PRE-GAME Round 3 - Broncos vs Bulldogs

[BroncsFan]

So is he going to be playing Ball Playing Lock(3rd Playmaker)? or Kevvie ready to hook one of the halves, Turpin has really stepped up this year and become an 80 min hooker so that is covered.

I think he'll be used as the ball playing lock... and may give Turps a spell.

Round 1 when Asiata was fit he was a key link in getting the ball across the field. I think Dearden will provide a similar skill set.

Anticipating a dry track for a Saturday arvo game... so the game plan may revolve around a lot of ball movement and Dearden is robust enough to defend in the middle compared to Croft or Milf.

Knowing our luck what will actually happen is Turps will probs get injured 2min into the game and Dearden will be forced to play 80min at hooker, and we will lose an ball playing ability through the middle of the field

 

[BroncoFan94]

In other news Chris Garry saying Dearden off the bench has been confirmed.

Very curious how he is used but if it is as a traditional utility or for limited minutes I will be that off Kev.

That is literally so stupid. That is more Seibold type of levels stupid. Either leave the kid in Q-Cup or quite frankly he should've been in the starting side since round 1 over Croft who has shown he is not the halfback we need and Dearden showed more talent last year than all of the games Croft has played. How that bloke has managed to fool coaches into believing he is this great organiser when he is clearly not. Also agree Milford is just as bad as Croft.

 

[theshed]

Makes sense to me , both our halves played crap last week. This is the best way to try and get the best out of them, to me it says that you have to perform or your gone . And if we have to ride the game out like last week we're going to lose, at least this gives another option on the run and someone to give Turpin a break if anything else.

It doesn’t really though. It says perform or we’ll interrupt a 19 year olds development to play bench hooker. If he really wanted to send that message one of either Croft or Milford would be benched or dropped. All this does is **** over Dearden.

I will hold judgement until we see exactly how Kev plays his cards, but I do not like what it appears to be on the surface.

 

[Mustafur]

Can Dearden play for Logan if he does this game in say limited mins?

Really think he should of used Gamble for this role though, you don't want to interfere with Deardens development he really needs to stay in ISC to beat some teams, although this is probably one of our best chances to actually win.

 

[pagey]

It doesn’t really though. It says perform or we’ll interrupt a 19 year olds development to play bench hooker. If he really wanted to send that message one of either Croft or Milford would be benched or dropped. All this does is **** over Dearden.

I will hold judgement until we see exactly how Kev plays his cards, but I do not like what it appears to be on the surface.

How does getting some time in NRL **** his development ? I very much doubt he'll be used against Melbourne, but to put him in against the dogs is only going to be good for him.

 

[pagey]

Can Dearden play for Logan if he does this game in say limited mins?

Really think he should of used Gamble for this role though, you don't want to interfere with Deardens development he really needs to stay in ISC to beat some teams, although this is probably one of our best chances to actually win.

I think it's been mentioned that over 15 minutes and he can't, not 100% but

 

[Finbar]

I just think he gets nit picked to death on here.

It's fair enough too, considering he's our highest paid player who consistently underperforms.

 

[Mustafur]

How does getting some time in NRL **** his development ? I very much doubt he'll be used against Melbourne, but to put him in against the dogs is only going to be good for him.

The idea of a young kid playing around players that lack confidence and are losers in general can definitely hurt a player in their key development years, even if it's a higher quality game.

 

[theshed]

How does getting some time in NRL **** his development ? I very much doubt he'll be used against Melbourne, but to put him in against the dogs is only going to be good for him.

Because he will be playing short minutes out of position in a struggling team when he could be playing 80 minutes in his actual position in a team that isn’t so bad that it’s hard for him to practice certain parts of his game.

 

[1910]

If Dearden plays a short spell tonight does that rule him out playing a QCup game this week?

What's the point in letting Dearden start the season to QCup to work on his game just to put him on the bench for short stints instead? Learning to dominate the lower grades will do much more for his development than a few minutes at a position he's never going to play.

Souths play Sunday. You can play both ISC and NRL in a weekend as long as NRL is first and you play limited time. Perese did it two years ago.

 

[rnabokov]

For mine, it's literally D-Day for either Croft or Milford.

 

[pagey]

The idea of a young kid playing around players that lack confidence and are losers in general can definitely hurt a player in their key development years, even if it's a higher quality game.

Don't you think last year would've broken him if he's that fragile.

 

[pagey]

Because he will be playing short minutes out of position in a struggling team when he could be playing 80 minutes in his actual position in a team that isn’t so bad that it’s hard for him to practice certain parts of his game.

Or he could be playing both

 

[Huge]

Yup it's at the point though I think people are deathriding him. ****, I know what a deathride is as I did it to Pies all last year.

Milfs time is running out though, in that his contract literally is about to expire. And he's going to need to go on a hell of a tear to earn a new contract.

Your man Milford has a hamstring issue. Rewatch the last game. I think you'll spot it somewhere in the first 10 minutes of the second half if you watch closely. I believe he had troubles accelerating from that point on. I don't forgive his non tackling though, that's been happening for years. I do however think it's fair to point out I believe he's playing injured and knows full well his future is bleak(football wise only).

Mind you, if he had brains and or good advice he should never have to work again in any capacity. I fucking know I wouldn't have to if I'd received his wage for the last 8 years.

 

[theshed]

Or he could be playing both

Yep, this is why each of my posts had the disclaimer that it depends on how Walters uses him. I’m holding off judgment until after the round (and on a bigger picture, until the end of the year) but I’m simply raising my potential concerns.

We will see.

 

[Mr Fourex]

I don't forgive his non tackling though, that's been happening for years. I do however think it's fair to point out I believe he's playing injured and knows full well his future is bleak(football wise only).

I thought similar about him pulling up early during the first half.

re tackling. I realise that in todays game, it doesn't matter about a small man missing tackles against large backrowers running at him. He's playing first grade ...he's expected to make every tackle.

I'm assuming we all recall that Darren Lockyer also struggled big time when he moved from the fullback position to the front line when he switched to no.6. In some ways he was worse than Milford. I'm pretty sure that Bennett circumvented that for the most part by planting Toni Carrol near to Locky. That gave the opposition forwads something to think about......and served as cover for Locky.

I can't recall us ever trying a similar tactic for Milford....?

 

[Big Pete]

I have to agree with you theshed, the decision to have Dearden come onto the bench seems straight out of the Seibold playbook. In fact, that's exactly what he did last year against similar opposition and both teams it blew up in his face.

At least on that occasion, it made some sense since Dearden was coming in after playing virtually no football and they were must-win games, so easing him into the game as opposed to dumping all that pressure on him made sense. Plus the dummy halves stocks were that low he had little choice, it was down to Dearden or Hetherington.

Dearden should have been the 7 from the start, with Croft as back-up. Now they're making these half-hearted selections in do or die games where key players are being asked to play out of position. Hopefully, the game doesn't come down to a relief hooker but right now I have no faith in this team.

 

[PNG Broncos fan88]

The idea of a young kid playing around players that lack confidence and are losers in general can definitely hurt a player in their key development years, even if it's a higher quality game.

Well Dearden has lost the last 11 games of last year and is in the 'lack of confidence/loser' player mould already.
Croft has started off with 2, shouldn't he be afforded another 9 losses to prove he not that terrible yet.