Round 16 - Broncos vs Sharks - Post Match Discussion

[Huge]

For mine, Hook could or rather should use Barba at 5/8 when we are in possession and Barba at fullback when in defence. I don't mind Lowrie as a defender so he's doing a job for us. Hoggman is a capable defender and is a lousy 5/8 so better for him to go to fullback. Granville is the perfect sub as he covers so many positions and would be on my bench every week. I'd absolutely love to see a specialist in the role of 5/8 and cannot believe we started season 2014 training someone in the role. We signed someone a couple of months ago who is a specialist and who has been going fairly well, we need for Nicholls to be given a chance, he has a competent passing and kicking game and really, what would we be losing by having two halves ?

I'm sick of Griffin and shitty team selections like Stagg ( although Staggs been very good over the years ) We are a grade below NRL at the moment, more like a very good Intrust Super Cup side.

 

[animal eater]

Naturally I wanted to cry myself to sleep last night. Deplorable in any and every way possible. On a hilarious note.... about 15 minutes into the game our 5/8 holds the ball when he should of passed and I swear I hear someone in the crowd yell Hoggman on channel 9. I almost pissed myself laughing.

If Sloth isn't bright enough to see the tide turning when he takes out Granville and Oates for an extended period of time and how it all goes to utter crap well then I am without words. If he really thinks that Stagg has the pace at this point in his career to do anything resembling an NRL first division player than I think he must have had an earlier head trama.... the Sloth that is.

 

[kat00]

A night of firsts......

I agreed with Hadley for the first time........The difference between the 2 sides was the kicking game. Hunt is a better player than I first thought but he cant kick.

And

I couldn't believe my eyes, Hofman actually passed the ball albeit after the siren and into touch. To think this bloke is playing in Locky's old position is a joke.

I said to my Mrs at half time, I bet the sharks run them down, you could see it happening before they scored their first try.

Imagine what Easts or Manly would have done to them last night. They will be flat out winning the bye next week.

 

[Huge]

I've just watched the replay from just before Cronulla's first try and those suggesting the ref kept Brisbane back 15 metres from the play the balls need to have another look. The only really bad call was the penalty for hitting the kicker around the legs. It shouldn't have been a penalty. The Broncos goal line defence was terrible. Leaving Granville off was plainly stupid. Brisbane's line speed was mainly at fault with the team waiting rather than moving up at speed. Copley lost the ball before any contact with the owner of the shit-eater grin and rightly the try was awarded. Aside from the dodgy penalty the refs didn't cost us the game. Poor use of the bench,slow line speed,a job done mentality and poor kicking were the main causes. If we are angry it should be the idiotic bench use and poor team effort.

 

[Socnorb]

I don't understand this, to fix the perceived issue of a player playing out of position you're going to move someone with no experience in that position at all to the 6.

I hear you. It's not ideal. But he looks dangerous when he runs with the ball, is not a liability in defence and seem to have good instincts. He has also shown he is not overawed at this level. Last night hunt layed on all the points . The only other player who looked dangerous was Granville. Apart from Hala of course.

 

[Brett]

I hear you. It's not ideal. But he looks dangerous when he runs with the ball, is not a liability in defence and seem to have good instincts. He has also shown he is not overawed at this level. Last night hunt layed on all the points . The only other player who looked dangerous was Granville. Apart from Hala of course.

Who do you think set Hala up for his second? Granville. Hunt and Granville were the standouts for mine.

 

[rnabokov]

We will never win a game against a full strength determined and committed side with one half.

I am so pissed off the club knows this and has effectively decided to forfeit this season until Milford's arrival

 

[bb_gun]

Hopefully this loss gives the entire team a shake-up and really forces us to lift for the remainder of the season. If we lost to any other team then we could have written it off as just a tough game but because it was the Sharks (at home from 22-nil up) we simply don't have any excuses. Our remaining draw is pretty tough so if we don't lift now we're in a real danger of missing the 8 for the 2nd year in a row, I'm confident we can do it so here's to hoping that this loss was the catalyst required to drive us into finals contention.

 

[Socnorb]

Who do you think set Hala up for his second? Granville. Hunt and Granville were the standouts for mine.

I was kind laughing to myself when I wrote the Hala bit. I didn't think it would translate well into the post.

 

[Jason Simmons]

I don't understand this, to fix the perceived issue of a player playing out of position you're going to move someone with no experience in that position at all to the 6.

Why not? The coach decided to fix our lack of a 5/8 by playing someone who has no experience (or ability) in that position.

If it's good enough for the goose...

 

[Huge]

We will never win a game against a full strength determined and committed side with one half.

I am so pissed off the club knows this and has effectively decided to forfeit this season until Milford's arrival

I think it's more likely it's Griffin than the club that is insisting we persist with Hoggman. When I return from WA in a few weeks time I'm thinking of paying for a big banner and getting a few people to hold it up . On it I'd write ' Please no more Hoffman, it's failed....change to Nicholls' and stand around Red Hill one day, and at every home game....in my imagination that dope Griffin would finally see the blindingly obvious, Hoggman simply cannot do the job. I'm pretty sure we all can't be wrong because even though people love to disagree with me on this forum I cannot find anyone who writes they're happy with Hoggman and his development.....and ****, that's saying something !!!!!!

 

[CaptainHook]

Copely was worse than Hoffman and Hoffman was really bad, he is not a 5/8.

I would hazard a guess that every-time someone runs at Hoffman within 2 meters of the line they score.

He tries to tackle their arms and upper bodies with his hands, not his body. The cat won't put his body on the line.

Welcome back, Pearl. Good to hear from you.

Back on topic, still absolutlely livid. I can't believe we didn't win that game. It just beggars belief. What is going on at the Broncos?

 

[CaptainHook]

Hopefully this loss gives the entire team a shake-up and really forces us to lift for the remainder of the season. If we lost to any other team then we could have written it off as just a tough game but because it was the Sharks (at home from 22-nil up) we simply don't have any excuses. Our remaining draw is pretty tough so if we don't lift now we're in a real danger of missing the 8 for the 2nd year in a row, I'm confident we can do it so here's to hoping that this loss was the catalyst required to drive us into finals contention.

I hope you're right. I want to agree with every word but it's not the vibe I get from the Broncos. We should have gotten a shake-up after our first close loss from a winnable position. It's happened about 4-5 times this year. We're either slow learners or just not interested. We don't seem to be a club now that values excellence. As long as the effort is there, management and the coach are pretty happy. Close enough is good enough, it seems.

 

[Porthoz]

I've just watched the replay from just before Cronulla's first try and those suggesting the ref kept Brisbane back 15 metres from the play the balls need to have another look. The only really bad call was the penalty for hitting the kicker around the legs. It shouldn't have been a penalty. The Broncos goal line defence was terrible. Leaving Granville off was plainly stupid. Brisbane's line speed was mainly at fault with the team waiting rather than moving up at speed. Copley lost the ball before any contact with the owner of the shit-eater grin and rightly the try was awarded. Aside from the dodgy penalty the refs didn't cost us the game. Poor use of the bench,slow line speed,a job done mentality and poor kicking were the main causes. If we are angry it should be the idiotic bench use and poor team effort.

You're right about most things, but not the refs.
The penalty on Carney is actually the only thing I have no issues with. Even though the tackle wasn't late, it was on the kicker's legs and that has been a penalty all season.

Copley was taken out in the air twice, and whether he had lost the ball already or not, is irrelevant. It should've been a penalty. Gordon playing the ball dead but still getting a reward was also a big part of keeping us defending repeated sets.

Note that I'm not excusing the piss poor performance in defense, especially our deplorable line speed, as we would've won the game anyway if we showed the grit and resilience we have most of the season, but there is no way that without those decisions, the Sharks would've got close.

More important to me at the moment is the absolute lack of ruthlessness from this team. We don't go out on the paddock to destroy the other team. It seems our aim is simply not to lose, and that mentality is half-way towards defeat.

Last night, in our second defensive tackle of the game, our line was already just standing there waiting for their runners... no wonder they made 70 meters per set.

 

[Alec]

The one way McCullough would have helped our defence is that he plays 80 minutes. Granville defended really well (unlike against the Warriors). In fact, they only started scoring after he went off to get a rest.

Definitely missed Parker as well. This is the big advantage to having workhorses, they keep the other forwards fresher. It helps if their work is high quality stuff too (also like Parker's).

 

[rnabokov]

My take on Macca is that he is largely the centre and focus of our forward combinations and momentum. While Granville was excellent, I still felt the middle looked un-coordinated too often, and Parker also is a key contributor to a solid and stable centre.

For mine, the referrees gave the Sharks say, 12 points but no way can they be blamed for this loss. We lost because of too many errors, a lack of commitment, structures failing and ... no ⅝.

It it is not a simple question that Hoffman doesn't pass. The issue is he has NFI how to organize his side of the field and create opportunities for his runners, or kick. Which reminds me, Hunt's kicking game is still by and large, ordinary and needs work.

Hodges took his "I can do what I want when I want" attitude too far and played like he wasn't part of the team which, in any case, too often, was un disciplined and disorganised.

Parker and Macca are so critical to this side, and Gillett adds so much to our right hand side which is so important given our left hand side is really starved for options unless the overworked Hunt tries to make a combination happen, or kicks for Reed.

As for 1910's comment above, Hoffman is not a ⅝ therefore any of our juniors would make a better choice with one proviso - defence, which is Hoffman's single saving grace.

For mine, our only hope this year, which won't happen, is Barba to ⅝ and Hoffman to FB or wing.

When I watched the Roosters v Manly, it became painfully obvious we are no chance of beating either when they are close to, or at full strength.

Watching Manly play was grudgingly, a pleasure. They execute so well on both sides. Having 2 quality halves helps, doesn't it.

 

[Huge]

You're right about most things, but not the refs.
The penalty on Carney is actually the only thing I have no issues with. Even though the tackle wasn't late, it was on the kicker's legs and that has been a penalty all season.

Copley was taken out in the air twice, and whether he had lost the ball already or not, is irrelevant. It should've been a penalty. Gordon playing the ball dead but still getting a reward was also a big part of keeping us defending repeated sets.

Note that I'm not excusing the piss poor performance in defense, especially our deplorable line speed, as we would've won the game anyway if we showed the grit and resilience we have most of the season, but there is no way that without those decisions, the Sharks would've got close.

More important to me at the moment is the absolute lack of ruthlessness from this team. We don't go out on the paddock to destroy the other team. It seems our aim is simply not to lose, and that mentality is half-way towards defeat.

Last night, in our second defensive tackle of the game, our line was already just standing there waiting for their runners... no wonder they made 70 meters per set.

The reason I didn't think it was a penalty on the kicker was the point of contact was his hip, it was not anywhere near his legs but no matter. I didn't see the other instance you spoke about with regards Copley, I'll have a look, when did it happen,what part of the game so I don't have to sit through it again lol....As for Gordon taking the ball dead,well no one could see it, only the video ref and we all know they don't bother correcting obvious wrongs !! It's not the Bronco way to whinge and we really in the end got what we deserved,we brought it on ourselves.

 

[Alec]

My take on Macca is that he is largely the centre and focus of our forward combinations and momentum. While Granville was excellent, I still felt the middle looked un-coordinated too often

The team is used to his style a lot more, since he's been our hooker for over 5 years now.

I don't think we looked unco when Granville was on the field though. We scored 22 points in less than 50 minutes before he went off. That's impressive.

I've always thought quick and accurate service was by far the most important thing for a hooker. And Hunt certainly looked like he benefited from it too. He always had plenty of time with the ball, and no defenders in his face when kicking it.