Round 21 - Broncos vs Sea Eagles - Pre-Match Discussion

[Bucking Beads]

Reed is fast enough but he takes a while to get going which is the issue. You need speed of the mark.

 

[1910]

For those statically minded.

Vidot- 6 runs 76m 13 tackles, 1 ineffective at 93%.
Kennedy- 12 runs 139m, 25 tackles, 1 ineffective at 96%, 3 tackle breaks and two penalties.

 

[Bucking Beads]

It makes no difference as Kennedy is at very long odds to get a game unless Hook drops Oates or Granville.

 

[Big Pete]

Why is it so bad, because he is too 'slow'? I'm willing to give him a game or two there and if he fails he fails. Personally I think a few members here might be left with egg on their face.

For several reasons.

Namely it means that a player like Jordan Kahu, a talented player who has fought through plenty of tough times and STILL made a positive impact and was only getting better gets dropped for Reed who has barely even played in the wing position and did nothing last week to earn that spot.

There is nothing about Reed's game that suggests he can do anything more than just a 'job' on the wing and I really hope his positional play isn't as bad as I envision it to be.

 

[vertigo]

Nice one Lowrie, give them some more ammo you idiot.

Brisbane Broncos forward Todd Lowrie labels Brookvale Oval a ?s**thole? before Manly clash | News.com.au

WHEN it comes to away games, it’s pretty clear Manly’s Brookvale Oval isn’t high on Bronco Todd Lowrie’s must-visit list.

The Brisbane utility says there’s little doubt Friday’s trip to the NRL leaders is going to be a huge test for the Broncos.

The Sea Eagles have won nine straight at their home ground since being pipped by a point by Melbourne in the opening round, a run which has played a large part in their climb to the top of the competition.

Lowrie says there’s no one reason why Brookvale is such an intimidating place for opposition teams to visit.

“Everything about it. It’s a s***hole really,” he said.

“The field’s heavy and muddy and boggy. I’m surprised they let us play on it sometimes.

“The sheds are crap and the fans are right on you. I really do love the fact they’ve still got the hill and the crowd’s right involved ... but it’s probably everything else about it.

“It’s a pain in the arse to get to on the bus ... she’s certainly one of the more daunting road trips in the NRL.”

Both the Sea Eagles and Broncos have had to handle off-field turmoil in recent weeks with several of Manly’s leading stars apparently wanting out of the club while Brisbane is still coming to terms with the decision to replace coach Anthony Griffin at season’s end with Wayne Bennett.

While Manly’s dramas appear to have had little affect on their performance, the Broncos came unstuck last weekend at home against the Storm.

Lowrie says there needs to be a significant improvement if the Broncos are to head back to Queensland with the two competition points.

“We’ve just got to get better all around. Our attack was ordinary, we defended well in the first half but just allowed Melbourne to have too much possession,” Lowrie said.

“We’ve got to improve all over the place. Our defence has got to be better. Our attack has got to be better.

“We’ve been 12-0 down for the past two or three games in a row and it’s not until then that we’ve decided to get going for some reason. I don’t know what that is.

“I don’t know how we address that but it’s too hard a competition to be giving teams 12-point head starts before you try to kick into gear and start playing some footy.”

ESCAPING THE EAGLE’S NEST: BRISBANE’S DAUNTING TRIP TO BROOKVALE OVAL.

* Brisbane has won five times at Brookvale in 15 games

* Last time: Manly beat Brisbane 16-6 in round 25, 2012

* Last win: Brisbane beat Manly 22-6 in round 13, 2010

* Manly have a nine win, one loss record at home this season

* Sea Eagles have won nine straight at Brookvale since losing to Melbourne in opening round

 

[Foordy]

the Manly players probably agree with Lowrie. Brookvale is the worst ground in the country

 

[vertigo]

So a team with who plays out of a shithole has a 9-1 record at home and the team who plays out of the best Rugby League stadium in the world has a 4-5 record.

Go figure.

 

[CaptainHook]

For several reasons.

Namely it means that a player like Jordan Kahu, a talented player who has fought through plenty of tough times and STILL made a positive impact and was only getting better gets dropped for Reed who has barely even played in the wing position and did nothing last week to earn that spot.

There is nothing about Reed's game that suggests he can do anything more than just a 'job' on the wing and I really hope his positional play isn't as bad as I envision it to be.

Good post. It speaks volumes of Kahu's mental toughness and discipline that he can fight his way back and still be contributing in a meaningful way. I've always rated him. He's tough and deceptively strong.

The team selection wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Reed on the wing was a wtf!? but the more I think about it, I think it could work. Reed is often unwilling to pass. If he gets the ball on the wing, without having to worry about an outside man, his strength might be an advantage. Would have liked to have seen Kahu or Maranta though get a go.

Still hard to see us winning. On another note, it was interesting to read in the CM today that it was Barba's idea for the positional switch when Griffin got most of the credit. His stats in the last two games have been pretty impressive, I hope he kicks on.

 

[Foordy]

So a team with who plays out of a shithole has a 9-1 record at home and the team who plays out of the best Rugby League stadium in the world has a 4-5 record.

Go figure.

maybe because they are used to playing on a "heavy track" and under the conditions of Brookvale oval.

add that to the fact that Manly are a very good team, with the best halves combo the game has seen in years.

 

[CaptainHook]

So a team with who plays out of a ****hole has a 9-1 record at home and the team who plays out of the best Rugby League stadium in the world has a 4-5 record.

Go figure.

Yeah I know. It's not as crazy as it seems. Being one of the best stadiums in the world, opposition teams tend to produce their best performances there. It's been that way since 2003 - you'd think the Broncos would be used to it by now.

 

[Big Pete]

Visiting teams would hate going to those crappy grounds.

Meanwhile and I'm ridiculously bias but there's no bigger stage in Rugby League than Suncorp Stadium. Forget Olympic Park, everybody knows Suncorp is the best ground to go to.

I don't think it was a coincidence that the Broncos had their best home record at Suncorp when the dressing rooms were destroyed and they had to come out through the parking lot.

That...and they had a pretty damn good team.

Just like Manly do now.

 

[vertigo]

Which is why Lowrie should pull his head in, I know its only an opinion but this sort of negative attitude towards a road trip doesn't help anyone.

Embrace the shitiness of it.

 

[Big Pete]

Oh the ship has long sailed for Lowrie to be made the permanent 18th man, my friend.

Would chuckle if he drops out for Kennedy. The whole article would be akin of JT slapping Scott in the face and Smith copping the brunt of it. :laugh:

 

[Huge]

Team List: 1 Josh Hoffman2 Daniel Vidot3 Dale Copley4 Justin Hodges ©5 Jack Reed6 Ben Barba7 Ben Hunt8 Josh McGuire9 Andrew McCullough10 Corey Parker ©11 Alex Glenn12 Matt Gillett13 Sam Thaiday Interchange14 Jake Granville15 Todd Lowrie16 Ben Hannant17 Corey Oates18 Martin Kennedy

A reasonable team but I'd rather have Hannant and Kennedy start with Parker at lock. McGuire to come on for Kennedy then Lowrie for Hannant. I'd bench Thaiday until he learns to be consistent. So yeah, I'm having a whinge. Prefer Reed to stay sidelined with either Kahu or Maranta instead.

 

[rnabokov]

Are you serious? ? Reed is one of the better edge defenders we have when he's not carrying a dislocated shoulder. . Did you not see the defensive work he did on jamie lyon last game? He totally shut down their right edge!
One of the reasons he's been quiet all year is because of a **** whit choice to play Hoffman at 5/8. All year so far he's had no one creating chances for him and when the odd chance did, he wasn't quite used to it, of course he's out of form! Let's not forget his vision and line break to put barba into space last time. . And how good he was last year with hoffman. He's a tough bastard. He shows a lot of heart and character and is why hook picks him to play. Albeit in stupid positions, but he does his job for the team. Real team player. He's not had a good year like I said, but who wouldn't. Same with glenn! No real 5/8 means these guys don't get a chance to spark in attack. So they've become purely defensive players this year really. And a great job they've done too imo

Good post for mine, and I agree with the argument above for many of our players's relatively off colour performances up to now. I think most of us have said as much throughout this season anyway.

I just watched the Round 12 match highlights v Manly. I can't argue with Reed being in the side on that performance. Obviously wing is a different proposition to centre, but hey, 2 tries and great defence tells me maybe the criticism of Reed on here is a bit rich.

I suggested before that maybe Reed was put on the wing for this game to mark up on Taufua. While I like Kahu, and respect his talent, how many games has he had at the top level since returning from injury? Controlling Taufua will be no mean feat, and if Reed is in fact marking him, I think his selection is a good choice in the circumstances.

Barba also wasn't too bad in that game and assuming his evolution as a playmaker continues, and the team plays with the right attitude, I can see a win on the cards.

For mine, momentum is the key to this game. Manly wins on building it through keeping so many bodies in motion, so the plan is to disrupt it with really fast line speed in defence, while maintaining our own through quick play the balls, and I still feel Manly's edge defence is brittle under sustained pressure. This is exactly where Barba and Hunt need to focus their play making, and use our back rowers consistently on both edges.

 

[Old Mate]

Israel could've been running around 10kg's overweight and coming off a double knee reconstruction and would probably still be faster than Reed, it's not even comparable, have you seen him in Union?

I don't watch union, I'm a league fan through and through. I'm going off his last games which were with the Broncos.

 

[uptheguts]

Is this really happening.Reed getting a wing spot ahead of Vidot! He may actually get the job done in a fashion. By that I mean he may defend adequently and be there for the odd high ball.But he has zero ability to hit the ball up effectively and zero Chance of finishing off an attacking back line movement more then ten metres out from the try line. Those deficiencies alone should really disqualify him from a staring wing position.

 

[Huge]

Is this really happening.Reed getting a wing spot ahead of Vidot! He may actually get the job done in a fashion. By that I mean he may defend adequently and be there for the odd high ball.But he has zero ability to hit the ball up effectively and zero Chance of finishing off an attacking back line movement more then ten metres out from the try line. Those deficiencies alone should really disqualify him from a staring wing position.

I think Vidot is on the other wing