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.
