PRE-GAME Round 22 - Dragons vs Broncos

[Big Pete]

NRL - Round 22
Thursday, 4 of August, 2016

1. Adam Quinlan 2. Kurt Mann 3. Euan Aitken 4. Taane Milne 5. Jason Nightingale 6. Gareth Widdop 7. Benji Marshall 8. Russell Packer 9. Mitch Rein 10. Michael Cooper 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Will Matthews 13. Jack de Belin 14. Tariq Sims 16. Jacob Host 17. Jake Marketo 19. Tyrone McCarthy	1. Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. Tom Opacic 4. James Roberts 5. Lachlan Maranta 6. Anthony Milford 7. Ben Hunt 8. Josh McGuire 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Adam Blair 11. Sam Thaiday 12. Matt Gillett 13. Corey Parker (c) 14. Jarrod Wallace 15. Tevita Pangai Junior 16. Jai Arrow 17. Alex Glenn
Coach: Paul McGregor	Coach: Wayne Bennett
Referees: Ben Cummins, Dave Munro Sideline Officials: Nick Beashel, Dave Ryan Video Referees: Bernard Sutton, Steve Chiddy, Luke Patten	Venue: WIN Stadium Kick-Off: 7:50pm Broadcast: Channel 9 & Fox Sports 1

 

[Big Pete]

McGuire, Gillett, Thaiday, Kahu and Eden are due back.

Nikorima should be right for the Eels game.

I haven't heard any injuries reported from last night's game.

Anyway you slice it, those returns will definitely help.

 

[Pushkin]

If Kahu available for next game, he should on wings position not centre. Opacic need to be in the team over maranta and Eden.

 

[austin71]

I thought we agreed to never mention the name Eden again? lol

 

[Unbreakable]

1. Roberts
2. Oates
3. Opacic
4. Seve
5. Kahu
6. Boyd
7. Hunt
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Blair
11. Glenn
12. Gillett
13. Parker (c)

14. Milford
15. Thaiday
16. Pangai Jr
17. Ese'ese

Time for a big fat rocket up the ass of Milford, would also like to see some more touches from Roberts & Boyd, which this will achieve.

 

[Super Freak]

Is Bennett finally going to end his losing streak against the Dragons in Sydney?

6 straight losses. The last win being in 2005.

2 wins from the last 10 games.

It seems no matter what side Bennett takes down there, the Dragons find a way to win.

I hope we don't get into a grinding match, because I question their commitment to their defence.

I want to see an up tempo game. I want to see them throw the ball around and test the Dragons defence which is just as fragile as ours.

 

[1910]

1. Roberts
2. Oates
3. Opacic
4. Seve
5. Kahu
6. Boyd
7. Hunt
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Blair
11. Glenn
12. Gillett
13. Parker (c)

14. Milford
15. Thaiday
16. Pangai Jr
17. Ese'ese

Time for a big fat rocket up the ass of Milford, would also like to see some more touches from Roberts & Boyd, which this will achieve.

How do you get Milford into the game; take off Boyd or Roberts? Also is Roberts going to be able to organise the defence like Boyd? How will Boyd go making 30 tackles not 3?

I think you'd be weakening the defence and giving them a bigger spot player.

 

[Mr Fourex]

I see what you're getting at......ridiculous changes, I agree.

 

[mrslong]

If we're going to make big changes it would need to be Boyd and Milford a straight swap.

 

[Super Freak]

I'm not sure what difference Boyd would make.

He has been trialed at 5/8, and IIRC, he wasn't exactly good..

 

[mrslong]

The point would be more to get Milford out of the front line and let him pick and choose his time to chime in. I'm not really convinced we need a change, but just saying if we did change ala Hodgo 2006 that would be the move to make.

 

[Unbreakable]

How do you get Milford into the game; take off Boyd or Roberts?

How do we get Nikorima into the game? He's certainly not a hooker, just throw him on there in any position and tell him to run the ball.

Also is Roberts going to be able to organise the defence like Boyd?

Not sure what defence you're referring to, have you seen the scorelines from the last month?

How will Boyd go making 30 tackles not 3?

Milford averages 11 tackles a game at Five-Eighth, so I'm not sure where you're fabricating that figure from.

 

[Danoz Direct]

1. Roberts
2. Oates
3. Opacic
4. Seve
5. Kahu
6. Boyd
7. Hunt
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Blair
11. Glenn
12. Gillett
13. Parker (c)

14. Milford
15. Thaiday
16. Pangai Jr
17. Ese'ese

Time for a big fat rocket up the ass of Milford, would also like to see some more touches from Roberts & Boyd, which this will achieve.

Ridiculous changes. Wouldn't help our causes what so ever. It isn't the people playing in the backline that is the problem, it is the style of football they are deciding to play that is the problem.

Hopefully Kevie Walters can get them player direct and linking up like they were last year, creating more space for others in the backline.

 

[broncsgoat]

We'll win by 20...

 

[Unbreakable]

Ridiculous changes. Wouldn't help our causes what so ever. It isn't the people playing in the backline that is the problem, it is the style of football they are deciding to play that is the problem.

Hopefully Kevie Walters can get them player direct and linking up like they were last year, creating more space for others in the backline.

I know it's not the people in the backline that are the problem, hence why I didn't suggest we drop anyone except Maranta..

The change would be purely to send a message to Milford and to at least experiment for a week or two with Roberts, to see if we've got anything there after Boyd eventually retires / slows down.

It's not like there's anything on the line, we aren't risking anything, we're going to slot into the 7th/8th seed in the finals and lose in Week 1, we may as well at least test some new players / line-ups out for future benefit.

 

[1910]

How do we get Nikorima into the game? He's certainly not a hooker, just throw him on there in any position and tell him to run the ball.



Not sure what defence you're referring to, have you seen the scorelines from the last month?



Milford averages 11 tackles a game at Five-Eighth, so I'm not sure where you're fabricating that figure from.

Nikorima can play dummy half and has done a good job.

At the moment the defence is terrible but that doesn't mean Boyd isn't organising it or good at it. It means it is bad at the moment. Doesn't also mean Roberts is going to fix the defence. I would say you stand more chance of fixing the defence mess with the Queensland and Australian fullback who is excellent at it.

Sorry I wasn't aware defensive loads were capped and couldn't go passed 11. No coach would say if Boyd is in the front line let's load him up and make him make 30 tackles- never happen. I would make Boyd do the work because you've just taken out two attacking weapons- Boyd is gone from defence and Milford is sitting on the bench,

What happened with Lockyer got moved to 6 again?
When Hunt played 6 in Origin how many tackles did he make?

 

[Unbreakable]

Nikorima can play dummy half and has done a good job.

At the moment the defence is terrible but that doesn't mean Boyd isn't organising it or good at it. It means it is bad at the moment. Doesn't also mean Roberts is going to fix the defence. I would say you stand more chance of fixing the defence mess with the Queensland and Australian fullback who is excellent at it.

Sorry I wasn't aware defensive loads were capped and couldn't go passed 11. No coach would say if Boyd is in the front line let's load him up and make him make 30 tackles- never happen. I would make Boyd do the work because you've just taken out two attacking weapons- Boyd is gone from defence and Milford is sitting on the bench,

What happened with Lockyer got moved to 6 again?

All of your points are completely invalid, you said it yourself, our defence is non-existent right now because of internal issues (presumably), so we may as well experiment with some new line-ups and players, we aren't going to win games with the current defensive attitude.

There was some suggestion that Roberts may be groomed as a future Fullback once Boyd moves on, I can't think of a better time to get him a couple of games there, whilst that would also give Milford some self-reflection time sitting on the bench. (Wouldn't be against giving Hunt some of the same, but we've got literally nobody who can play Halfback)

 

[Danoz Direct]

I know it's not the people in the backline that are the problem, hence why I didn't suggest we drop anyone except Maranta..

The change would be purely to send a message to Milford and to at least experiment for a week or two with Roberts, to see if we've got anything there after Boyd eventually retires / slows down.

It's not like there's anything on the line, we aren't risking anything, we're going to slot into the 7th/8th seed in the finals and lose in Week 1, we may as well at least test some new players / line-ups out for future benefit.

We may not even make the finals if we keep losing... I think we should still aim for a grand final win this year personally. Isn't that the kind of attitude you want from the team? A team that even though it looks hopeless are able to fight their way back to form? I know it is unlikely, but I still think we should be focusing on getting our form back THIS YEAR and trying to get to and win the grand final THIS YEAR.

I know it is extremely unlikely we could salvage this season into a grand final winning season, but I would just like to see the guys really giving it their all and hopefully Kevie can tweak the way we attack and then we can start winning again.