Round 20 - Cowboys vs. Broncos - Pre Match Discussion

[rnabokov]

Where's Maranta & Prince? :crying:

Where's Tasi?

 

[_wwong]

what's the news on kahu? is his hand busted? i'm sure he'd still score more tries than maranta with one hand (which he did against the sharks)

 

[theshed]

Norman needs the old Bennet treatment that Hodgo got when he signed for the Roosters. Maranta needs to go. We should start blooding some young guys with a bit of speed.

 

[Alec]

Their speed gets coached out by Griffin.

 

[1910]

Kahu's hand is broken.

 

[Morkel]

Kahu's hand is broken.

Therefore so is my heart.

 

[Kimlo]

Kahu's hand is broken.

Oh man FFS, nothing is going right this year and Kahu just has no luck... :001_rolleyes:

 

[bb_gun]

Therefore so is my heart.

GAAAAYYYY!!!!!

It's actually the worst news imaginable as it means we're going to be stuck with Maranta for a long long time. It just keeps getting worse.

 

[Porthoz]

Kahu's hand is broken.

Is it a long term injury or a quick one?

 

[Kimlo]

Kahu or No-who (bad joke) Maranta still shouldn't get a spot. Anyone from Qcup who plays wing should do a better job, anyone.

 

[coreyh88]

Hoffman and Hodges according to broncos website want us to play like that last ten minutes all the time.

 

[noisetheory]

while i guess im glad they're saying that, i dont get why it has taken us til rnd 20 to apparently realise we need to use the ball a bit more to score points.

 

[Morkel]

Hoffman and Hodges according to broncos website want us to play like that last ten minutes all the time.

Awesome. We just have to let the opposition get an unbeatable lead really early in the game so we can play against a side that's already put the cue in the rack.

 

[broncos4life]

Awesome. We just have to let the opposition get an unbeatable lead really early in the game so we can play against a side that's already put the cue in the rack.

The sad thing is that represents a better game plan than griffin has ever dished up

 

[Alec]

Yep, I think it's pretty much been proven that the Bellamy plan doesn't work unless you have quality players in your spine. We failed at it, Eels failed at it, NSW failed at it, but Souffs have been successful (with Inglis and Luke being gun attacking players, and Reynolds and Sutton playing their specific roles perfectly). Griffin needs to move away from it, and I'm glad some players are finally starting to speak up.

 

[Renegade]

It's not the plan that's the problem, it's the coach who is implementing it.

Some of the stuff that we do not do, is just so elementary it makes you wonder what it is they actually do at training.

It doesn't even have to be complicated, just basic shit like:

passing before the line
standing deep
passing from dh in one motion
having decoy runners run somewhat imaginative lines
support play/backing up your man

If Bellamy was in charge, we probably wouldn't win the title, but we'd be performing closer to our capacity than we are at present.

 

[Morkel]

Yep, I think it's pretty much been proven that the Bellamy plan doesn't work unless you have quality players in your spine. We failed at it, Eels failed at it, NSW failed at it, but Souffs have been successful (with Inglis and Luke being gun attacking players, and Reynolds and Sutton playing their specific roles perfectly). Griffin needs to move away from it, and I'm glad some players are finally starting to speak up.

I've been saying it for years. Bellamy only needs 14 of his 17 players each week to do an extremely simple task. They have to do it effectively of course, but it's as easy as that. There's no wonder their defence has been the benchmark of the comp for years - the Big 3 basically give them an attacking head-start over any team of, say, 12 - 18 points. If you went in to every game with that head start, what would your primary week-to-week focus be? Defending that lead, of course. If Bellamy was such an awesome coach, where is the next Slater, Cronk, Smith, Inglis or Folau that he's 'produced'?

I somewhat think Kearney was trying to do the same at the Eels - get a couple of talented, big $$ attacking players and surround them with nuffies with a simple game plan. He didn't count on Sandow being such a liability in defence that it impacts on the whole team. Maguire has done a much better job at it - right down to attempts to fudge the figures in order to fit the players in their bulging cap.

The contrast of course is what Hasler has done with the Dogs. Forwards getting involved in the ball-playing, causing the compressed defence to leave gaps out wide. The reason it doesn't work for us is because they have Barba & Graham and we don't. In fact we have zero speed anywhere, no one besides Hodges who can get the better of their opposite one-on-one to create opportunities, and Hodgo only does it out of elusiveness, not speed. Anyone who watched the Bulldogs earlier in the year would see the very specific skill sets required to make the plan work. Without Graham (and Kasiano to a lesser extent) it simply did not work, nor did it help when they didn't have Barba's speed to take advantage. If we get Barba, the most likely candidates for forward-based ball-movement are McGuire & Hannant, but even that's theoretical.

 

[Ari Gold]

The way the Dogs play is so much different to what Des' Eagles did. For mine Hasler is the best coach in the comp bar none. He's proven he can adapt his game plan to suit the skills his players excel at.

If only Griffin were smart enough to devise a master game plan around Peter Wallace's mastery of mediocrity.