Round 2 - Broncos vs Cowboys - Pre Match Discussion

[Cult]

Add a week or two on for match fitness in the lower grades?

Hopefully.. I don't think before his injury that he did enough to prove he can play 6.

 

[Super Freak]

Hopefully.. I don't think before his injury that he did enough to prove he can play 6.

To be fair, he was only ever used at wing or centre, played one game at fullback and didn't spend much time in the halves in the lower grades. He hasn't really been given a proper chance to prove he can play at 6. I think it would be difficult for any rookie to prove they can play at 6 under those circumstances.

He is one of our best options. He can pass, he can kick and he can be just good enough in defense. When Barba and Hodges comes back, all he really needs to do is get the team down the field.

They should just throw him in there and see how it goes.

 

[Rowan Edwards]

Happy to go with the same side for this week, I think our halves will be better for the hit out last week and they can only get better.

Wish list:

- Hunt to put in a solid 80 minutes
- Macca to take on some kicking responsibility
- Better use of our bench, would Granville or Hala be a better fit for a short sharp spell in the 17 jersey?
- Vidot, Maranta and Copley to back up last weeks performance with another
- Hannant to put his hand up and push towards a starting spot alongside McGuire

In past games against the Cows we've done a good job of shutting down Thurston and without Bowen to terrorise us I think we'll give them a good run. Lui appears to be hitting some good form and I worry he could be the difference. God I hate Lui...

 

[Super Freak]

Taumalolo will be a real handful on our right edge if the defense doesn't learn to wrap up the ball. He is big, strong, fast and he has a pretty good offload on him. He is always looking to get his hands free to get an offload away, and usually Thurston is the one coming up in support. We all saw what Thurston did to the Raiders when he had some open space.

I remember in 2009, Henry used an extra forward on the right edge in defense to contain Dave Taylor. Well that's what I remember anyway, I could be wrong. I think Broncos should look at doing the same against JT.

His stats against the Raiders.

226 metres
7 tackle breaks
2 line breaks
23 tackles and only missed 1

 

[Rabbir]

Happy to go with the same side for this week, I think our halves will be better for the hit out last week and they can only get better.

Wish list:

- Hunt to put in a solid 80 minutes
- Macca to take on some kicking responsibility
- Better use of our bench, would Granville or Hala be a better fit for a short sharp spell in the 17 jersey?
- Vidot, Maranta and Copley to back up last weeks performance with another
- Hannant to put his hand up and push towards a starting spot alongside McGuire

There's a pretty strong chance none of those things will happen.

 

[Rally Towel]

As far as bench goes, is like to see Granville get a crack. Played well for Wynnum on the weekend and seemed to be making sharp choices on when to run and when to pass.

I would like to see Hala live up to his potential as an impact weapon but it seems there are still question marks over his match fitness. Hopefully he's not to far off?

 

[Rabbir]

As far as bench goes, is like to see Granville get a crack. Played well for Wynnum on the weekend and seemed to be making sharp choices on when to run and when to pass.

I would like to see Hala live up to his potential as an impact weapon but it seems there are still question marks over his match fitness. Hopefully he's not to far off?

I don't watch QLD Cup games but I've heard everything from "Hala was his usual tired self after 5 minutes" to "Hala played a good strong 50-55 minutes." I would tend to think the former would be more correct based on what I've seen at NRL level.

 

[Huge]

I watched it on replay. Hala was heavily involved with the commentators praising his efforts. My own view was he putting in, fit enough for a twenty minute NRL spell but he wasn't particularly outstanding. From what I saw he did little to suggest he would be anything other than an adequate sub. He didn't standout like a colossus in a lower tier comp.

 

[jarro65]

2 kicks for 56 metres, apparently.

Well that's certainly not enough kicking from him.

With Hoffman still pretty green in the 5/8th role .... Macca needed to help out more with the kicking game i think.

Hopefully he lifts that part of his game this week.

 

[Rally Towel]

I didn't watch him this week but his efforts for Redcliffe were solid against PNG the week prior.

Some good runs that helped gain his side momentum against the physicality of the Hunters (will enjoy watching them whenever possible). He did however make a couple of errors putting the ball down under pressure, and pushing an offload. Probably overplayed his hand side little, instead of keeping it simple. Run hard, run straight. All we need.

Ultimately, I concur with @COMPOUND_FRACTURE. Although solid, his efforts weren't exactly herculean. I remember seeing Dave Taylor turn out fit Tweed Heads a year or so ago and the difference in class was night and day. Committing four defenders every run and still offloading at will in that traffic.

 

[Morkel]

I didn't watch him this week but his efforts for Redcliffe were solid against PNG the week prior.

Some good runs that helped gain his side momentum against the physicality of the Hunters (will enjoy watching them whenever possible). He did however make a couple of errors putting the ball down under pressure, and pushing an offload. Probably overplayed his hand side little, instead of keeping it simple. Run hard, run straight. All we need.

Ultimately, I concur with @COMPOUND_FRACTURE. Although solid, his efforts weren't exactly herculean. I remember seeing Dave Taylor turn out fit Tweed Heads a year or so ago and the difference in class was night and day. Committing four defenders every run and still offloading at will in that traffic.

Ah yes, Taylor in the #24 jersey. "It was the biggest jersey we had".

 

[uptheguts]

Anyone ready to drop Reed to the bench yet? How would Vidot go at centre?

 

[Ari Gold]

Vidot would probably go okay at centre but I want him on the wing. His runs out of own 20 and his kick returns are too good to lose. He's got that Sailor/Tuqiri frame, I think it'd be wasted by moving him. If we want a better centre for Reed, it's Hoffman.

 

[Morkel]

Anyone ready to drop Reed to the bench yet? How would Vidot go at centre?

I think that discussion will most likely happen when Hodges returns.

 

[CaptainHook]

- Better use of our bench, would Granville or Hala be a better fit for a short sharp spell in the 17 jersey?
- Vidot, Maranta and Copley to back up last weeks performance with another

I like these points, Rowan. I didn't know Hala was fit but would like to see him get a go. Granville too can give us some more attacking options. I thought Vidot, Maranta and Copley were great against the Dogs. I would love to see them build on it and really cement their spots in the team.

 

[Huge]

Well, I doubt I'll get much support for this but I'd like to see Mills replace Reed in the centres. It's his preferred position and he'd go well there. Other than that as I've written before, Barba to 5/8 when in possession with Hoffman back to fullback and a swap when in defence. That way we have Barba still getting the ball from the kick . Best of both worlds .

 

[Bucking Beads]

Do you rate Mills so highly because he is a former Sharks player or something?? Mills has shown very little.

 

[Alec]

I did hear from some Sharks fans I know that they think Mills is a centre first, and a winger flippin last. CF could be onto something as Mills has been pretty poor on the wing...or he might just be poor in general.