POST GAME [Round 21, 2025] Broncos vs Eels

[Swordfish]

Towards the back end of the game, with the spine we had & when we needed points to win, the footy went to Payne on the last tackle and he had to put in the air ffs and chase it. What an absolute dumb **** was that?

Where are the half’s? Adam is so submissive and subtle. Not aggressive & definitely not in the face guy. This team would benefit a lot if someone has any mongrel in them.

 

[Sproj]

With the spine we had & when we needed points to win, the footy went to Payne on the last tackle and he had to put in the air ffs and chase it. What an absolute dumb **** was that?

Where are the half’s? Adam is so submissive and subtle. Not aggressive & definitely not in the face guy. This team would benefit a lot if someone has any mongrel in them.

Mam got smacked high and of course not called by the ref and got up with a little giggle at the bloke who got him. His teammates should have been in the defender’s face, that’s what good teams do and that how you win penalties.

 

[Swordfish]

Mam got smacked high and of course not called by the ref and got up with a little giggle at the bloke who got him. His teammates should have been in the defender’s face, that’s what good teams do and that how you win penalties.

Yeah, that’s my point. Our guys are too polite and nice. They do not complain. Don’t know how to play smart & absolutely do not know how to milk a penalty. Just want to play nice & be at the mercy of reffs.

 

[Nerd]

I thought we did well to stay in the grind initially. Teams seemed to have worked us out. Move up quick in defence because as we know refs will penalise for it 2 or 3 times a game but will mostly let teams leave early if they consistently do it all game.

Our attack seems to consist of ball players taking it sideways to a flat attack which tries to punch holes through the defence. Works great on a retreating defence but leads to unforced errors on a fast moving defence.

Attacking a try line we seem to be relying on a crash play or individual brilliance to score. When was the last time we stripped the defence with a ball along the backline and the winger scoring untouched? When the winger does score it is from a long ball over the top which teams seem to be either blocking or defending now. I think Madge needs to take a leaf out of Billy Slater's QLD team and have our attacking backline standing up to 30 m deep. Worked against the fast moving NSW defence because if they left the line early they couldn't get in the face of our attackers and were forced to make defensive decisions on the fly. I'm sure either Ezra, Reece or Staggs would revel being one on one with defenders.

I'm hoping Ben Hunt's game will improve from week to week because at hooker his passing from dummy half is poor and his defence below standard.

This might be a bit left field but my thoughts are that our next 7 should be Reece Walsh. Lets face it he's not a great fullback, he struggles under the high ball, his positioning at the back is often found out and the few times he does get the ball he overplays his hand leading to errors. I like when Reece comes in at first receiver, he has a kicking game and I believe defends better in the front line than he does at fullback. Seeing way more ball might also stop him having to think that he needs to pull the trigger every time he gets the ball. With his left foot kicking put Reece on the left hand side of the field and Ezra on the right. Reece has the right personality to dominate the forwards and would draw defenders like honey when taking on the line from close up.

 

[mitch222]

I’m going to question the coaching right now
We scored both our tries right up the middle and didn’t seem to go back to that game plan for the rest of the night. You would think a good coach at half time would have said hey guys straighten right up and go up the middle cause it’s working but no the dumb ****s tried to go around them.
They deserved what they got last night. And Ben Hunt can **** right off. Hasn’t offered us shit this year and if anything is a hindrance to the team. The missing link my ass. Should have used his money to buy another second rower instead

 

[JayPee]

This. Isn't it the same signal they make after tackle 1 on a 20 metre restart?

Yeah I think they do it for zero tackle there. If they **** up the 6 again or penalties for actual infringements like Todd did late in the game they usually pull it up and fix it. No wonder fans and refs still get confused. Just take the ****ing 6 agains away altogether and bring back 2 refs like it used to be.

 

[MrTickyMcG]

Like I said, playing shit for two months but scraping through for wins has been detrimental. Well played losses 4 weeks ago would have been better for our season long term, instead we thought we were on a heater and get done by a team we should have beaten by 50.

This crap again! If we lost earlier we would have won this game?

 

[_wwong]

I’m going to question the coaching right now
We scored both our tries right up the middle and didn’t seem to go back to that game plan for the rest of the night. You would think a good coach at half time would have said hey guys straighten right up and go up the middle cause it’s working but no the dumb ****s tried to go around them.
They deserved what they got last night. And Ben Hunt can **** right off. Hasn’t offered us shit this year and if anything is a hindrance to the team. The missing link my ass. Should have used his money to buy another second rower instead

We just have no clue how to use back rowers. Many times we went for the rainbow pass out to the winger instead of hitting short passes in the middle where defenders were tired and leaving some gaps.

 

[Loch Ness Monster]

I thought we did well to stay in the grind initially. Teams seemed to have worked us out. Move up quick in defence because as we know refs will penalise for it 2 or 3 times a game but will mostly let teams leave early if they consistently do it all game.

Our attack seems to consist of ball players taking it sideways to a flat attack which tries to punch holes through the defence. Works great on a retreating defence but leads to unforced errors on a fast moving defence.

Attacking a try line we seem to be relying on a crash play or individual brilliance to score. When was the last time we stripped the defence with a ball along the backline and the winger scoring untouched? When the winger does score it is from a long ball over the top which teams seem to be either blocking or defending now. I think Madge needs to take a leaf out of Billy Slater's QLD team and have our attacking backline standing up to 30 m deep. Worked against the fast moving NSW defence because if they left the line early they couldn't get in the face of our attackers and were forced to make defensive decisions on the fly. I'm sure either Ezra, Reece or Staggs would revel being one on one with defenders.

I'm hoping Ben Hunt's game will improve from week to week because at hooker his passing from dummy half is poor and his defence below standard.

This might be a bit left field but my thoughts are that our next 7 should be Reece Walsh. Lets face it he's not a great fullback, he struggles under the high ball, his positioning at the back is often found out and the few times he does get the ball he overplays his hand leading to errors. I like when Reece comes in at first receiver, he has a kicking game and I believe defends better in the front line than he does at fullback. Seeing way more ball might also stop him having to think that he needs to pull the trigger every time he gets the ball. With his left foot kicking put Reece on the left hand side of the field and Ezra on the right. Reece has the right personality to dominate the forwards and would draw defenders like honey when taking on the line from close up.

Not a bad take at all.
Walsh is also one of, if not the worst kick return fullbacks in the game.

 

[Matheos]

Our best play all game was the backline shift to thr right when we were on our own 20m line with 4 minutes remaining.
We stripped the Eels but unfortunately Staggs was too slow and needed quick hands to release Arthars.
I guarantee Walsh scores untouched. There were 3 players right at the advantage line waiting to be a support runner.

Why the f*ck did it take 75 minutes to organise a coherent backline play.

The urgency we showed in the final 15 is needed from the first whistle.

Overall whilst it is disappointing, I can at least take solice knowing that we have other gears that we can reach. Parra played their best game of the year and yet if we had the same intensity as that last 15min we would've won by 30+.

Hopefully we can put it down to the time off and come back sharper and go on another 5 game win streak to end the year. People can laugh and say we have Storm twice... but without Paps and Hughes, we'd honestly be a favourite in both games.

 

[broncsgoat]

If we turn up, we win.
If we don’t turn up but with stupid errors, we won’t win.
You want us to turn up but loose? I don’t get your logic. How can the losses aid our ladder position?

I hope that you’re well aware that A win is a win & 2 competition points only. No bonus points if we win by 30+ or 50+.

We’ve been playing like shit but getting wins, it was always going to result in us not actually performing well when it matters… I expected it to happen against the storm but apparently even I underestimated how poorly Madge is coaching us

 

[Mitchell_Broncos]

Woke up thinking it was a bad dream dang it have to go to work now .

 

[Kaz]

Unfortunately, the better team won.

I'm struggling to compute that.

Parra always seem to play well against us.

 

[Mitchell_Broncos]

Do think though parra were great adding Moses to there pack steering the ship, a loss is good when you are on a trot to ground you. Everyone needs to calm down.

 

[Galah]

Just looking at the draw and being a realist I don’t think we make the 8.

Teams have figured Walsh out something shocking. Reynolds looks like this should definitely be his last year playing.

The thing I’m most disappointed about is that losing these types of game has been a consistent issue for the core playing group for 5 years now and it just doesn’t matter who the coach is. I really thought that our new coach wouldn’t stand for it and knock it out of them.
this group are just insanely entitled and unfortunately the only way to fix it would be to take away luxuries like one would do in the army, that’s never going to happen.

So this is it, this is what we have, they can’t be fixed.

The run was fun but never convincing.

 

[Foordy]

Like I said, playing shit for two months but scraping through for wins has been detrimental. Well played losses 4 weeks ago would have been better for our season long term, instead we thought we were on a heater and get done by a team we should have beaten by 50.

At least you'll have a good weekend for a change ... They were eventually going to lose again to make you happy

 

[McHunt]

Parra always seem to play well against us.

Everyone does - except the Dogs.

 

[_wwong]

Just looking at the draw and being a realist I don’t think we make the 8.

Teams have figured Walsh out something shocking. Reynolds looks like this should definitely be his last year playing.

The thing I’m most disappointed about is that losing these types of game has been a consistent issue for the core playing group for 5 years now and it just doesn’t matter who the coach is. I really thought that our new coach wouldn’t stand for it and knock it out of them.
this group are just insanely entitled and unfortunately the only way to fix it would be to take away luxuries like one would do in the army, that’s never going to happen.

So this is it, this is what we have, they can’t be fixed.

The run was fun but never convincing.

Walsh doesn’t make it that hard for teams to figure out. He doesn’t hide behind the ruck or run support plays, just plants himself out wide early in the tackle count. There was one play where he passed to mam and just jogged back into position for the next tackle. Little did he know mam got piakura one on one and was looking for an offload. Reece already went back infield to play first receiver.