POST GAME Round 2 - Broncos vs Cowboys

[Danoz Direct]

We made more errors than the Cowboys and had double the penalties against us and we still won.

We ripped apart the so called best pack in the NRL.

Our attack was ok, but there is so much improvement in us offensively when Boyd is 100% and Bird comes into the team. I see us in a similar sort of position to the 2015 when we can really build into the season and hopefully play our best footy at the end of the year.

 

[Super Freak]

Milford twists knife in ultimate test of character

March 17, 2018

After a week of the long knives where the Brisbane Broncos came under attack from all quarters, it was five-eighth Anthony Milford who ultimately twisted the knife in a trademark display against the North Queensland Cowboys on Friday night.

After the poor display from the entire side against St George Illawarra, it was Milford and his halves partner Kodi Nikorima who copped plenty of heat for their lack of game smarts.

Milford was emphatic during the week about how he intended to reboot his running game against the Cowboys as a priority, and he delivered on his promise to help inspire a 24-20 win.

His 15 runs for 119 metres were impressive enough, but don’t encapsulate what Milford offered his team.

Several of those runs when the Broncos trailed 8-nil were decisive in giving his side momentum and ultimately belief.

When Milford plays what he sees and runs the ball, he ignites his teammates and the crowd, of which there were over 46,000 at Suncorp Stadium.

It is exhilarating to watch but Milford himself has acknowledged the need to improve the Broncos’ end to sets.

Plenty of work has gone into the halves kicking game in the pre-season and while there is still plenty of improvement left on that front, Milford showcased a couple of crucial kicks which gave the Broncos repeat sets in a see-sawing second half.

Another went over the dead ball line towards the end of the match and it is those kind of lapses Milford intends to limit.

The 23-year-old does not relish the media spotlight which is relentless at the Broncos but he can be proud of the way he handled himself this past week.

On Tuesday, he fronted media and answered plenty of tough questions about the Dragons display, about the criticism he’d received and what he intended to do against the Cowboys.

He vowed that a different Broncos would be on show against North Queensland. Easy to say, but so hard to do.

He backed up those words with actions and was back post-match to talk to the press about the results.

"We spoke about that during the week Kodi and I, with Kevvie [Walters] and Wayne [Bennett], that our strength is our running game and that if we don’t bring that to the game there is not much else we do," Milford said.

"I thought we done that really well, controlled the team and kicked really well. I am pretty proud of our efforts.

"The big thing we worked on during the week was sharing the workload."

There was an air of inevitability about the final quarter of the match where Johnathan Thurston had played a key role in getting the Cowboys back to within striking distance of the Broncos.

With 90 seconds to go only a goalpost pad stopped Scott Bolton scoring the match winner off a Thurston pass.

Once again Thurston seemed about to will his side to another last gasp win.

Milford doesn't have that kind of aura about him and is a different style of player to Thurston, but also 11 years younger.

He will only improve with his ability to control a game.

Milford was asked after the game what it was like handling the expectations at the Broncos where, after a 12-year premiership drought, every loss is treated by the club's critics as a disaster.

"It comes as part and parcel of playing at the Broncos. It’s a big club and they demand success," he said.

"It was only round one. People were showing us the back door but I thought Kodi really stepped up.”

The duo will win games for Brisbane this year and they will do it in their own frenetic kind of way as they continue to work harder on game management.

Milford said the big thing the Broncos work on is being "above the line", a reference to words that are emblazoned across a wall in the club’s new gym.

The Brisbane five-eighth was certainly all that and more against the Cowboys. If the performance is a line in the sand for what to expect for the rest of the year then the Broncos, and Milford, will achieve above the expectations of those who believe they will not be a genuine premiership threat in 2018.

Source: NRL.com

 

[Nashy]

Kahu could be out for up to 3 months.

It was revealed that he broke his jaw in a couple of places, and Hickmans has said 2-3 months.

Any vision of this that you've found?

maybe they used to use champion data then switched to prozone

Correct.

 

[Wolfie]

I mean the literal bounce of the ball. That Macca kick to Opacic, the ball bouncing to Joffa, the kick missed Darius but I’ve seen a million games where it bounces into the oppositions hands instead. The ball that lead to the Granville double movement :)
It was a refreshing change!

How much of it is luck though and how much of it is something like Tommy chasing the ball on the off chance something like that will happen. You make your own luck sometimes, and chasing lost causes puts you in a position to take advantage.

 

[Super Freak]

Any vision of this that you've found?

Of what Hickmans said?

It's in this article.

“Jordan has broken his jaw in a couple of places,” Hickmans said.

“He’s going to be (out) two to three months, probably. It’s pretty early but he had surgery (last night).

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...n/news-story/17a8d649bef45e4a778aa4e9a38c5a94

 

[Number6]

Of what Hickmans said?

It's in this article.



http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...n/news-story/17a8d649bef45e4a778aa4e9a38c5a94

Sucks. Hope 2 months really need him around origin but biggest thing is he recovers fully.

 

[mrslong]

How much of it is luck though and how much of it is something like Tommy chasing the ball on the off chance something like that will happen. You make your own luck sometimes, and chasing lost causes puts you in a position to take advantage.

Dude I said it reminded me of the Alf days - it was a positive comment. Alf also made his own luck so can you see the correlation? You’re arguing against me with the point I was making lol

 

[Huge]

Of what Hickmans said?

It's in this article.



http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...n/news-story/17a8d649bef45e4a778aa4e9a38c5a94

Incredibly quick medical response. Normally swelling is a major concern but straight into it. Well done to the Broncos and the medical team(s).

 

[Broncos Maestro]

Just watched the extended highlights and noticed that TPJ was in EVERY tackle before his (&the goal posts) heroic save of the century. If TPJ didn’t throw his body into every tackle, we’ll probably be sucking big ones following the game.

He definitely should have been MOTM.

 

[Nashy]

Of what Hickmans said?

It's in this article.



http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...n/news-story/17a8d649bef45e4a778aa4e9a38c5a94

The tackle that crunched him.

 

[tommy]

The tackle that crunched him.

It's in the highlights I posted inn the post match thread.

 

[1910]

There was a set in the second half where the Broncos had to exit the left hand corner, they got past half way and with the kick put the Cowboys on their 30m line.

In the context of last week to this week that stood out for me. It was nearly all backs apart from Glenn but every single player put their hand up to get out of there. That probably doesn't happen last week.

Glenn ended the game on the left wing and busted up.

They showed Moses instead of TPJ on the screen when he scored. Probably need to sort that! Good for Moses though.

 

[holdzy]

That was an amazing press conference. **** yeah Wayne and eat my dick media.

I hate that guy.

 

[Purple Pills]

My biggest gripe.

When the Broncos got the ball back after Bolton hit the goal post and knocked on.

They played the ball too fast. They should have done it a lot slower. The Cowboys wouldn't have gotten the chance they had.

Probably were worried Cummins would penalise them for the umpteenth time if they were time wasting

 

[Murphda]

I watched Thurston on that last Bolton try/post. He targets tpj every tackle to tire him out then throws an inside ball to Bolton and tpj was late to get back in position. Awesome effort to get to the tackke and stop a certain try. But how smart of thurston. He knew tpj would keep going in for the tackles so he used that to set up the try and find a defender out. Thats something a bet other teams will focus now.

 

[Morkel]

I watched Thurston on that last Bolton try/post. He targets tpj every tackle to tire him out then throws an inside ball to Bolton and tpj was late to get back in position. Awesome effort to get to the tackke and stop a certain try. But how smart of thurston. He knew tpj would keep going in for the tackles so he used that to set up the try and find a defender out. Thats something a bet other teams will focus now.

The love-fest for Thurston is tiresome but it is completely deserved.

 

[Painin the Haas]

We did that to Scott and Hess a lot as well that's how jimmy got through. If you look at some of our longer range tries over the last 3 seasons it's because we sort over Scott

 

[Murphda]

The love-fest for Thurston is tiresome but it is completely deserved.

Not so much about thurston more about the opposition new tpj is tired so kept making sure he was in the tackle then singled him out to run the play at. Watching it again i thought it was well setup. I noticed he did it a few time throughout the game he would look for tpj and kept running plays at him to open up gaps when he was fatigued to get back in position.