and the team will build confidence off that. I see Roberts getting a couple and Kodi being solid.

A strength I see in Kodi, which is one of Hunt's weaknesses imo, is his awareness where his support players are, and what are the distances and spaces in relation to each other, and what's needed decision wise to make a play happen. For mine, that is the hallmark of the better playmakers and I see Kodi looking good in that department with the quality ball he has given to his supports so far.

 

[winslow_wong]

Anyone else really excited to see what Milford offers tonight? After a week in Origin camp being mentored by some of the best in the game then playing a solid 50ish minutes in the highest class of rugby league there is and now coming off a 9 day break It would be good to see him take his game to the next level. Add to that a full straight forward pack to work behind and the demotion of Ben hunt means he will be the main play maker.

There's no excuses tonight for anyone what so ever.

And going into a bye next week everyone should be ripping in. Even Alfie with the water and buck have no excuses.

 

[pagey]

I think I'd give Nikorima the rest of the season honestly.

You could argue that it decreases our likelihood of winning the premiership this year, because at his best he's still not as good as Hunt at his best.. But I feel like for the long-term continuity and development of this roster we need to get a large sample size of Nikorima against quality opposition, week-in and week-out before we can determine if he's a potential long-term Halfback for us.

I know Wayne has already deemed him the starting Halfback for 2018, but I don't buy that, I think he said that to ease a bit of the pressure of Kodi (And Milford for that matter, you'd imagine it'll help his confidence knowing he's playing with the guy he'll be partnering for the next 18 months), I think if Kodi under-performs or doesn't make the position his own by the end of the season, Wayne will have a back-up plan, whether it be someone like Connor Watson or a 1-year rental of Josh McCrone, I'm not sure, but he'll have a plan.

Sorry but the best player finishes the sesson , we r doing good without playing real well. Why waste the rest of the season if kodi isn't cutting it? McCrone !!! The **** ???

 

[pagey]

Anyone else really excited to see what Milford offers tonight? After a week in Origin camp being mentored by some of the best in the game then playing a solid 50ish minutes in the highest class of rugby league there is and now coming off a 9 day break It would be good to see him take his game to the next level. Add to that a full straight forward pack to work behind and the demotion of Ben hunt means he will be the main play maker.

There's no excuses tonight for anyone what so ever.

Yep , hopefully milf can show what he has gained.