POST GAME Round 16 - Raiders vs Broncos

[Number6]

I would consider not playing Korbin at all if he's fit in the next game. TPJ, Herman and Offa were exceptional. Herman looks a bit loose at times in the middle however.

He was hotdog down a hallway loose at times. Wouldn't hurt for him to go back to Qcup to do some kegels and tighten up for a few games. TPJ and Offa were red hot so give them a couple of games.

 

[mitch222]

http://www.nrl.com/rd-16-press-conference-broncos/tabid/10959/contentid/920258/default.aspx
Awesome press conference

Bennett with the old quip when asked why Milford was there. "He misses the boys if we leave him at home"

 

[Danoz Direct]

This based off NRL.com stats

Ofahengaue 13 runs for 131 metres

Pangai Junior 11 runs for 122 metres

Ese'ese 12 runs for 135 metres

Great stuff from our young forwards.

 

[BroncosAlways]

Josh Jackson

Post of the year.

 

[Super Freak]

This win for Marshall makes it 17 from 18 against Canberra.

 

[Brett]

Missed the game but recorded it, is it worth watching when I get home?

 

[ZTop]

Missed the game but recorded it, is it worth watching when I get home?

The 2nd half was pretty good. For hunt alone I would watch it

 

[Aldo]

One thing I noticed tonight, especially in the second half was our linespeed. Really impressive.

 

[Aldo]

Missed the game but recorded it, is it worth watching when I get home?

It's worth a watch

 

[john1420]

As enjoyable as it was how did we get to the stage that our best half is a washed up st merge discard??

Edit. Milf is out I spose....

Perhaps the fact that he is far from washed up??

Truly don't know what games you're watching

 

[Organix]

One thing I noticed tonight, especially in the second half was our linespeed. Really impressive.

It was good but there were a few people shooting too much as well. Need to hold a line. But great work from a team with a few changes in it. The effort was there, definitely. Rapana is always such a handful. He doesn't look that big but he seems to slip a lot of tackles.

 

[Organix]

Also, Wighton is such a spud. Seriously, he has his moments but god he has a pea for a brain.

 

[KnToad]

Perhaps the fact that he is far from washed up??

Truly don't know what games you're watching

It's called sarcasm.... chill

 

[john1420]

It's called sarcasm.... chill

Guess I missed that!

 

[KnToad]

I love the Bunj. Was at the GF when the tigers beat the cows and Bunj threw THAT pass. I'm really happy to see him playing so well

 

[Browny]

I missed the game what did Wighton do?

 

[uptheguts]

Benji is a natural ball playing 5/8 . We have not rally had one since Locky retired. And he still has reasonable speed. We are going to need him in the run to the finals.

 

[Morkel]

Didn't watch it, but listened to 95% of it live on ABC.

Was Nikorima's defence that bad? I didn't hear any mention of it in the call, but it's not out of the question for one solitary player to be so out of sorts that it ***** up the whole team (Steve Michaels).

If he was hooked, and Hunt was brought on for that reason, then for mine it shows a clear pattern: Hunt isn't at his best when he's told to run the ball, Hunt is at his best when he defends hard. Missed tackle stats notwithstanding, he is a very strong defender for a half. If he gets things right on that side of the ball, he invariably is much better with the ball in hand. The confidence transfers.

I do feel for Nikorima and hope it's not the end of his aspirations for a halves spot next year. I still maintain it was not a fair fight when comparing Hunt vs the Top 4 and Nikorima vs some pretty shitty sides, but Niko did everything right during those games, and never seemed to be more of a defensive liability than most NRL halves.

So obviously this is something that comes up every now & again when a team has too many good playmakers to choose from. And after a few experimental games it normally ends up going back to two 80 minute halves and Option C misses out. But while Milford is out do we experiment with a 3-halves rotation? McCullough is finally getting through 80 minutes routinely and with no drop in performance. And you could argue that Ben Hunt was all the better for having 30 minutes less running in his legs than his opposition. So do we keep him on the bench, start with Marshall & Nikorima, and keep Hunt up our sleeve? He is serviceable enough to play an impact role should the starting 6 & 7 be performing well (like he did for Australia that time), but can be waiting in the wings for us to bring on if and when the time suits. Will that be bad for Nikorima, knowing he's only one bad error away from being hooked? Or will it spur him on, knowing he's still in the run-on-side, and still in the plans for 2018, and it means he'll bust his arse to make sure he performs so well that Bennett doesn't want to take him off? The added advantage is that Nikorima can learn from Benji, who seems to be enjoying his role as the grisly old man who can still show these kids a thing or two.