Round 23 - Bulldogs vs Broncos - Post Match Discussion

[Big Pete]

I call shenanigans on Archer not being able to change his mind. How many times have you heard the whistle blown only for the decision to be reversed moments later?

That was crucial and it f**king sucks!

 

[Bucking Beads]

I don't want to say anything that's going to make some of the kock-eyed optimists here start running around humping bits of furniture but today's game had some rather eerie similarities to a similar situation in 2006.

Just like today, in 06' the Broncos were off a bad loss in Canberra (their 3rd or 4th on the trot) and played the hottest team in the comp at the time (the Storm), scored a couple of early tries and led 12-0 before getting run down in the second half. But it was a performance that (despite the eventual result) was a real tonic for the team's self belief .. and we all know what happened a few weeks later ..

Today was a virtual replica of that day in 06' ....

I half agree with you. I guess we will know how the self belief is traveling on Friday against the Storm

 

[jarro65]

I'm fairly happy with how we played, apart from a few mistakes .... but we'll always make those i'd expect.

Enthusiasm in defense was the key for me. We really stuck it to the Dogs early and it upset them a lot :thumbup1:

If we can keep the 'D' we can roll the Storm or Manly.

It's all about attitude.

 

[rnabokov]

I'm fairly happy with how we played, apart from a few mistakes .... but we'll always make those i'd expect.

Enthusiasm in defense was the key for me. We really stuck it to the Dogs early and it upset them a lot :thumbup1:

If we can keep the 'D' we can roll the Storm or Manly.

It's all about attitude.

...in defence ... and passing the damn ball

 

[jarro65]

...in defence ... and passing the damn ball

Yep ... gotta move that pill across the line just as we get to it.

Petero threw a pearler of a pass yesterday just as he was about to get tackled .... drew in three defenders.

At least the message has been relayed to the players .... they just have to make sure they keep it up for the entire 80 minutes i guess.

 

[Steve]

I don't want to say anything that's going to make some of the kock-eyed optimists here start running around humping bits of furniture but today's game had some rather eerie similarities to a similar situation in 2006.

Just like today, in 06' the Broncos were off a bad loss in Canberra (their 3rd or 4th on the trot) and played the hottest team in the comp at the time (the Storm), scored a couple of early tries and led 12-0 before getting run down in the second half. But it was a performance that (despite the eventual result) was a real tonic for the team's self belief .. and we all know what happened a few weeks later ..

Today was a virtual replica of that day in 06' ....

Funny I was thinking the same thing.

With just one performance we're in a much better space than we were this time last weekend. I'm expecting us to keep building against Melbourne. I don't think we're good enough to win but if we replicate a lot of the things we did in the first 20 minutes of yesterday's game we'll test them. Need to do what the Gold Coast did in the first half on Friday night. Relentless hard running up the middle really tires their players out. It has to be our approach for this week.

 

[broncos4life]

He used to say that about Manly & it was the same result.

Sad part is, refs play into his hands.

The refs did the same thing to us, what Des was complaining about last week. And we will cop it on the chin.

I am usually pretty easy on the refs, but yesterday was disgraceful, I would go as far as to say it was cheating. I'm nearly always happy and proud that we have a coach that doesnt whinge like a stuck pig about the refs after each game, but I must admit I wish hook and said something yesterday, because they were beyond ridiculous. The refs never get reprimanded anyway, so it feels like they are just laughing in the face of every NRL supporter week in and week out...

 

[broncos4life]

i am one who would normally HATE to blame refs. i dont like it. but today it was rubbish. and as its been pointed out was a direct result of WHO WAS PLAYING and more importantly THEIR COACH.

yes we could of put more tries on. yes we could of won the game toward the end. but we're at a point in our season where we are struggling and to have the refs blatantly throw away our 14 point lead just stinks imo.

you can bet ya ****in money if that was barba going over the line at the end instead of wallace they would of awarded it a try (even though it was PROBABLY trivial at that point).

that decision where the ref instantly blew a penalty then straight away said I CANT CHANGE IT NOW had me fuming. YOU CAN CHANGE IT.

Exactly! it happens every f***ing week. Name a week when we have not seen a penalty awarded and then reversed. We constantly hear that Archer is our most experienced ref but he apparently doesn't know that you can reverse a penalty? please. What s**** me the most is there is only 2 possible scenarios for what Archer did.

1. He actually genuinely did not realise that he could reverse a penalty, our apparent most experience ref did not realise one of the most basic rules that is applied weekly. If this is the case god help us, our game is in even more trouble than we realise.

2. Archer put his house on the dogs thinking they would be an absolute certainty, and seeing the possibility of losing everything decided to take things into his own hands.

I actually hope that it was number 2

 

[broncos4life]

i'd like to commend lachlan maranta. he's been outstanding. was tested a few times today and came up trumps every time.

here here. He hasn't missed a beat since being given his chance, and dead set never stops trying, I couldn't be more impressed.

 

[broncos4life]

I don't want to say anything that's going to make some of the kock-eyed optimists here start running around humping bits of furniture but today's game had some rather eerie similarities to a similar situation in 2006.

Just like today, in 06' the Broncos were off a bad loss in Canberra (their 3rd or 4th on the trot) and played the hottest team in the comp at the time (the Storm), scored a couple of early tries and led 12-0 before getting run down in the second half. But it was a performance that (despite the eventual result) was a real tonic for the team's self belief .. and we all know what happened a few weeks later ..

Today was a virtual replica of that day in 06' ....

But I read your last paragraph first so I have already humped all the furniture, dammit.

In all seriousness though I have thought the same thing, it feels very 2006. I'm not saying we are gonna win the comp this year but we are also far from done. They would have gained a lot of confidence out of today's game, and to sum it up I think Bellemy would have hated what he saw today.

 

[subsbligh]

I think this game shows exactly where the team is at psychologically.

They put the effort in for the first 20, got the rewards, rested on their laurels a bit and as soon as they were met with some adversity, the negative thoughts creep in and all of a sudden the situation that turns from "geez we've done well for this 36 minutes to keep the premiership favourites to nil" to "can we hold on here for 44 minutes at 14-6".

The Broncs went into their shell and couldn't capitalise on their early

Hodges was great, showed his class/leadership.

Poor old Wallace. He is geting comically smashed every week. Putting his body on the line week in week out. Absolutely committed, I'll give him that. But unfortunately, nothing is going right for the bloke.

Even with a bit of luck on our side (getting away with a 14 point lead) and the Bulldogs basically stuffing up every opportunity given to them and also making buckets of mistakes we still couldn't put them away.

 

[Bull Shark]

I half agree with you. I guess we will know how the self belief is traveling on Friday against the Storm

yes.

 

[subsbligh]

Exactly! it happens every f***ing week. Name a week when we have not seen a penalty awarded and then reversed. We constantly hear that Archer is our most experienced ref but he apparently doesn't know that you can reverse a penalty? please. What s**** me the most is there is only 2 possible scenarios for what Archer did.

1. He actually genuinely did not realise that he could reverse a penalty, our apparent most experience ref did not realise one of the most basic rules that is applied weekly. If this is the case god help us, our game is in even more trouble than we realise.

2. Archer put his house on the dogs thinking they would be an absolute certainty, and seeing the possibility of losing everything decided to take things into his own hands.

I actually hope that it was number 2

I think it's actually 3. That the referees don't want to open the floodgates. Can you imagine if the players knew that certain referees routinley reversed decisions?

Once they've made the call it sticks, for better or worse

 

[noisetheory]

i wish gillett would turn it around, but geez.. official stats: matt gillett - 4 errors, 11 runs for 67 metres, 11 missed tackles.

 

[broncos4life]

I think it's actually 3. That the referees don't want to open the floodgates. Can you imagine if the players knew that certain referees routinley reversed decisions?

Once they've made the call it sticks, for better or worse

I don't believe that's true, we routinely see decisions reversed.

 

[Harby]

Well played guys, had us under the pump in the first half. In the first 20 or so minutes we had only completed 2 from 5 while you guys had completed 10 from 10, but once we started completing our sets and held onto the ball a bit more we put some points on you guys. Refs were bad for both sides me thinks, some inconsistencies on some rulings. Unfortunate that Jack Reed was penalised for something that was our players fault. Thought you could have made some better fifth tackle options, if i recall correctly Brisbane were caught on the fifth tackle with the ball. And it was unlucky for Norman? at the back in regards to Barba's try, the bounce of the ball got the better of him. Hope to meet you guys in the Finals when you have both Parker and Glenn back and we have Graham, Kasiano and Halatau, should be a great match.

 

[IBA]

Thanks Harby. I'm still pretty happy with the game. Dogs are the team of the comp at the moment and that game hung in the balance for ages. That Barba is a genuine freak. In the good way.

Can I also point out that most attacking 5th tackle options went to Hunt, rather than Wallace and we still ended up getting caught with the ball or not looking like we know what we're doing. Just re-enforces to me that it is a team issue, not a single players fault. Players have to know what they are doing off the ball, they're not chess pieces waiting to be moved. It went well for the first 30 odd minutes when the forwards were fresh and moving, but we tired quickly and no longer had players in motion creating opportunities for our play makers.

 

[gUt]

Thanks mate, the Dogs were clearly the better side over 80 minutes and you're going to take some stopping when you're back at full strength.