POST GAME Round 14 - Eels vs Broncos

[Huge]

Pretty much this, no point me re-writing what Huge has said.

We were also a few seconds from a grand final the year before, that kind of gives the coach/playing group a bit more leeway.

Let's go over the actual games
1 - Melbourne beat us, nothing new there 22-12
2 - Great display against the Cowboys, we were great 29-10
3 - Lose to St Merge by 1 point, we were pretty shit - 25-24
4 - Absolutely embarrassed by the Roosters 36-4
5 - Tigers hand it to us 22-16
6 - Raiders beat us 26-22, I missed this game so don't have a comment
7 - We beat a Sharks team that has a bunch of injuries and their winger on debut handed us like 3 gift trys
8 - Rabbitohs embarrass us - 38-6
9 - We beat Manly who were missing Turbo and DCE - 26-10
10 - We convincingly beat the Roosters 15-10 - Amazing performance
11 - We beat the Warriors 8-2... Less said the better
12 - The only team as bad as the Bulldogs beat us 26-18 without their halfback
13 - The Eels embarrass us 38-10

13 games
5 wins
8 losses

2 of those wins were fantastic, some of the best wins I've seen in years.
2 of those were basically gimme games with the opposition losing key players before the game
1 was against the Warriors where it could have easily gone the other way.

I'm not convinced we even make the 8 this year and that's simply unacceptable for this club. Rebuilding is code word for when you make too many mistakes and you're screwed beyond repair for the short-to-medium term.

I'd like to see Seibold take responsibility or admit some fault. I haven't heard him say he needs to prepare better, change the way we train, work to improve our gameplan. Nothing. All he's done is blame individuals and some mythical private markers. It's making me rapidly lose faith that he actually knows what he's doing but he only needs to answer to have the faith of the board.

He's a rookie coach which means he was always a huge gamble. It's not like he has a first grade track record so all we can do is guess how he'll perform based on what he's said and done.

He's not improved our ruck control, our ball control, our 5th tackle options, our structure in attack, our defence, our resilience. Honestly, we look like the same team as last year, just somehow even dumber, slower, less fit and less committed.

Maybe he just can't work it out with this group of players and needs to make mass changes but that's going to mean at least a couple of years of absolute mediocrity and fighting to stay off the bottom of the ladder so excuse me if I'm fucking annoyed that I'm going to have mostly shitty starts to every weekend for a long time.

Are you sure that was the 2016 season?

 

[Kimlo]

Are you sure that was the 2016 season?

No, I may have worded it poorly, the games I was reviewing are all this year.

 

[Kimlo]

I don’t want to cherry pick one small part of your post (even though that’s what I’m about to do), but why should the above allow anyone any leeway whatsoever?

If we won, I could maybe understand because unless we go back to back, there is literally only one way we can go after winning a premiership. But we didn’t, we lost.

Only a defeatist would allow themselves to accept losing a grand final as an excuse for being poor the next year.

If you’re the ultimate competitor, which everyone should be in an elite sporting organisation, it should make you hungrier, not act as a reason for why it’s acceptable to go backwards.

I see your point, the reason I say it gives them a bit of leeway is because they've essentially proven (coach/playing group) at that point that they CAN perform at the very highest level by reaching a grand final. It ended in heart break but at the time there was no reason to believe we couldn't go one better. It's not how it ended obviously but there was plenty of reasons for me as a fan to have faith that the squad was capable.

Losing to two shit teams in a row while only barely scraping a win over the Warriors is making it harder for me to be positive. I've seen 2 games this year where I thought we were excellent and yet the gaps between our best and worst games are enormous. We look like world beaters one week and absolute trash the next, it's just baffling. I'm probably over reacting and harsh in my assessment of the team but man is it hard to be a Broncos fan this year after the absolute bullshit and politics over the entire off season to be followed by one of our worst ever starts to a season.

 

[Rookie Alan]

Making the 8 is going to be tough now. The way I see it, there's a clear top 7 already - Roosters, Souffs, Storm, Knights, Raiders, Manly and Sharks. They'll almost certainly be there. Then there are a whole bunch of teams competing for the 8th spot, including us if we can somehow get enough wins.

Well, just looked at the draw, I think storm, roosters, south, raiders, knights, sharks will clearly be in top 8, manly and eels will be benchmark, the two game between these two will decide who’s going to be the 8.

 

[WASSHHH]

I see your point, the reason I say it gives them a bit of leeway is because they've essentially proven (coach/playing group) at that point that they CAN perform at the very highest level by reaching a grand final. It ended in heart break but at the time there was no reason to believe we couldn't go one better. It's not how it ended obviously but there was plenty of reasons for me as a fan to have faith that the squad was capable.

Losing to two shit teams in a row while only barely scraping a win over the Warriors is making it harder for me to be positive. I've seen 2 games this year where I thought we were excellent and yet the gaps between our best and worst games are enormous. We look like world beaters one week and absolute trash the next, it's just baffling. I'm probably over reacting and harsh in my assessment of the team but man is it hard to be a Broncos fan this year after the absolute bullshit and politics over the entire off season to be followed by one of our worst ever starts to a season.

I’m not about to argue that it’s hard being a fan of the Broncos, because sadly, you couldn’t be more right.

And I don’t think you’re being harsh either. You might have gathered from my post, I’m not fond of people making excuses for underperformance. People need to be accountable for their performance and / or actions. I don’t want to go off on a tangent, but I do feel we are far too soft as a society these days and are so quick to make excuses.

Regardless, back to the topic at hand. I don’t agree that Seibold has been worse than Bennett in his second iteration because he simply hasn’t had the time to prove one way or the other. In reality, I do believe that unless we got real lucky (which I don’t think would have been good for us long term, probably like 2015 wasn’t), we were always going to have some terrible performances this year. The changes in the club have been huge and a lot of these players only really know NRL playing under Bennett.

Quite simply, change takes time. We just need to wait and see now if the Broncos have the gonads to ride the wave for as long as it takes. Conversely, I’m not foolish either, there is always the possibility Seibold won’t deliver too - who knows.

All that said though; I don't think anyone can argue that the weekly game we all play of guess which Broncos team got off the bus today isn’t new, we’ve been mentally fragile for longer than any of us would like to acknowledge.

I read something great the other day, which I think really applies to this team (and a lot of people these days for that matter): don’t let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be.

We need to harden up between the ears before any success comes our way, regardless of who holds the clipboard.

 

[GCBRONCO]

View attachment 5546

LOL! Yeah that pretty much sums it up

 

[Big Pete]

It was amazing how quickly the game unfolded for the Broncos. Believe it or not, they actually started well. There was a positive early sign where Milford ran the ball from dummy half, drew his team a penalty and Brisbane were marching along inside the Eels half. They played the type of football you'd want to see that line-up play. They went two passes right to Haas who steamed onto the ball, then went long ball to Fifita charging at Moses and had the Eels on the back-foot. The Broncos should have got better result of that set, but the botched pass from dummy half disrupted Milford and gave Gutherson more than enough time to cover the kick.

Then within moments, Fifita gets himself in an awkward position and comes reeling out of a tackle, Oates drops a ball and the side is in disarray. It isn't long before both Fifita and Gillet come off and two bench players come on and by the time we get the starting side back on the field it's 20-0, soon to be 26-0 when Oates hands them a try with an embarrassing effort.

The biggest issue is the defence. Players working as a unit to wrap up the ball, win the ruck and limit the opposition's opportunities. It starts with the tackle where they're not getting off the line quick enough and they're not working together effectively in the tackle. The first player in the tackle has to lock up the ball, others have to join into take the legs and help turtle the player on the ground. That isn't happening and worse, they're not covering for one another. If you watch the Jennings try, Gutherson has an age to run the ball past the advantage line because Haas is too slow to force the play. Haas found himself in a tough predicament having to defend on the right edge since Pangai Jr was involved in the previous tackle and Gillett was off, but those are the efforts you have to make at this level, it's what the best teams do.

The other problem is their sets coming out of trouble. I thought this was the one area where Seibold would address right away but it's still a work in progress. Brisbane actually started the better of the two teams, until this one set. I hate to pick on him because he gets blamed for everything, but Darius set the tone from the first play. Watch the 4th minute again, when Darius receives the ball, he should see that the pass isn't on and that Jennings has Isaako well and truly covered. Isaako wasn't going to centre the ball more effectively than him and if Darbs had have gunned it, he would have got the ball over the 20m mark easily, maybe even over the 30 and gotten a quick play the ball against a choppy Eels defensive line. Instead he goes long ball, the Eels read it, three gang up on Isaako and the Broncos are on the back-foot just trying to get onside. It gets worse from there, O'Sullivan holds a pass up for Oates who gets set upon by a rushing Eels line and actually knocks the ball on but gets away with it. Then later in the set, Pangai Jr tips it on for Fifita who has plenty of room ahead of him, but instead he tips it on again to Staggs who has no support outside of him and has less room to work in then Fifita. It was a dog's breakfast and everybody involved needs to have their issues pointed out. Even Shibasaki's run on play two where he tried to go behind the markers was the wrong type of run at that point in that game.

Unfortunately it became the story of the night for the Broncos. They didn't throw up any shapes at the Eels inside their line, it became easy for the Eels defensive line to gang up and by the time the Broncos threw something at the Eels, they couldn't capitilise on the opportunity. Outside of not having the shapes in place, the issue is that the wrong players are receiving the football. Unless you're actually making significant headway, you can't keep attacking the same part of the field. Last night there were too many instances of one out rucks involving Lodge, Haas, Carrigan etc. where the only hint of deception was whether Lodge was going to pass it. Lodge cannot be the key playmaker of these sets, Milford, O'Sullivan and Boyd have to step up and put themselves in positions where they can work off of a Lodge play the ball. You also have to work different parts of the field. If you're getting beaten in the middle, then take it down a fringe, keep running traffic at their weakest defender and work off the back of it.

5 & 8 and the season is in tatters. Brisbane can make slight alterations to their line-up, but there's no secret ingredient waiting in reserves, the team can only hope to be better drilled. With the Broncos this season, it is what it is and while I don't want to get too far ahead of myself and start casting doom and gloom on the 2020 season, the Broncos have to take stock of their weaknesses and look to improve upon them.

 

[Jedhead]

I think the biggest weakness is they overestimate themselves and underestimate the opposition. The last two games most of the team have thought the opposition is playing so bad that all they need do is turn up and they'll win. Where was all the team running in to congratulate each other as a TEAM when a play was successful? Where was the other guys running in to back their mates up when they got hit by a dog shot?

All that team spirit was missing in the last two games and my god it showed. As I said guys were turning up with a very poor attitude thinking they already had the two points. Siebs must take some of the blame for this for not making them accountable for their lack of team effort.

 

[Battler]

I'm not convinced we even make the 8 this year and that's simply unacceptable for this club. Rebuilding is code word for when you make too many mistakes and you're screwed beyond repair for the short-to-medium term.

That's the position we're in unfortunately, and we're in it courtesy of Wayne Bennett. I don't believe he intended to screw us over, but he sure does have a knack of completely fucking over the sides that he leaves.

EDIT: We won't be a rabble for as long as the Dragons or the Knights were, we have too much talent coming up for that to happen, but we're going to be cannon fodder at the serious end of the season for as long as Wayne's ghost in the form of McCullough and Boyd continues to haunt us.

Making the 8 is going to be tough now. The way I see it, there's a clear top 7 already - Roosters, Souffs, Storm, Knights, Raiders, Manly and Sharks. They'll almost certainly be there. Then there are a whole bunch of teams competing for the 8th spot, including us if we can somehow get enough wins.

There's no point making the eight if we are going to get destroyed in week one. We could possibly fluke a win or two in the finals, but we have close to no chance of winning the comp so it's better to look towards next year. Our best case scenario this season is to go on a run like the cows did in 2017 (playing teams in the finals who are choking big time or have fallen away badly at the end of the season) and then get embarrassed in the GF.

I think the biggest weakness is they overestimate themselves and underestimate the opposition. The last two games most of the team have thought the opposition is playing so bad that all they need do is turn up and they'll win. Where was all the team running in to congratulate each other as a TEAM when a play was successful? Where was the other guys running in to back their mates up when they got hit by a dog shot?

All that team spirit was missing in the last two games and my god it showed. As I said guys were turning up with a very poor attitude thinking they already had the two points. Siebs must take some of the blame for this for not making them accountable for their lack of team effort.

The same old shit was happening last year. We were losing to the Dogs and Titans then for God's sake.

 

[Locky’s Left Boot]

Go ahead then. You need to state several examples including time and place. I am interested what you will find in your vault.

I’ll chip in and provide a few examples of where we have had equally as bad performances since Bennett came back in 2015.

1. Broncos 18 df by Dragons 48 Finals Week 1 2018 @ Suncorp
2. Broncos 12 df by Dragons 34 Round 1 2018 @ Kogarah
3. Broncos 0 df by Storm 30 Finals Week 3 2017 @ AAMI Park
4. Broncos 12 df by Storm 42 Round 17 2017 @ Suncorp
5. Broncos 34 df by Eels 52 Round 25 2017 @ Suncorp
6. Broncos 14 df by Bulldogs 40 Round 16 2016 @ Suncorp
7. Broncos 6 df by Storm 48 Round 17 2016 @ Suncorp
8. Broncos 14 df by Sea Eagles 44 Round 21 2015 @ Central Coast
9. Broncos 6 df by Rabbitohs 36 Round 1 2015 @ Suncorp

So these type of recent performances are nothing new. We have had them sporadically through out the last few years. Especially the back end of 2017 and leading into 2018 there were signs like this which we papered over through 2018 which ended up eventually blowing up in our faces in that disgusting final against St George. This is part reason why this squad is being revamped and still needs less Boyd and Macca. But we would want to hope we have some signings in mind and decent ones at that.
What’s worrying about the examples I have listed above is how many of them have occurred at Suncorp. I even left off last years shocker at home to The Warriors as I wasn’t sure if it was worthy to join those other games.

 

[broncos4life]

I’m not about to argue that it’s hard being a fan of the Broncos, because sadly, you couldn’t be more right.

And I don’t think you’re being harsh either. You might have gathered from my post, I’m not fond of people making excuses for underperformance. People need to be accountable for their performance and / or actions. I don’t want to go off on a tangent, but I do feel we are far too soft as a society these days and are so quick to make excuses.

Regardless, back to the topic at hand. I don’t agree that Seibold has been worse than Bennett in his second iteration because he simply hasn’t had the time to prove one way or the other. In reality, I do believe that unless we got real lucky (which I don’t think would have been good for us long term, probably like 2015 wasn’t), we were always going to have some terrible performances this year. The changes in the club have been huge and a lot of these players only really know NRL playing under Bennett.

Quite simply, change takes time. We just need to wait and see now if the Broncos have the gonads to ride the wave for as long as it takes. Conversely, I’m not foolish either, there is always the possibility Seibold won’t deliver too - who knows.

All that said though; I don't think anyone can argue that the weekly game we all play of guess which Broncos team got off the bus today isn’t new, we’ve been mentally fragile for longer than any of us would like to acknowledge.

I read something great the other day, which I think really applies to this team (and a lot of people these days for that matter): don’t let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be.

We need to harden up between the ears before any success comes our way, regardless of who holds the clipboard.

I don’t think it is hard being a Broncos fan at all. I mean, if the only reason you became a Broncos fan was because they used to win a lot, then yes, it would be hard being a Broncos fan at the moment. But if you are an actual fan it is easy to support your team no matter what. Some Broncos ‘fans’ wouldn’t last a year of following the Dogs or the Knights for the last 20 or so years.

 

[WASSHHH]

I don’t think it is hard being a Broncos fan at all. I mean, if the only reason you became a Broncos fan was because they used to win a lot, then yes, it would be hard being a Broncos fan at the moment. But if you are an actual fan it is easy to support your team no matter what. Some Broncos ‘fans’ wouldn’t last a year of following the Dogs or the Knights for the last 20 or so years.

This is not the first time, in a very uppity fashion, you’ve made it out like you’re a true fan whilst others aren’t.

I just want to know, did you read my post, and if so, did you understand it?

It’s quite clear the answer to at least one of those questions is no.

I’d be willing to bet the vast majority of people on here don’t care if we lose so long as we lose because we were beaten by a better team. But for a very long time now, that hasn’t been the case. Quite simply, we are an incredibly weak team mentally. If things go our way, we can look great. But when they don’t, you better get ready to watch some terrible football, because we absolutely shatter under pressure.

But hey, if you enjoy watching a team underperform, then I suggest you put on that “#1 Fan” giant novelty hand that you’ve bestowed upon yourself and park yourself in front of back-to-back, all day replays of our insipid performances over the last 5 years or so.

Excuse me if I don’t come watch it with you though, as you’ve made it pretty clear that my questioning the performance and mental fortitude of this team means I’m not an “actual fan” like you are.

 

[Jedhead]

Every morning when I log on to this site I do so with the expectation that Darius or Macca or both have seen the light and realised they are doing more harm than good to theirs and the clubs reputation by playing on and have finally renounced their retirement.

Sadly this morning is not the day, but the day is still long and who knows what it might bring.

I know one morning I'll be overjoyed. Just hope its sooner rather than later.

 

[Matheos]

I have sat quietly all weekend, predominantly in the fetal position, waiting for the pure frustration and anger to subside before posting my thoughts.

Before round 13 I was definitely one of the members firmly in the "we have turned a corner" basket and was adamant we were going to finish in the top 6. Our defence was spot on for two consecutive weeks, the attitude was terrific against the Roosters and what easily could've been a let down spot, we showed up and were gritty in Auckland.
What ever has happened after the bye has been abysmal and all of the same issues identified earlier in the season back and flourishing.

1. The balance in the team is all wrong. We have so much talent and ability but everyone is all around the same steps in their careers. Brilliance mixed in with poor attitude and errors.
Rookie half, rookie hooker, rookie centres, inexperienced middle forwards, no fullback. Every side needs a mix of youth with hardened NRL players who are consistent week-to-week.
How we have 5 origin players and look so ordinary is dead set beyond me...

2. To reiterate the sentiments of many, Darius Boyd a cancer for this team at fullback. You don't actually appreciate how much it is hurting us until you watch any other game. MOVE HIM IMMEDIATELY. Personally, given the issues with lack of experience and leadership in the squad, I would keep him in the starting side at centre.

3. Turpin and Segeyaro need to play every remaining game in 2019 if fit. Macca needs to be tapped on the shoulder and put in reserve grade once and for all.

4. Where is our line speed and defensive pressure? Parra scored two tries where their bodies were at the line practically before any contact was made. Absolutely criminal.

5. Our attacking structure is a complete mess. Given our lack of strike on the edges, the whole team should be geared at attacking the opposition through the middle. We should be having multiple support runners around the ruck, getting quick play the balls and challenging the opposition forwards with change of direction, offloads and hard running. We are one-out all the way to 4th tackle and struggle for metres as a result. 16 offloads we had against Parra and we were tackled within 2m of the player that offloaded it 12 times.

2019 is done. We need to look to 2020 and make some genuine changes coming out of the bye. Seibold, show us how big your balls are or risk the fanbase turning against you.
We are the Broncos.
We do not accept mediocrity.
This club is set-up in every possible way to avoid sugar-coated "re-building" years. Yet we somehow find ourselves in one despite being a $5.50 second favourite...yes second favourite to win the premiership before round 1.

I need a scotch. Is it 12pm yet?

 

[Accept]

I don’t think it is hard being a Broncos fan at all. I mean, if the only reason you became a Broncos fan was because they used to win a lot, then yes, it would be hard being a Broncos fan at the moment. But if you are an actual fan it is easy to support your team no matter what. Some Broncos ‘fans’ wouldn’t last a year of following the Dogs or the Knights for the last 20 or so years.

Actual fan alert ^^^. This is the most fanboyish comment I've ever seen on BHQ. How old are you? 16? (Maybe you are). Making out that you are a bigger fan than others is the foundation that many of these lame FB pages were created from. I'd really prefer not to read this sort of shit on this forum, thanks.

 

[Morkel]

B4L is exactly right. We're free to feel disappointment about how the team is performing, but comments like "it is hard to be a Broncos fan" just wreaks of entitlement. Fans of other clubs have endured this situation for years, even decades. Just because we had it so good for the first half the Broncos' existence doesn't mean we are somehow guaranteed it forever. Or we somehow deserve more success than the fans of other teams.

 

[holdzy]

B4L is exactly right. We're free to feel disappointment about how the team is performing, but comments like "it is hard to be a Broncos fan" just wreaks of entitlement. Fans of other clubs have endured this situation for years, even decades. Just because we had it so good for the first half the Broncos' existence doesn't mean we are somehow guaranteed it forever. Or we somehow deserve more success than the fans of other teams.

If the Broncos want to continue to be rich and have the best of everything, they should treat their fans who pay good money to support them to better performances.

It IS hard to be a Broncos fan, THIS year. Not in general. Everything reeks of entitlement to some...

 

[Renegade]

It sucks being a fan this season because you cant really be sure we're moving in the right direction.

In seasons past where we've made the 8 but had a decent squad we've at least been able to console ourselves with the idea that with one or two tweaks we could've been more of a threat.

This year just feels like a write off and it's only June and we only have tenuous hope that next season will be better.