POST GAME Round 21 - Eels vs Broncos

[Crazy Sam]

Pearson had the worst individual game for a player I've seen this year. Gave up the first 18 points himself. Marshall with two crucial errors when he came on. Barely saw Milford all night.

Broncos need to fix its record at ANZ; three very uninspiring games there this year, probably thanks to both the poor atmosphere and slippery conditions.

 

[Super Freak]

Ma'u showed our edge forwards how to hit up the ball..

As I said before the game, Parra are a bogey team and they have a tendency to nab a win against us when we're playing them down there.

They came with a plan to frustrate us and we played the way they wanted us to play.

Quite pathetic, really.

 

[Kyall]

To be honest our first half was fairly good we just got some unlucky calls and gave away penalties. But we had a lead at halftime and I'm not sure if anyone noticed but we stopped our attack. Bennett would of said too many errors and talking defence. We should of come out guns blazing in attack. We tried to go back to trust our defence and that's not the case this year. I seen next to no offloading and second phase play. We lost all momentum when TPJ come off.

 

[talanoa]

for me the glaring issue relates to the front row, we are soft around the middle.
moose did have a quieter game last night, but he cant be expected to carry sims and blair every week and he isnt the biggest bloke around either.
as an opposition, you would look at our front row and wouldnt be to concerned that either of those 2 lads are going to put you on the back foot with any decent carries.

also - i dont know about the rest of you but i am sick to death of boyd rolling around crying and yelling at the refs like a 4yr old kid who didnt get a kinder surprise. time to grow up and just play the dam ball

 

[Kyall]

I've said for a few weeks now that nothing has impressed me about Pearson. After last night he did show potential in attack almost out running French (who is regarded as one of the fastest in the nrl) and was just brought down twice just before the line and went up for another air leaping try. But his defence is not existent especially beside Moga. His positioning is just terrible was never back to receive any kicks.

 

[Aldo]

One of the things that really dissapointed me was the lack of aggression from us following the Edwards incident. Yeah we ran in and had a bit if a scuffle when it happened but when play resumed, it was Parramatta that wanted to belt us.

We should of ran 5 flat out hitups at that prick and then kicked it to him and smashed the living shit out of him like we did Kasiano a few years back. But we were non existent. Just shows where we're at as a team at the moment.

 

[Aldo]

Milford is a shadow of the player he was and can be. He is at his best running amok and playing what he sees in front of him, not being the leading or controlling half of the team that the coach wants to transform him into.

I thought after our 2015 season we had the blueprint going forward for the next 5+ years with fast attacking, free flowing football. But the fascination with trying to clone a Cooper Cronk wannabe has basically rendered our halves as non existent fucking spectators that add very little to the team. Two running halves can work, as it did in 2015.

Looking at what's happening to Milf is just plain sad. He was one of the most damaging runners of the ball that I've seen In the 40 years I've been watching the game. He had it all. But he seems washed up and clueless already and he is only 22. That's some pretty fucked up shit right there if you ask me.

 

[2ndPhase]

I've said for a few weeks now that nothing has impressed me about Pearson. After last night he did show potential in attack almost out running French (who is regarded as one of the fastest in the nrl) and was just brought down twice just before the line and went up for another air leaping try. But his defence is not existent especially beside Moga. His positioning is just terrible was never back to receive any kicks.

I still think there is something to Pearson. I think he will eventually be elite, maybe I'm wrong. I feel for him a bit though as he has no idea how to defend beside Moga. Moga rushes up so often. Even last night Moga was lucky and managed to 'just' shutdown a handful of plays by rushing up. It wasn't completely necessary it's just his habit. There is a time and place to rush up if you know you are completely screwed and you try and shut down the play. But it just leaves Pearson with no idea. Even the try last night down the edge where Pearson was only slightly too far inside he was following Moga. And geez can he throw those bloody boots away.

 

[2ndPhase]

Pearson had the worst individual game for a player I've seen this year. Gave up the first 18 points himself. Marshall with two crucial errors when he came on. Barely saw Milford all night.

Broncos need to fix its record at ANZ; three very uninspiring games there this year, probably thanks to both the poor atmosphere and slippery conditions.

Mead still takes the cake imo.

 

[BroncosAlways]

One of the things that really dissapointed me was the lack of aggression from us following the Edwards incident. Yeah we ran in and had a bit if a scuffle when it happened but when play resumed, it was Parramatta that wanted to belt us.

We should of ran 5 flat out hitups at that prick and then kicked it to him and smashed the living shit out of him like we did Kasiano a few years back. But we were non existent. Just shows where we're at as a team at the moment.

This.

Such a huge opportunity for us to assert ourselves as well as bring that one-for-all mentality, in years past we would of done exactly that.

 

[broncsgoat]

That was really deflating. Thought we were going to rack up a big score after that start but we completely shit the bed.

 

[Big Del]

Time for a firing. Pearson gone. Sims gone. Hunt bench (while Macca injured). Moga gone. Blair a week off. Boyd needs to be told he will be fired from captain and sent to the wing if he repeats his bs including waiting for an invitation to play the ball. No patience for that crap anymore sets a poor standard for the team. Got screwed by the refs but Broncos were pathetic. Eels fired up after their grubby play while we went quiet where we're the enforcers then? Need to clear out the deadwood and chalk this up as the loss we had to have to realise what we need to do to win.

Pearson showed me enough to think the kid is going to a star if he gets an extended run . You forgot the bomb he snatched from the opposition ? He also kept running hard and threatening to split the defence even after being stiff armed and shoulder charged while on the ground . He has heart .

Absolute garbage and McCullough looks like he has done his medial ligament to boot, which may not rule him out of the season, but will at least for 4-5 weeks, which will kiss our season goodbye seeing as though Hunt can apparently only throw passes forward out of dummy half and we get pinged on all of the ...

Did you actually watch the game ? Benji was in front of the dummy half calling for the ball ...

Quality game of football and Accept is right, the Eels showed the Broncos where they have to be as a footy side. We've all seen flashes of brilliance from the Broncos, but when the game gets into the wrestle, the Broncos get overwhelmed fairly easily. It's a good thing it happened now rather than later but the loss of McCullough could really throw a spanner into the Broncos season. Not necessarily because of what he provides with ball in hand, but his defence in the middle which is among the best in the league and he's head and shoulders above anyone else in this squad.

The Eels were on fire and they can't expect to get away with some of the plays they did tonight. A couple of moments could have really backfired, unfortunately the Broncos weren't switched on.

I felt bad for Pearson tonight, that was a tough performance to watch and it will be very interesting to see how he responds.

Hunt to hooker , K Nick to #7 .

Team running 4th loses one game
That's it, fire half the team for next week, rip all there contracts up for next year and sack the captain who has just come back from injury
Yep, seems plausible .....

Back slappin fair weather supporters . It aint over till its over .

 

[Browny]

Ok, so I only watched the second half but here goes.

Our forwards were soft and didn't muscle in defence.

Offloads actually hindered us as the eels were sweating on them.

Pearson was wearing Dunlop volleys.

Dumb penalties given away as well as some soft ones.

We were obviously frustrated by the inconsistency applied to the ruck.

Shit game that hopefully is a reality check

 

[Number6]

Milford is a shadow of the player he was and can be. He is at his best running amok and playing what he sees in front of him, not being the leading or controlling half of the team that the coach wants to transform him into.

As good as he absolutely is as a leader of men, Wayne is stuck in a coaching mentality that has passed the game by years and years ago. We can't go with teams that apply constant pressure in the ruck, run hard, get quick PTB's while we refuse to wrestle, and in turn get slowed down in the ruck by the same wrestling, which the NRL has proven no willingness to do anything against.

I know Boyd has been a great servant of the club, has had a career year in 2016, and has matured in leaps and bounds, deservedly earning the captaincy. But while he can on occasion turn it on, he really isn't a match winner or someone we can rely on to regularly grab a game by the scruff of the neck, and guide the rest of the team to a win.
Which is why I find the notion that he commands close to a $1M a year, absolutely ridiculous!

Despite reaching the GF in 2015, and well aware we might not have come as far... I think that if not for Boyd as mandatory fullback, we could have looked towards the future and started building a dominant spine of:

1- Milf
6- Hunt
7- Taylor
9- Macca

Now, we might have a last chance with a good offer to Taylor, but not if we pay overs to Boyd, so we could have a spine of:

1- Kodi (Isaako/Allen as backup)
6- Milford
7- Taylor
9- Macca

No one will convince me any other spine combo with Boyd as FB would be better than either of the above, and Darius would perfectly cover our most glaring deficiency in the backline as left centre.

For the second time, Wayne is going to screw the team as a whole to reward his protégé, and potentially deny us the chance to grab the playmaker we really need...
I'm afraid this and Wayne's refusal to do what other teams do in slowing down the ruck, may well keep us away from the Holy Grail.

I am not a defeatist, because I know we have the cattle to turn it on and make a dent, and I really hope I am wrong about the above, but I am absolutely certain we could be better coached. 2015 really was the exception that confirms the rule, and unfortunately obfuscated the obvious...

P.S. Bring on the hate lads!

My thoughts for years. Boyd is very good but not superstar class that you build a team around and risk disrupting the future like a JT or Lockyer. He has never been that fast or strong at breaking tackles and he won't get better at this with age. Appreciate his maturity but f*** he can be a pork chop with his whinging and slowing down the game.

1. Milford
2. Oates
3. Roberts
4. Boyd
5. Kahu
6. KNik
7. Taylor

That is affordable with the cap and TPAs. Especially if we kept Taylor and didn't give the farm away for free - Titans are little b**ches who deserve no favours, they are not a QLD team.

 

[_wwong]

Our left side defence and attack is atrocious this year and no way is it going to win us any premierships. I agree that Boyd isn't providing enough speed at fullback and since he likes defending in the line so much I'd be happy for him to move into that left centre spot. Can bird play fullback by the way?

 

[Unbreakable]

Great news, I thought it was an ACL for sure watching it live.

 

[meady]

Great news, I thought it was an ACL for sure watching it live.

For all money i thought it was acl

 

[Allo]

for me the glaring issue relates to the front row, we are soft around the middle.
moose did have a quieter game last night, but he cant be expected to carry sims and blair every week and he isnt the biggest bloke around either.
as an opposition, you would look at our front row and wouldnt be to concerned that either of those 2 lads are going to put you on the back foot with any decent carries.

also - i dont know about the rest of you but i am sick to death of boyd rolling around crying and yelling at the refs like a 4yr old kid who didnt get a kinder surprise. time to grow up and just play the dam ball

This was the main reason why I didn't like losing Herman. Never got enough time on the field to convince others on here that he was/is a quality prop. Sims has been underwhelming. He just doesn't make metres

Boyd needs to pick his game up in a lot of areas. Funnily the only thing that has improved is his kick returns where he's actually taking the hitup and not being a cat anymore. I understand his frustration sometimes when we aren't getting a fair ruck policing, but it still happens way too often.

I think we're just a slow team. We don't have anyone thrashing around in the tackle trying to get out of it. That seems to be where we're getting penalised lately when teams do it to us. We lumber through our sets and are getting nowhere.