PRE-GAME Round 2 - Broncos vs Cowboys

[Sproj]

and Klemmer) on the front foot than stand and wait to be...

...Kneed in the head or shoulder.

 

[1910]

Just out of curiosity, does Matt Lodge have another job outside of football? Or does he have a full time contract worth a fair bit at the moment?

Works, any ISC contract isn't enough without full-time work.

 

[1910]

Can't recall anything major from Whitchurch. Was playing in the centres for Redcliffe though.

Made a terrific run to set up the try for Strasser.

 

[1910]

Watched Redcliffe. Lodge was very good. Pearson was solid. One thing I would say is I reckon if Whitchurch could improve his handling he would be a very good back rower.

I didn't think he was very good at all. Not even good. Threw that nice pass for the try but was gassed.

 

[K-Style]

Had a great run or two.
Looked solid.
He went OK

This one is pretty good: (~3:30)


Yeah he's a centre but Redcliffe have played him at second row too.

 

[Kyall]

That's enough talk of Whitchurch for gods sakes.

 

[BroncsFan]

Key for me will be sticking it out with them. Green has showed that when the cowboys are challenged or behind he can't risk his bench and lolo and Scott will end up playing big minutes rather than him being able to stick to his preferred rotation.

Last year in the semi lolo played +70mins to keep with us and last week against the raiders lolo played 70 while Scott played 60mins or so. Considering Scott came in under an injury cloud and has ongoing issues 60mins seems extreme and it looks as though Green has zero faith in his bench forwards to get it done without tamou and hannant.

If we stick with them their key forwards will become fatigued by the back end or will at least have to be taken off at a key period in the game. Their bench is weak this year and good teams will weather the storm to exploit it.

Aaaand someone for the love of god mark Granville... he loves to score a try against broncos

 

[Brotherdu]

Tackling Taumalolo is all well and good (duh), but in my mind we will win or lose this based on how we end our sets. If we end it with a crap kick giving JT an attacking kick to end their set and chance to force a dropout, then we will be coming out of our end all night and it won't matter how well we tackle Taumalolo. We will be the ones gassed and fading in the last 20.

Yes, we need to tackle well, but even better, force them to tackle well, over and over and over again.

 

[Brent81]

Kick for Roberts early. And I mean from a scrum 20 metres out from our line....Roberts is faster than the cowboys backs as is Kahu...the longer the kick the more likely Roberts is to get it.

Spiral bomb Coote. Couldn't catch herpes in a Taiwanese brothel.

Use Roberts in unders plays against T'lolo...he's a shit defender.

Run Moga and Thaiday and TPJ at (and I mean AT) Morgan. He wants to run at Milford because he's bigger. We'll run our big guys at him. Do the same thing with Thurston. I want the big guys to run directly AT him.

In defence, don't let the lead runner in an out the back play through the line. Lowe scores a lot of tries because he goes through and backs Morgan to make the break (he's then an unmarked support player). Knock the lead runner on his arse.

Don't dance with their forwards. Hit and hit hard. Tell Sims that T'lolo is his man and I want T'lolo shitting bricks by the end of the game at the thought of taking another run. Think the dragons semi in 2009. That's the defence i want.

Finally if you get the chance to hit Thurston do it. Think Beau Scott in 2009. Don't just tackle him. Hurt him (nothing illegal of course just hard hitting).

Ps just win FFS

 

[Broncs_Fan]

I felt much better heading into this home Cowboys game last season. Feel they have an edge on us this year.

 

[Broncs_Fan]

I didn't think he was very good at all. Not even good. Threw that nice pass for the try but was gassed.

I can't believe we seriously want to sign Matt Lodge. Lol. This guy was being a bone head long before his big night in New York.

If it happens it's going to end in tears. Seems to have innate character flaws.'

And yes I know WHY Wayne wants to sign him. He has the potential to be a very good player and he will be cheap. I get it.

 

[1910]

Hess was impressive off the bench. He has improved his running and beat tacklers adding real impact in his stint.

 

[Renegade]

Yeah, Hess looks a real prospect. Very strong runner of the ball from what I saw - his try was all desire.

 

[Huge]

Jason taumaolo made 27 tackles, 22 hit ups for 295 meters and 8 tackle busts... THATS 295 meters and he played I think between 65 and 70 minutes. They're absolutely bloody incredibly huge numbers by anyone's standards.

Without putting too much emphasis on the one bloke I think stopping him is the key, he's the guy that gets them rolling forward allowing Thurston and Morgan to work there magic. Anyone got any ideas how to best minimise his impact? I'm thinking maybe direct as much traffic as possible to him and increase that tackle count. Try to take some steam out of his engine and also try to get up quick on him when he attacks.

Matt Scott also ran for 200m and Bolton the other prop 165m compared to our highest forward of 169 meters. I think that a lot of there forwards meters are gained off the back of the taumalolo momentum. He's gotta be shut down some how or another.

Yes, they can't run without legs. It's high time coaches realised that certain players thrive on being hit around their strength, the heavily muscled upper body. When these guys start their run, the tackler on the left hits the thigh with the shoulder, the tackler on the right goes around the ball.

When two go high they frequently make another 7-10 metres. All too often we see the third guy going in low or grabbing a leg and getting it off the ground, like somehow realising that the only way to stop the forward roll on is to take his legs out ! Enough, I saw Geoff Robson, tiny little guy drop Taumolo like a stone ,front on 5 metres out from the line with a superb leg and thigh tackle. With two guys in the tackle, one stopping the drive and the other stopping the offload we can limit Taumolo and Scott.

Some may think it leaves the offensive player a side to offload from but that's fine for two reasons. Firstly, you know which way the off load is going and secondly, if you're heading for the turf, face first you don't get a whole lot of time to do that offload.

 

[Huge]

Taumalolo's strength is that he is able to get so many metres after contact. Even with 3 or 4 defenders he'll still make huge metres and get a fast play-the-ball. So should the tactic be to go low on him? It puts him at risk of offloads and a quick PTB, but he has that risk anyway, is it better to simply accept that and limit his metres? Or better yet, have McCullough go low, Blair or Sims go high, and have Milford and Hunt sniffing beside the ruck ready to intercept any offloads?

But I do agree on the #1 priority - wear him out by making him tackle. He does tire easily that way, I've seen him very vulnerable after repeated efforts in defence, but it has to be maintained throughout the game, as he recovers bloody fast.

At last we agree...I wrote my post without having seen yours and I just used a different set of words to say the same thing.

 

[Cult]

Unchanged lineup

 

[Big Pete]

Marshall named as a reserve.

Hopefully Wayne lets him finds his feet in the ISC first.

 

[Foordy]

Cowboys

1. Lachlan Coote
2. Kyle Feldt
3. Justin O’Neill
4. Kane Linnett
5. Antonio Winterstein
6. Michael Morgan
7. Johnathan Thurston
8. Matt Scott
9. Jake Granville
10. Scott Bolton
11. Gavin Cooper
12. Ethan Lowe
13. Jason Taumalolo

Interchange:
14. Ben Hampton
15. John Asiata
16. Coen Hess
17. Patrick Kaufusi

Reserves:
18. Shaun Fensom
19. Gideon Gela-Mosby
20. Javid Bowen
21. Kalyn Ponga