Round 2 - Broncos vs Cowboys - Post Match Discussion

[broncos4life]

I can't figure out what is going on with Barba. His lack of involvement bothers me.

We signed who many think was/is a superstar, and in these 7 pages, he gets what, 3 or 4 passing mentions?

Is he injured? Is our game plan so different to what he is used to that he can't figure out what to do, or we just don't give him the opportunities?

Frankly, I was disappointed with his showing given the wraps on him, and his previous form. If he is injured, he shouldn't be there. If we don't know how to use him, we ought to learn.

Yes, he has done some very nice things so far, but for mine, too few and far between, and I have been expecting so much more from him.

Hoffman. We will meet a top side soon where we will need serious, consistent play making creativity to win by actually scoring points rather than hoping our defence will win us the game by stopping points. That kick was good, his defence was great but 5/8? We will learn hard lessons soon.

I still would put Barba at 5/8

We really don't know how to set up our outside backs consistently. Copley has been so good yet he hardly gets the ball. Reed is squashed in a narrow corridor.

Parker must move back to lock and start offloading. I don't remember one last night. What a waste.

I thought Hunt was ok but really needs that kicking game to come good real soon.

Overall, a very good effort. As BP said, it was won on character and determination which shut the Cows down more than anything. Trouble is, we can't really capitalize on it in attack .... so far.

I think it's pretty clear that he is still bothered by that ankle

 

[broncos4life]

Just watched the highlights. Some people might remember me bitching at the game about Tamoa's pass to be Thurston being forward. The replay shows it was massively forward and Thurston was actually off-side. The pass to Tamoa was also forward. I know it doesn't matter, we got the 2 points, but I'm still bitter that this shit doesn't get pulled up.

Absolutely. As I said at the game, I don't know why the bother having touchies, they have no idea and are scared to make a call

 

[Unbreakable]

I think it's pretty clear that he is still bothered by that ankle

Tend to agree, I always grimace every time he gets tackled, he just looks so fragile and always gets up looking sore, there's a good chance we may not see a fully fit Barba until around origin time.

 

[Cult]

Hunt is definitely not as bad as he has played the last two weeks. Being the only kicker, the defense knows who to run at on the last tackle and he has a ridiculous amount of pressure on him. Notice when Hoffman and Barba kicked on the last there was no pressure? That's because everyone was running at Hunt. Maybe some early kicks next week will help get down the other side of the field.

 

[Alec]

Hunt is definitely not as bad as he has played the last two weeks. Being the only kicker, the defense knows who to run at on the last tackle and he has a ridiculous amount of pressure on him. Notice when Hoffman and Barba kicked on the last there was no pressure? That's because everyone was running at Hunt. Maybe some early kicks next week will help get down the other side of the field.

Reckon he'll keep struggling, he doesn't seem to be able to handle pressure too well yet, and there will be pressure, with Griffin (and others) being happy having a 3rd centre take up a position that could help Hunt and the rest of the team out.

 

[animal eater]

Well I'm not going to give a 1-16 rundown. Notice I don't mention 17 because Hook doesn't play him anyways.

Key points
1. We won
2. Didn't look unfit
3. Didn't fold when they went behind on the scoreboard
4. As bad as Hunt played (and it was pretty bad) he got a bit better in the last 20 with the game on the line.
5. Hoffman actually had a few nice kicks, one with the grubber and another into space. He has had the two biggest tackles of the year so far so I give him a wrap there. He just seems fairly unable to pass the ball when there are chances on that left side. All in all a better performance than round one.
6.Corey is still out of damn position and Kennedy looked good on field. Oh and he weighs 23 more kilo's so use that damn mass and might hook.
7. Hennant looks like he is on the wrong side of his career. Just not fast enough and big enough. Start Kennedy with Moose when not suspended. Move Parker to lock and bring either Gilette or Glenn off the bench.
8. Thaiday and Mccullough both played there asses off.
9. Marranta is making a lot of board memebers ( myself included ) eat some humble pie. He is proving to be both reliable and more importantly a smart player who knows where to be on the field. I have this nagging voice that says he might actually have some decent 5/8 in him.

Oh shit, I just about ran down the 1-16. Couldn't help myself. Well done Broncs. You are learning a great lesson atm. You don't need to play great every week to win but you are getting a bit of attitude which detest losing. That's the spirit.

 

[mieko]

Great game, Macca was awesome and played 80 too, great job.

 

[Brett]

Few points only because this place has dead set turned into negativeville.

Hunt didn't have a great kicking game, granted. But his defence was excellent. He stopped Tamololololololol every time and helped stop a try one on one on our line against Linnett I think it was. He read the play beautifully, slid behind his team mates and made the crucial tackle. His involvement in the match winning try was also nothing to forget. He saw Thurston had made the previous tackle and was slow to get back in the line, drew his man and threw a nice cut out ball to put Copley on the outside of Thurston which lead to the Macca try. He came through with the game on the line when we needed a big play. Last year he went missing. Last night he was the one coming up with the big play to win us the game. I'm happy to have him around all season. I've said it before. I would give him the whole season to prove himself.

Hoffman had a great game. I think he shit his pants with shock and excitement when Vidot scored that try off his kick. And just on Vidot - what a buy this guy is turning out to be. Bends the line like nothing else on kick returns. Barba was quiet, though his inside ball for Gillett was nice to score the try. The Cows didn't kick the ball to him at all I don't think. Copley was again very good. Couple of silly handling errors, but came up with a great hit on Linnett to deny the try in the corner and showed good pace to setup the game winning try. Thaiday was massive. Had his best game in dead set years. Just going out there and throwing himself into the fringes - he's ball playing a bit too. Great to see. Maranta had another good game, too. Very safe under the high ball. I'm happy to keep him there when he's playing like this. Macca again brilliant. I think he's been our best player through 2 games.

I don't like Parker at prop. Our whole game is missing his offloads and he's largely ineffective being used straight through the middle. He needs to be on the edges taking hitups on the 3rd tackle.

Overall, happy with the win obviously. We really need to keep working on our kicking game with Lockyer at training. Barba needs to get more involved in back line plays and I think Reed needs to pull his socks up quick smart cause I can see him being dropped real soon when Hodges is back.

 

[Foordy]

Macca - The Smith threat has made him go to a new level, absolutely top notch game.

I wonder if that is why we publicly went after Smith... As a warning To Macca, to step up his game or we will look elsewhere.

 

[Painin the Haas]

Last year opposition just got ahead by 2 in the last 15min we would probably have lost and it was good work by hunt and Copley and macca coming up in support to get us home

pros are Hoffman is still learning, hunt is still adjusting and barba is solid because obviously he is not 100% with that ankle. And we had so many half chances last night, granted final passes went to ground or whatever but it looked exciting, like we can score more than just three tries this season. How good is vidot! Good buy there.

I'm still not convinced with Hoffman he isn't passing right and his kicking just looks wrong but he's trying. Maranta is solid but he still doesn't have that finishing touch a winger needs but the effort is there.

Many disagree with Parker at prop and I hesitate on the thought still but Gillett is great up the middle in attack and defence I like it. And slamming Sam is looking in good touch

in the end. Good effort. Good fitness. Making metres well and we will only improve. Not saying we will win the comp but we look better than last year where we just missed out

 

[Foordy]

I agree but would go one further

1 Barba
2 Vidot
3 Copely
4. Oates
5. Hoffman
6. Hodges. (For some creativity)
7 Hunt but would prefer Sandow

So you'd rather we were 0 from 2 instead of 2 from 2. Because with Sandow in the team we would have likely lost both of our first two games. His attack can't make up for how poor his defence is.

Also we would still likely have to pay a massive amount for Sandow, because I can't see the Eels paying over 300k for Sandow to play for us.

 

[Porthoz]

Parker has never played on the edges. His game, except for taking earlier hit-ups and playing 70 instead of 80 mins hasn't changed much. He may not have offloaded this week, but he did 3 times last week, besides the Cows defence through the middle was very good.

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

To be fair I think Hoffman played fairly well, setting up a try, defending well and generally just being dangerous. Hunt was not as bad as people think, although he still has ALOT of work to do.

Everyone is bagging Hunt and Hoffman...but they actually won us the game. Not saying they were outstanding, just two moments of brilliance in the last 10mins as the game was on thin ice they produced. Hunt made that play to put Copley through and Macca under the posts. Hoffman, watch the replay, stopped thurston from stealing the game in the dying minutes.

I know they're not kicking well and Hoffman has no idea how to execute plays, but we got there. And they've both got a long way to go sure, however, winning = confidence. It's something to build on. And they will. They're dragging themselves out of the muck and doing it as a very tight nit team. I've seen no better displays of courage and comradery from any other team this season so far. Well done guys.

 

[Splinter]

The mid field bomb that he kicked found the grass. Just because that patch of turf was 10m behind Hunt doesn't make it any less of a piece of grass!

Stretching the truth to make it sound funnier?
it went forwards and hence Thaiday was offside

 

[Painin the Haas]

Parker has never played on the edges. His game, except for taking earlier hit-ups and playing 70 instead of 80 mins hasn't changed much. He may not have offloaded this week, but he did 3 times last week, besides the Cows defence through the middle was very good.

He was left edge second rower for a few seasons there, went to lock when Carroll retired

 

[Porthoz]

He was left edge second rower for a few seasons there, went to lock when Carroll retired

Yeah, I meant the last few seasons where he went to another level while playing lock. Shouldn't have said never though...

 

[Ari Gold]

Stretching the truth to make it sound funnier?
it went forwards and hence Thaiday was offside

I recall the ball landing behind the point it was kicked from and then bounced forward.

 

[Brett]

Parker has never played on the edges. His game, except for taking earlier hit-ups and playing 70 instead of 80 mins hasn't changed much. He may not have offloaded this week, but he did 3 times last week, besides the Cows defence through the middle was very good.

I seem to remember Parker playing a lot on each fringe last year. Not bang up the middle, but just to either side of the ruck. He even scored a try there off Hunt against the Knights on the left edge.

On the Hunt mid field bomb, did anyone else watch the Rabbits game last night? Reynolds kicked one that fair dinkum went 10 meters backwards.