POST GAME [Round 20, 2021] Broncos vs Cowboys

[Evander]

Seriously how many times this year have we scored and made an error the following set allowing teams back into the game. It’s like it’s a curse. That’s my only negative from the game today.

 

[Mustafur]

Seriously how many times this year have we scored and made an error the following set allowing teams back into the game. It’s like it’s a curse. That’s my only negative from the game today.

alot of it comes from the same stuff every time, sloppy tackles by front rowers.

 

[theshed]

I’m cautious of healping too much praise given our ability to fluctuate so much between good and bad form but the biggest positives from this game for me were:

1. Gamble’s short kicking game has translated to first grade. The 10-30m kicks were his bread and butter in ressies and he’s now bringing that to first grade which is what I originally hoped he’d bring when he got the call up.

2. The last 2 games Riki has returned to the early career form that had us all excited. This is also thanks to great service from Gamble and the threat of Staggs but what a dynamic player he is when he’s on. Hopefully this is the new standard. The one shame is that he seems far stronger playing on the right - this is also Capewell’s stronger side but hopefully with Cape’s experience he transition successfully to left like he does in origin

3. Defence has far improved. I now feel confident the right edge will withstand what is thrown at them and likewise the middle. Our left side is still our biggest issue but at at the risk of igniting a Huge thread derail, I have been mostly impressed with Herbie and Oates and this should improve further with the removal of Croft.Edit: that being said I think tonight was Croft’s best game in a long time and he played his role well outside of a below NRL standard kicking game.


The biggest concern from that game IMO was Haas. Although he still outperformed most forwards dream performances he looked far less effective than he has in previous weeks. Whether this is a case of losing motivation, being worn out from carrying the team, or Cowboys d’ing up on him I’m not sure but to me he didn’t seem like the Haas we’ve all grown to expect. That being said he still got 1 or my 3 votes in the player of the round thread.

 

[NSW stables]

I am tempering my response to this game, as it was against a team that has lost 6 (now 7) straight.

I have always had a soft spot for defensive players and i like turpiisand he is probably the hardest hitting hooker in the comp but levi's stint just showed some of the natural attacking finesse that turpin lacks (he has been working on it though).

Perfect example is riki's try. Levi was positioned as though he was throwing the ball to croft on the left/open side of the field. As such, granville (playing fullback) was defending as the A defender on the open side. When levi went right instead to gamble for the kick, granville was completely out of position and no hope getting there.

If turpin is out next week I would be tempted to run hetherington at 9 for the first 20mins to take the initial sting and arm wrestlof out of the game, and then bring levi on when the game has opened up and softened a little.

Isaako played well and showed that he is a winger. He has developed a good defensive structure with gamble and stagg and his big right foot step in field catches defenders sliding grasping at air. I would be leaving them there if I were kev.

 

[theshed]

One other thing I feel worth mentioning was Croft’s post game presser on 9. When asked “it feels like more of the team are playing for each other. What percentage of the team do you think is putting In for each other? Croft said “I can’t put a % on it”. that’s a concern.

 

[Morepudding]

Solid performance. Tom Dearden re-writing the history books for most games last as a starting halfback for sure. How dumb were the cowboys. On a decent winning run, sign Dearden and haven’t won since haha.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Rugby league media is full of incoherent former players

 

[Organix]

I’m cautious of healping too much praise given our ability to fluctuate so much between good and bad form but the biggest positives from this game for me were:

1. Gamble’s short kicking game has translated to first grade. The 10-30m kicks were his bread and butter in ressies and he’s now bringing that to first grade which is what I originally hoped he’d bring when he got the call up.

2. The last 2 games Riki has returned to the early career form that had us all excited. This is also thanks to great service from Gamble and the threat of Staggs but what a dynamic player he is when he’s on. Hopefully this is the new standard. The one shame is that he seems far stronger playing on the right - this is also Capewell’s stronger side but hopefully with Cape’s experience he transition successfully to left like he does in origin

3. Defence has far improved. I now feel confident the right edge will withstand what is thrown at them and likewise the middle. Our left side is still our biggest issue but at at the risk of igniting a Huge thread derail, I have been mostly impressed with Herbie and Oates and this should improve further with the removal of Croft.Edit: that being said I think tonight was Croft’s best game in a long time and he played his role well outside of a below NRL standard kicking game.


The biggest concern from that game IMO was Haas. Although he still outperformed most forwards dream performances he looked far less effective than he has in previous weeks. Whether this is a case of losing motivation, being worn out from carrying the team, or Cowboys d’ing up on him I’m not sure but to me he didn’t seem like the Haas we’ve all grown to expect. That being said he still got 1 or my 3 votes in the player of the round thread.

Eh, it was Croft slotting Riki through the holes, at least one time.

 

[Organix]

One other thing I feel worth mentioning was Croft’s post game presser on 9. When asked “it feels like more of the team are playing for each other. What percentage of the team do you think is putting In for each other? Croft said “I can’t put a % on it”. that’s a concern.

I heard that too, but I'm not sure he caught the question right. It was a weird question and maybe he thought they meant what percentage of the time they are putting in. I mean he also can't know what the other players are thinking. To be honest though, what a stupid question. Ummmm 100%? 110%? It didn't deserve an answer.

 

[Shane Tronc]

Haas was still immense tonight. His runs make such a difference to our sets.
Riki a well deserved MOTM. Great on both sides of the ball.
I hope we re-sign Palasia. He was very solid in the middle tonight.
Hetherington got reduced minutes tonight (maybe managing his workload?) but was still solid. Came up with a really good effort play to sweep around and run a decoy for Staggs’ first try. Coaches love him for good reason.

 

[Foordy]

The biggest concern from that game IMO was Haas. Although he still outperformed most forwards dream performances he looked far less effective than he has in previous weeks. Whether this is a case of losing motivation, being worn out from carrying the team, or Cowboys d’ing up on him I’m not sure but to me he didn’t seem like the Haas we’ve all grown to expect. That being said he still got 1 or my 3 votes in the player of the round thread.

He just shared the load a bit more last night.

in 65 minutes he made:

184m from 21 runs
67 post contact meters
3 tackle breaks
34 tackles

not bad for a bloke who is "less effective"

BTW some of the assistance he got that stopped him having to carry the pack on his back:

Palasia: 17 runs for 126m
Kennedy: 12 runs for 110m
Glenn: 9 runs for 96m

 

[McHunt]

I mean, how could that ever motivate the players? I would almost want to lose than be obligated to sing that crap when I'm buzzing from a win.

Just needs a little autotune.

 

[broncsgoat]

Solid performance. Tom Dearden re-writing the history books for most games last as a starting halfback for sure. How dumb were the cowboys. On a decent winning run, sign Dearden and haven’t won since haha.

Who the **** is Tom Dearden

Timmy Grogan I was the cowboys halfback last night

 

[pagey]

Seriously how many times this year have we scored and made an error the following set allowing teams back into the game. It’s like it’s a curse. That’s my only negative from the game today.

How good was it to see the team respond to it and put them back in the game, resilience was much better instead of just giving up.

 

[IceWorks]

View attachment 14393

How does this guy get a commentary gig? Only listened to 2 Origin games this year and he is useless.

 

[Aldo]

I heard that too, but I'm not sure he caught the question right. It was a weird question and maybe he thought they meant what percentage of the time they are putting in. I mean he also can't know what the other players are thinking. To be honest though, what a stupid question. Ummmm 100%? 110%? It didn't deserve an answer.

Totally agree. It was a stupid question from a certified idiot. What was Croft supposed to say? "Yeah 83.4% of us are playing for each other at the moment. It's great that we've lost Lodge and TPJ as that percentage would have been lower if they were playing".

 

[abashii]

Totally agree. It was a stupid question from a certified idiot. What was Croft supposed to say? "Yeah 83.4% of us are playing for each other at the moment. It's great that we've lost Lodge and TPJ as that percentage would have been lower if they were playing".

That makes it stupid to us but exactly what the media would love to hear. How much air time and how many column inches could they churn out about the split camp at the Broncos or similar?

 

[Aldo]

That makes it stupid to us but exactly what the media would love to hear. How much air time and how many column inches could they churn out about the split camp at the Broncos or similar?

Yep, agree. He answered it well and gave them nothing