POST GAME [Round 17, 2024] Broncos vs Warriors

[bazza]

Mariner is too easily man handled and driven backwards on kick returns, assuming he even catches it in the first place. We are under pressure immediately each set because of this.

This is something we were so much better at last year when Cobbo was on the wing and was mostly able to make the catch and make a strong kick return. Then the likes of Farnworth and Arthurs would chime in and get us going forward before Haas, Carrigan and/or Jensen would take us over the halfway mark. We were always rolling up field with relative ease.

Currently, it has become a real struggle getting out of our end and Madden does not have the ability to kick us into good field possession when stuck in our end.

 

[the_next]

This is the biggest issue for me. Keb accepts mediocrity so long as he can stand up and defend his players. Enabling shit players to do shit player things. He needs to start ripping them in front of cameras, and if they don't like being put on blast to the media, stop being a useless footy player.

Agreed however if he does this then the next headlines will be 'Kev has lost the dressing shed' - you can see it from a mile away. You've got to tread such a fine line being an NRL coach, and then its an even finer line being in charge of the Broncos.
How we can go within minutes of winning a premiership last year to (likely) not making the 8 is a massive fall from grace. And for those that have a go saying we have had to let players go, true but it's proved now that we let the wrong ones go.

 

[Brett Da Man LeMan]

I can’t remember the bunker even mentioning it in any way or even looking. They probably just let it slide because we still scored.

Makes the cobbo no try but penalty in the act of scoring decision really obvious when you put it this way.

 

[bazza]

Makes the cobbo no try but penalty in the act of scoring decision really obvious when you put it this way.

There have been instances in the past where the winger gets shoulder charged by the defender coming across and they drop the ball before putting it down, and the bunker makes the decision that they would have scored had they not been shoulder charged, therefore they award the penalty try. That should have been the outcome for us as well.

The inconsistency from game to game, as well as sometimes within the same game is ruining the game. It's like rules only apply sometimes, and other times they just make it up as they go. Very frustrating watching games these days, even in non-Broncos games.

 

[McHunt]

There have been instances in the past where the winger gets shoulder charged by the defender coming across and they drop the ball before putting it down, and the bunker makes the decision that they would have scored had they not been shoulder charged, therefore they award the penalty try. That should have been the outcome for us as well.

The inconsistency from game to game, as well as sometimes within the same game is ruining the game. It's like rules only apply sometimes, and other times they just make it up as they go. Very frustrating watching games these days, even in non-Broncos games.

This is why we need retired (or current) refs on the TV commentary team. Maybe rationalize the decisions at half and full time, rather than leave it to past player hyperbole. It would be refreshing to have someone represent the refs rather than have to listen to this continuous criticism. Why the **** isn't Bill Harrigan on TV?

Refs get shit wrong. For all kinds of reasons. But nowhere near as often as fans and past players make out.

 

[McHunt]

Agreed however if he does this then the next headlines will be 'Kev has lost the dressing shed' - you can see it from a mile away. You've got to tread such a fine line being an NRL coach, and then its an even finer line being in charge of the Broncos.
How we can go within minutes of winning a premiership last year to (likely) not making the 8 is a massive fall from grace. And for those that have a go saying we have had to let players go, true but it's proved now that we let the wrong ones go.

"Losing the dressing room" is the kiss of death. Once that shit starts, it's all over. Kev was on the verge of that after the Cobbo and Gamble podcasts. He did well to nip it in the bud.

Reyno, Payne and Patty seem to be in his corner.

 

[Maroon4life]

Agreed however if he does this then the next headlines will be 'Kev has lost the dressing shed' - you can see it from a mile away. You've got to tread such a fine line being an NRL coach, and then its an even finer line being in charge of the Broncos.
How we can go within minutes of winning a premiership last year to (likely) not making the 8 is a massive fall from grace. And for those that have a go saying we have had to let players go, true but it's proved now that we let the wrong ones go.

Emotion and anger aside the injury toll this year has been horrible. Haas/Walsh/Reynolds have all spent significant time on the sideline (often at the same time). Start adding the Origin tax and it begins to snowball and explain why we look like shit.

Losing Farnworth/Palasia/Flegler & Capewell and their subsequent replacements is not good enough and Walters is responsible for that.

 

[Sproj]

Emotion and anger aside the injury toll this year has been horrible. Haas/Walsh/Reynolds have all spent significant time on the sideline (often at the same time). Start adding the Origin tax and it begins to snowball and explain why we look like shit.

Losing Farnworth/Palasia/Flegler & Capewell and their subsequent replacements is not good enough and Walters is responsible for that.

How? Kevvie is not the decision maker in terms of signings, this has been made clear several times.

 

[Allo]

How? Kevvie is not the decision maker in terms of signings, this has been made clear several times.

I honestly don't believe a coach isn't involved and/or has the final say on whether or not he wants a player.

 

[Sproj]

I honestly don't believe a coach isn't involved and/or has the final say on whether or not he wants a player.

Believe what you want, you might well be right but I'm just a bit sick of Kevvie being blamed for everything. I'm sure he would have loved to have been able to keep Flegs, Herbie, Keenan and Coates but unlike the Chickens, we have a salary cap.

 

[Maroon4life]

Believe what you want, you might well be right but I'm just a bit sick of Kevvie being blamed for everything. I'm sure he would have loved to have been able to keep Flegs, Herbie, Keenan and Coates but unlike the Chickens, we have a salary cap.

Has someone officially come and and said that? Genuine question because I’m not aware of it. It would be concerning if our head coach wasn’t offering one of if not the most heavily weighted opinion on his squad.

When I say it’s on Walters I’m saying that he and his staff (who I assume assemble this squad) should have been far more ahead of the game.

Losing Flegler, Capewell & Palasia and gaining Hunt, Baker and promoting Piakura as well as leaning on development props in Te’Kura and Willison is losing in every sense of the word. Maybe there is absolutely nothing we could have done, I’m not sure but I know we ended up with the worst case scenario.

 

[BroncsFan]

Has someone officially come and and said that? Genuine question because I’m not aware of it. It would be concerning if our head coach wasn’t offering one of if not the most heavily weighted opinion on his squad.

When I say it’s on Walters I’m saying that he and his staff (who I assume assemble this squad) should have been far more ahead of the game.

Losing Flegler, Capewell & Palasia and gaining Hunt, Baker and promoting Piakura as well as leaning on development props in Te’Kura and Willison is losing in every sense of the word. Maybe there is absolutely nothing we could have done, I’m not sure but I know we ended up with the worst case scenario.

It happened around the same time as the Ikin rift... I can't recall what the trigger was but it happened... Kevvie reiterates it every time he's in a presser and someone asks about a contract situation with words like "I'll leave that in the hands of the recruitment team".

 

[McHunt]

It happened around the same time as the Ikin rift... I can't recall what the trigger was but it happened... Kevvie reiterates it every time he's in a presser and someone asks about a contract situation with words like "I'll leave that in the hands of the recruitment team".

Yes, of course Kevvie is involved in recruitment. It's his team.

I think what @Sproj is bumbling with is he isn't arguing money with them, and the club has an industrial complex of scouts scouring the four corners of the realm for potential heirs.

He was happy to take credit for landing Reynolds, for example. With Donuts on chequebook duty.

 

[broncos4life]

I don’t know what level of involvement Walters has with recruitment but it certainly was said previously that he isn’t involved. He may be more involved now that Ikin is gone but what I do find hilarious is when our recruitment was praised all the Kevvie haters were like “He can’t take credit he wasn’t involved these guys fell into his lap”. This year when it has been poor it has shifted to “head coach always has the biggest role in recruitment, Kevvie sucks”

It’s pretty great.

 

[McHunt]

I don’t know what level of involvement Walters has with recruitment but it certainly was said previously that he isn’t involved. He may be more involved now that Ikin is gone but what I do find hilarious is when our recruitment was praised all the Kevvie haters were like “He can’t take credit he wasn’t involved these guys fell into his lap”. This year when it has been poor it has shifted to “head coach always has the biggest role in recruitment, Kevvie sucks”

It’s pretty great.

He can certainly take credit for any player he retained, for cleaning out the dead wood and for destinking the dressing room. Who hasn't credited him with that?

Do you really think the club signed Gosiewski, Baker and Hunt without it running it by him? And who do you think passes their eye over the train and trial candidates in the preseason?

C'mon, this is getting silly.

 

[Culhwch]

There's a certain disconnect in saying that we should have done more to keep Flegler, Herbie and Palasia, when keeping them would have meant cuts elsewhere - not retaining Walsh or Mam or Cobbo or a combination of those players, for instance. As Sproj has mentioned, the salary cap exists.

Capewell is another argument. We did what was best for the player in that instance, and it has hurt us to some degree - but I doubt having Capewell in this team changes much other than our second row depth. That was obviously a concern at the start of the year, and unfortunately everything that could go wrong has gone wrong in that position - Piakura's teething issues, depth players having to play in a weakened team across the park, injuries to our limited stocks, and most recently Riki's suspension. Some of that may be 'bad' management, but a lot of it is bad luck. There's this pervading expectation that depth across all positions should essentially be consistently NRL standard players, but that's not the reality. The comp is diluted, and consistent NRL standard players are, unsurprisingly, playing first grade regularly at other clubs, rather than Cup for us waiting for an injury. You sign a Hunt or a Gosiewski hoping they kick on like a Corey Jensen, but they don't always - and generally not in a decimated team lacking confidence.

I'm sure Kevvie, if asked directly, would accept that he shares a significant portion of the blame for the team's recent performances, but it's hard to plan for a situation like the one the team is currently experiencing. It's unsurprising that he is still supportive of his players and the team, because that's the kind of coach he is. He'll live and die by that, and I'm sure he'd rather die being himself than die being a negative prick who rips into his players. He got to a grand final doing the former, so there's evidence it works.

 

[Maroon4life]

I don’t know what level of involvement Walters has with recruitment but it certainly was said previously that he isn’t involved. He may be more involved now that Ikin is gone but what I do find hilarious is when our recruitment was praised all the Kevvie haters were like “He can’t take credit he wasn’t involved these guys fell into his lap”. This year when it has been poor it has shifted to “head coach always has the biggest role in recruitment, Kevvie sucks”

It’s pretty great.

I have no idea either, unless someone from
The club officially states how things run then it’s all guess work. I’d like to operate under the idea that Walters is heavily involved and having the final say on his roster with a team of qualified bean counters to assist.

Whoever was responsible for last years roster had done a tremendous job. If the very same people are responsible for this years roster (even at full strength) then that is a significant drop in quality and deserve every bit of criticism.

Again, all guesswork and it’s framed off other successful clubs where the head coach has his fingerprints all over the roster.

 

[Maroon4life]

There's a certain disconnect in saying that we should have done more to keep Flegler, Herbie and Palasia, when keeping them would have meant cuts elsewhere - not retaining Walsh or Mam or Cobbo or a combination of those players, for instance. As Sproj has mentioned, the salary cap exists.

Capewell is another argument. We did what was best for the player in that instance, and it has hurt us to some degree - but I doubt having Capewell in this team changes much other than our second row depth. That was obviously a concern at the start of the year, and unfortunately everything that could go wrong has gone wrong in that position - Piakura's teething issues, depth players having to play in a weakened team across the park, injuries to our limited stocks, and most recently Riki's suspension. Some of that may be 'bad' management, but a lot of it is bad luck. There's this pervading expectation that depth across all positions should essentially be consistently NRL standard players, but that's not the reality. The comp is diluted, and consistent NRL standard players are, unsurprisingly, playing first grade regularly at other clubs, rather than Cup for us waiting for an injury. You sign a Hunt or a Gosiewski hoping they kick on like a Corey Jensen, but they don't always - and generally not in a decimated team lacking confidence.

I'm sure Kevvie, if asked directly, would accept that he shares a significant portion of the blame for the team's recent performances, but it's hard to plan for a situation like the one the team is currently experiencing. It's unsurprising that he is still supportive of his players and the team, because that's the kind of coach he is. He'll live and die by that, and I'm sure he'd rather die being himself than die being a negative prick who rips into his players. He got to a grand final doing the former, so there's evidence it works.

Agreed.

The injuries, suspensions and downright underperforming replacements have snowballed into this shit show we are seeing.

I don’t know the inner workings nor the devilish details surrounding the cap and how it came to be that we lost 3 of our GF forwards and wound up with these replacements.

I am just exercising my right as an entitled disgruntled fan over how much it sucks to finally have a pack that wins the middle and we can only keep it for a year.

If the cost of retaining some of these backs meant we had to take this level of haircut in the forwards then perhaps there’s a case for our cap being out of sorts.