PRE-GAME [Round 2, 2025] Broncos vs Raiders

[Jedhead]

I have to be honest and say my posting frequency is considerably lower than last season. I never watched a game this year until the Bronco’s game.

All the shit decisions, the six again farce, the ambivalent attitude of the NSWcentric media and the NRL regarding Walsh getting constantly head-hunted has severely turned me off the game.

I’m finding it difficult to get excited about the game in the present state it’s in.

 

[Manofoneway]

A good time to be playing the Raiders now i reckon, it will be a good barometer for what we just saw from the lads in Rd 1.

As mentioned previously, we want to see discipline and structure for the first 40 minutes.

I don't expect a complete 80 minute performance this early in the new season. But the Rooster cracked around the 60 minute mark there and let in a flood of tries precisly because of that first 40 minutes.

So, can we please see another repeat of that first 40 minutes?

Also, watch closely Payne Haas and his yardage runs. I think i noticed he was running wider than usual last week, almost singularly focussed on hitting the edge. He can easily attract 3-4 tacklers given his form right now, that includes a defending half and 2nd rower.

Is this why we had so many short raids against the Roosters coming up trumps?

Rd 1 game reminded me of 2023 Broncos, not alot of structure in attack but fast paced, high risk high reward football. Majority of points came from kicks or individual brilliance. Similar levels of discipline and ball control. Any errors were defended well within reason.

The fact that they have reverted to a similar brand of football in 2025 tells me that the extremely short 2023/2024 preseason and injuries were the major player to their performance. None of the grand final team forgot how to play football.

I'm glad Madge has not changed the brand of football they are playing. It is the fastest way for the current group to win a premiership, they were only minutes away last time after all...

 

[McHunt]

I have to be honest and say my posting frequency is considerably lower than last season. I never watched a game this year until the Bronco’s game.

All the shit decisions, the six again farce, the ambivalent attitude of the NSWcentric media and the NRL regarding Walsh getting constantly head-hunted has severely turned me off the game.

I’m finding it difficult to get excited about the game in the present state it’s in.

I don't really care about any of that stuff. The rules get tweaked every year. And bravo to that. Otherwise the game would be kicking the ball out on the full and constantly bickering for possession like Union.

The game is a wonderful shape financially. You can't complain about that.

For me, the problems are closer to home. Being a Broncos fan has been a rough ride since Ben Hunt left. We've had one good year since then, and it's looking more and more like an anomaly.

I'm getting more optimistic about the future now, but I'm not quite there yet.

 

[McHunt]

Rd 1 game reminded me of 2023 Broncos, not alot of structure in attack but fast paced, high risk high reward football. Majority of points came from kicks or individual brilliance. Similar levels of discipline and ball control. Any errors were defended well within reason.

The fact that they have reverted to a similar brand of football in 2025 tells me that the extremely short 2023/2024 preseason and injuries were the major player to their performance. None of the grand final team forgot how to play football.

I'm glad Madge has not changed the brand of football they are playing. It is the fastest way for the current group to win a premiership, they were only minutes away last time after all...

It's not really the same. In 2023, we relied on Reynolds to do 100% of the thinking, and then it was every player for themselves. If Reynolds had an off night, we looked clueless.

We had Walsh, Mam and Farnworth going it alone. Trying to score on every ball. Making a shitload of errors. We got away with it because our defence was tight.

We didn't make the characteristic level of errors in any of the trials or game one, not compared with last year.

And we have two playmakers who aren't Reece Walsh, plus a hooker who has that terrier go forward we've been lacking. Haas, Carrigan, Tapau and even Jensen are offloading like TPJ. This is definitely not the Kevvie team.

But if the errors return, well all bets are off.

 

[Super Freak]

 

[Skathen]

Kev fixed the culture, now hopefully Madge has fixed the total lack of game plan, structures and at least for '23 - fitness issues.

Keen to see what the next month holds. That and I don't want to get too ahead of ourselves - no-one cares about the "March premiers". We need to build from this base and be consistently as good as the Storm and Penrith for the season, peaking in the finals. If we lose our bundle after Origin again, we're no better off.

 

[Broncapz]

I'm genionely loving going into a game and be like 'oh if we lose it's cause we have no Staggs'

Feeling like we're building a next man up system like Storm and Panthers.

 

[mitch222]

And in other former broncos related news, Fifita got benched for the Titans this week lol

 

[McHunt]

Kev fixed the culture,

We like to say that because it's why we wanted him, but it ended with the club being accused of carrying on like rockstars off the field while not giving a **** on the field. That's not fixing the culture. Changing it maybe, but not fixing it.

This team seems more serious. Not just Kevvie has gone. But other old boy hangers-on like Alfie and Darius. Maybe this is what it takes to be professional, rather than sentimental.

 

[Big Del]

It's not really the same. In 2023, we relied on Reynolds to do 100% of the thinking, and then it was every player for themselves. If Reynolds had an off night, we looked clueless.

We had Walsh, Mam and Farnworth going it alone. Trying to score on every ball. Making a shitload of errors. We got away with it because our defence was tight.

We didn't make the characteristic level of errors in any of the trials or game one, not compared with last year.

And we have two playmakers who aren't Reece Walsh, plus a hooker who has that terrier go forward we've been lacking. Haas, Carrigan, Tapau and even Jensen are offloading like TPJ. This is definitely not the Kevvie team.

But if the errors return, well all bets are off.

Early 2023 the Broncos got dominated by the Raiders .
Ran harder , tackled harder . Interested to see how the team aims up this week .

 

[HarryAllan7]

I don't really care about any of that stuff. The rules get tweaked every year. And bravo to that. Otherwise the game would be kicking the ball out on the full and constantly bickering for possession like Union.

The game is a wonderful shape financially. You can't complain about that.

For me, the problems are closer to home. Being a Broncos fan has been a rough ride since Ben Hunt left. We've had one good year since then, and it's looking more and more like an anomaly.

I'm getting more optimistic about the future now, but I'm not quite there yet.

Interesting take, because I agree that the on-field product and fan experience is probably the worst it's ever been since I started watching almost 25 years ago.

The standard of refereeing is objectively awful and totally inconsistent (as is the bunker and judiciary). The entire 6-again system is totally flawed and has resulted in far more blowout scorelines and far less hard, gritty defensive footy.
Even if you do concede that obviously some people like that brand of footy, the stats show that the 6-again changes to the game have resulted in a huge increase in the amount of soft tissue injuries which leaves stars and key players on the sidelines. That's not good for anyone.

We have teams openly exploiting and breaking rules with no consequences, which has resulted in 2 clubs winning almost everything for the last decade straight, and a number of clubs which frankly shouldn't exist which have been in the bottom 4 nearly every year of that decade too.

We have money wasted on ridiculous, useless forays to Vegas instead of growing the game at a grass-roots level, and time and attention placed on unnecessarily 'expanding' the league to more teams, when there are barely enough first-grade level players to fill the squads of existing teams.

Also before someone says it, also fully willing to accept that maybe me and those like me (who went from religiously watching every game, to not watching anything outside of Broncos games) are dinosaurs and the 'new and improved' game is the way of the future and financially successful and appeals to the youth and fans of the future and we're just in 'Old Man Yells at Cloud' territory.

 

[Manofoneway]

It's not really the same. In 2023, we relied on Reynolds to do 100% of the thinking, and then it was every player for themselves. If Reynolds had an off night, we looked clueless.

We had Walsh, Mam and Farnworth going it alone. Trying to score on every ball. Making a shitload of errors. We got away with it because our defence was tight.

We didn't make the characteristic level of errors in any of the trials or game one, not compared with last year.

And we have two playmakers who aren't Reece Walsh, plus a hooker who has that terrier go forward we've been lacking. Haas, Carrigan, Tapau and even Jensen are offloading like TPJ. This is definitely not the Kevvie team.

But if the errors return, well all bets are off.

Just calling like I see it, Did not feel too different from 2023 Kevball, we just have a much better and smarter 6 now capable of owning his edge.

 

[McHunt]

Just calling like I see it, Did not feel too different from 2023 Kevball, we just have a much better and smarter 6 now capable of owning his edge.

It's too early for me to agree or disagree, but my initial impression is we look a fuckload safer and more drilled.

 

[Skathen]

Just calling like I see it, Did not feel too different from 2023 Kevball, we just have a much better and smarter 6 now capable of owning his edge.

Really?

I thought the team played very differently.

Attacking structures and dedicated support runners. The 2nd Rowers know what to do now and are running great lines in attack, consistently. In try scoring situations, look back inside the wingers, the centers and 2nd rowers are consistently there in support.

We seem to be respecting the ball far more, particularly in our own end. We were regularly completing at 75% or lower. We played in the wet and we hardly made an error, when we did, it was generally at the right end of the field trying to score.

First contact in defense is night and day different. The intensity has gone up considerably.

The "peel off" that Storm perfected is being used, where three in a tackle get off one at a time, slowing things down without the ref calling it buying us time and line speed.

Ben coming in has really helped, don't get me wrong. But there's a lot to like about the conditioning and coaching of the team so far. A lot of it's happening off the ball though, so it's not immediately obvious.

 

[McHunt]

Interesting take, because I agree that the on-field product and fan experience is probably the worst it's ever been since I started watching almost 25 years ago.

I think the game is faster and we're deeper inside the fishbowl with the players due to social media and the increase in game coverage, video definition, media commentary etc. I think this is more a comment on aging in the modern world than the NRL.

The Internet killed the video star.

We have teams openly exploiting and breaking rules with no consequences, which has resulted in 2 clubs winning almost everything for the last decade straight, and a number of clubs which frankly shouldn't exist which have been in the bottom 4 nearly every year of that decade too.

Some are more fixated on blaming the referees than others. I take it on the chin. Shit happens. People make mistakes. Some coaches are smarter at gaming new rules. You want your coach like that, rather than be the fan who whinges about other clubs having that coach.

We have that coach now.

Also before someone says it, also fully willing to accept that maybe me and those like me (who went from religiously watching every game, to not watching anything outside of Broncos games) are dinosaurs and the 'new and improved' game is the way of the future and financially successful and appeals to the youth and fans of the future and we're just in 'Old Man Yells at Cloud' territory.

I used to watch every NRL game twenty years ago. I used to watch the Footy Show. I used to watch every cricket international. I even watched the first couple of seasons of IPL.

I don't know whether the novelty wore off, whether I have so many other options now or whether my concentration span is too short, but I only watch Broncos, Origin and most internationals now. And test cricket is now more a background watch.

When you get asked: are you ready to rock? Maybe nothing really rocks for thee.

 

[Jedhead]

I don't really care about any of that stuff. The rules get tweaked every year. And bravo to that. Otherwise the game would be kicking the ball out on the full and constantly bickering for possession like Union.

The game is a wonderful shape financially. You can't complain about that.

For me, the problems are closer to home. Being a Broncos fan has been a rough ride since Ben Hunt left. We've had one good year since then, and it's looking more and more like an anomaly.

I'm getting more optimistic about the future now, but I'm not quite there yet.

I think you’re stretching your credibility a bit there. The game went almost 100 years with very few changes over that period and the game was nothing like just kicking the ball out on the full and bickering for possession. Pre- super league wars the game was nothing like what you claimed it to be.

The problem (at least for me) was never closer to home. I’m not a fair weather fan and the lean years did not stop me from watching the games of other clubs on a regular basis as the game I.e. the product and how it was officiated if you will, was far superior to today’s slipshod standards.

The refs and the technology the bunker has at its disposal should effectively mean there are less mistakes in the game. To me there are more and some of them have been shown to be unequivocally biased towards our team. Many others are so inconsistent it highlights the sheer incompetence of those currently running the game.

I don’t see it improving anytime soon with the current used car salesman/dodgy bookie as its head.

To save the embarrassment they should reduce the comp to three teams. Penrith, Storm and Roosters. The first two can take turns each at winning the GF in a vain attempt to fight off the AFL’s expansion into western Sydney and to gain a toehold in Melbourne. Occasionally they can let the Roosters win to keep the number one big money backhander happy. Oh wait…..

It has become a farcical piss take.

 

[Broncapz]

Just calling like I see it, Did not feel too different from 2023 Kevball, we just have a much better and smarter 6 now capable of owning his edge.

Red zone atttack looked totally different. Even 2023 Kevball had us flatfooted in the redzone, until the Reece Walsh sweep play.

Defensively, the tackling techniques looked the best it ever has. Like theres a real intent to tackle and slow the play ball down like the dominant teams do without giving away penalties.

A game plan that doesn't involve running Haas on empty as well.

McGuire is coaching to the current Rugby League meta and that's a coach we've never had. Bennett just relied on having more talent then anyone else.

 

[McHunt]

I think you’re stretching your credibility a bit there. The game went almost 100 years with very few changes over that period and the game was nothing like just kicking the ball out on the full and bickering for possession. Pre- super league wars the game was nothing like what you claimed it to be.

The problem (at least for me) was never closer to home. I’m not a fair weather fan and the lean years did not stop me from watching the games of other clubs on a regular basis as the game I.e. the product and how it was officiated if you will, was far superior to today’s slipshod standards.

The refs and the technology the bunker has at its disposal should effectively mean there are less mistakes in the game. To me there are more and some of them have been shown to be unequivocally biased towards our team. Many others are so inconsistent it highlights the sheer incompetence of those currently running the game.

I don’t see it improving anytime soon with the current used car salesman/dodgy bookie as its head.

To save the embarrassment they should reduce the comp to three teams. Penrith, Storm and Roosters. The first two can take turns each at winning the GF in a vain attempt to fight off the AFL’s expansion into western Sydney and to gain a toehold in Melbourne. Occasionally they can let the Roosters win to keep the number one big money backhander happy. Oh wait…..

It has become a farcical piss take.

Do you really get that outraged by refereeing? Let it go, man. Give your balls a tug.