PRE-GAME Round 2 - Broncos vs Cowboys

Broncos coach Anthony Seibold tells his pack to muscle up

MARCH 20, 2019
Broncos coach Anthony Seibold has warned his depleted pack to muscle up to the Cowboys’ big boppers or risk being blown off the park in tomorrow night’s epic Queensland derby.
The Broncos are set to receive a boost with strike centre James Roberts to take part in today’s captain’s run after getting the green light from medical staff on the back injury he suffered against Melbourne last week.
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Broncos coach Anthony Seibold speaks to Tevita Pangai Jr at training. Picture: AAP
Roberts will have one final hit-out this morning and while Seibold has no doubt his fastest player will take the field at right centre, the Broncos coach is more concerned with the efforts of his big men in midfield.
Brisbane enter the clash without suspended prop Matt Lodge, leaving their middle rotation light on as they brace for a Cowboys onslaught led by Jason Taumalolo, Matt Scott, Jordan McLean and former Bronco Josh McGuire.

Seibold said the Cowboys’ pack is one of the most formidable units he has ever seen and admits his Broncos forwards Tevita Pangai Jr, Joe Ofahengaue, Jaydn Su’A and Matt Gillett must stand up and face a Suncorp mauling.
“They are very big and powerful,” he said.
“I have an enormous opinion of Jordan McLean, he was a real standout for the Storm (his former club) and you saw the impact when he came back (from a foot injury) at the end of last season for the Cowboys.
“Josh McGuire is a current Kangaroo. Jason Taumalolo was outstanding last week and Matt Scott has been a proven performer over a number of years. Then they have a number of back-rowers in Coen Hess and Gavin Cooper who have played for Queensland so it’s a pretty loaded pack.
“We need to be good through the middle of the park or it’s going to be a tough old day for us.
“We’ve worked hard to try and improve our game this week – our middles have a big job to do.”
Seibold is banking on an efficient and aggressive Brisbane midfield to lay the platform for a classy backline that will be bolstered by Roberts, who could crack the derby open with his power and speed.
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James Roberts managed to get through training ans is expected to play. Picture: AAP
“James got through the full training session yesterday, he told me he was OK to go, so I’d expect him to play,” he said.
“The medical staff have cleared him.
“He will tell me the truth (on how he feels).
“Until I am told otherwise, James will play. I’m not going to risk him. He had an inflamed facet joint in the end so once the inflammation comes down the medical staff said he’s fine to play.
“The way I coach, unless guys can train two days before the game, they won’t play.
“James needed to train yesterday and he did that. If he didn’t train yesterday I wouldn’t have played him, that’s the way I always work.”
Seibold says it’s crucial Brisbane keep the Cowboys pinned deep in their territory after the Broncos badly lost the yardage battle in last week’s 22-12 loss to the Storm.
“The biggest thing for us is our end of sets,” he said.
“The difference last week was where the two teams (Brisbane and Melbourne) handed over the footy.
“We need a camp mentality to camp down their end, we showed a lot of grit under pressure but we didn’t nail our end of sets.
“That’s not just down to our spine, it’s the full team, we don’t want to end up on a sideline on tackle five.
“The first time we started a set outside our 35-metre area was our 28th set of the game, which was incredible.
“That showed how much better the Storm were at handing over the footy.”
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broncos4life said:
I never mentioned the forwards defence and was quite clearly talking about the lack of go forward.
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Agree, i realise you were talking about that, but i think some of the lack of go forward stems from their fatigue from a round 1 game and having to do so much defence. First 20 minutes it was like 16 sets to 5 or something in Melb favour. Thats tough mate.
 
Turn 15 tackles into 51: Seibold's plan to tire out Taumalolo

Author
Joel GouldNRL.com Reporter
Timestamp
Thu 21 Mar 2019, 01:37Pmvia Email
When it comes to stopping Jason Taumalolo, forcing him to make 51 tackles rather than 15 would be a start.
In a nutshell, Brisbane's simple aim in the Queensland derby clash with the Cowboys on Friday night is to reduce the impact the North Queensland wrecking ball has on the match.
Coach Anthony Seibold revealed a big clue to Brisbane's modus operandi against Taumalolo when referring to the 15 tackles he made against the Dragons on Saturday night, a minimal defensive workload which freed the Tongan international to make 286m with the ball and leave a trail of devastation in his wake.
"He's a dangerous player that is for sure," Seibold said.
"You are never going to take away his weapons. What we have got to try and do is minimise his weapons.
"The big thing is that we want to make him make some tackles. Jason only made 15 tackles last week. You want to make sure he has to get into the tackles a little bit more and it is the same with all of their forwards. They are real weapons and if we don't stand strong in the middle they are going to come through us."

Seibold declares Roberts fit for Cowboys clash
Seibold said Taumalolo was just as much of a handful on the edge as in the middle and has challenged his starting props Tevita Pangai jnr and Joe Ofahengaue against a pack that also contains Origin and international stars Jordan McLean, Matt Scott, Coen Hess, Gavin Cooper and former Bronco Josh McGuire.
"I thought Tevita was really good off the bench [against Melbourne]. He played almost 50 minutes so he is going to start, and it's a big challenge for Joe," Seibold said.
"I thought he has been really consistent in our pre-season and he does a lot of things that go unnoticed but it is a big challenge for those guys.
"One thing we have seen with Jason when he plays on the edge is that he does a lot of their set-up plays and gets a quick play the ball … and we've got to make sure we get our bodies in front and do the job on Jason when he goes through the middle."
Seibold has juggled the roles of David Fifita and Jaydn Su'A with Fifita starting in the back row after coming off the bench last week.
"I am going to play Jaydn through the middle. With Payne Haas and Matt Lodge unavailable I just think we need a bit of size there through the middle," Seibold said.
"Jaydn is a big powerful guy so rather than starting him we can bring him off the bench. It's just a matter of leaving two back-rowers out there we think can play 80 minutes and rotate through the middle.

Broncos v Cowboys - Round 2
"I won't divulge too much but we need to make sure we move them around a little bit and make them feel fatigue.
"We had a look at arm wrestles across the competition last week and ball-in-play times and one thing we did see was that their weren't a whole heap of arm wrestles in their game against the Dragons. We need to make sure we keep the ball in play and put some fatigue into those guys but it is easier said than done."
James Roberts is set to play after recovering from an acute back spasm suffered against the Storm in the fifth minute. The NSW centre trained with Brisbane on Thursday and got through the captain's run to the satisfaction of Seibold and medical staff.

Source: NRL.com
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Sounds like a good plan by seibold, albeit nothing new. Hopefully we can execute. Just needs players to put their hand up to run at lolo... lol.
 

So Seibold is going play Sua through the middle because he needs size, but he overlooks the bigger, heavier middle forward in Carrigan?
 
Wolfie said:
So Seibold is going play Sua through the middle because he needs size, but he overlooks the bigger, heavier middle forward in Carrigan?
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Maybe Seibold feels our forward pack is too green as it is without debuting another prop. Maybe Mago might have been a better option if that was Seibolds thinking.

I would have liked to seen Carrigan get a run aswell Wolfie. His time will come.
 
Gaz said:
For sure. His defence may have got him over the line though.
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I think his experience more than his defence has probably got him the nod over Patty. I dont really believe Sua is any better a defender than Carrigan.

The Mago suggestion is actually a good shout as well. Thought he was solid last year.
 
This is a massive game for us given our draw with saints and roosters in the next 2 weeks.
 
We REALLY need to win well tomorrow and start building some form because if we do, the Dragons are in for a long night at Lang Park next week, especially after the finals last year.
 
I bleed Maroon said:
We REALLY need to win well tomorrow and start building some form because if we do, the Dragons are in for a long night at Lang Park next week, especially after the finals last year.
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Looking pretty sharp tonight, although not winning but they look dangerous.
 
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