Round 3 - Knights vs Broncos - Post Match Discussion

[Broncoman]

Our ball handling was poor and thats what kept Newcastle in the game. Corey Norman showed improvement which is a huge boost for the guys. Overral I'm happy with the win but there is still some work to do. PS I changed my tip from Newcastle to Broncos as I still had faith in the guys.

 

[Bull Shark]

That effort from Hannant on Newcastle's second try .... that symbolises Broncos culture imo and it's why the club is successful every season ..

 

[Porthoz]

Broncos so dominant defensively and in the go forward, only to ruin everything through silly mistakes in attack. This game should've easily been won by 40+ and put to bed at half time.

The Knights were surprisingly bad though, and I couldn't believe how easily our forwards marched over the Knights front line.

Still some positives to take out of the game... our pack is relentless and despite the errors, the team breathes class.

Hannant (fantastic effort on the McManus try) and McGuire are tireless workers and Petero is still proving he's amongst the elite props.
There is no better second row in the competition, even after we lost Parker! Glenn, Te'o and Thaiday were at their best defensively, although still lacking something in attack, but that can't be said for Gillett... What an awesome player to have on the bench and wreak havoc and murder on the paddock after about 25 minutes!

Macca needs to start the games as well as he finishes them, while Hunt really sparks up the team when he comes in fresh for Macca.

Wallace didn't play badly at all, he's directing the team well, doing plenty of work in the ruck and is starting to take ownership of the team. His decision making is improving with each game, as are his attacking movements. In fact that pass to start Beale's try was all class! Norman just needs to believe more in himself and his instincts. Much better second half from him.

Hodges is at the best form I've seen in a long time. Like Sterlo said, they know he's going to throw the dummy... then he throws the dummy and still beats them! :haha:

Reed was okay, but is not at his explosive best. Last year, he would have scored at least 2 tries off those bombs.

Yow Yeh looked clearly underdone and the fact he couldn't keep up with McManus during his try says a lot really. Beale scored a good try, offered another. Same old story... He is not a winger!

Hoffman is just fantastic at the back and will hopefully be our custodian for a long time to come.

We just need to control the ball better to become a genuine headache for any team in the comp imo.

3- Hannant
2- Gillett
1- Hoffman

 

[Coxy]

While I loved Hannant's chase, it was very weak to see Hodges and Yow Yeh completely give it up with 20m to go. They weren't going to get him, but the idea is to not give up, make him score out wider. Benny did that, although they still landed the kick.

Expected better from those two.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Yow Yeh clearly carrying some sort of injury I thought.

 

[ethos]

Ugly match and the Broncos side of last year (a Broncos side plus Locky) would have had 5 or 6 tries by halftime.

Nonetheless though, as Big Peter said, I'm pretty happy with where we are after three games. Two scrappy wins built on defence and a match that we should have wrapped up in the final few minutes.

That was one of Gillett's best games in a long time. Great to see him hitting some holes on the fringes, as opposed to that whole dancing before the line thing that crept into his game recently.

And while he had a good game, safe under the high ball and dangerous on the kick returns etc, I still think we need a little more out of Hoffman. If you look at some of the other top notch fullbacks in the game, they're all really good support players - I don't think he has that in his game quite yet. He'll make a kick return and then hang around behind the play. He needs to be pushing forward more expecting an offload because we've actually got guys like Te'o, Gillett and even Civ who can get the ball out in a tackle.

 

[rnabokov]

Ugly match and the Broncos side of last year (a Broncos side plus Locky) would have had 5 or 6 tries by halftime.

Nonetheless though, as Big Peter said, I'm pretty happy with where we are after three games. Two scrappy wins built on defence and a match that we should have wrapped up in the final few minutes.

That was one of Gillett's best games in a long time. Great to see him hitting some holes on the fringes, as opposed to that whole dancing before the line thing that crept into his game recently.

And while he had a good game, safe under the high ball and dangerous on the kick returns etc, I still think we need a little more out of Hoffman. If you look at some of the other top notch fullbacks in the game, they're all really good support players - I don't think he has that in his game quite yet. He'll make a kick return and then hang around behind the play. He needs to be pushing forward more expecting an offload because we've actually got guys like Te'o, Gillett and even Civ who can get the ball out in a tackle.

Yes. Hoffman and Gillett are 2 game breakers, and while it's one thing for a player to fire up individually, its also important for the game plan to have the plays set up to create the opportunities. That play with Macca (or any dummy half) and Gillett should be a regular set play. I remember Lockyer and Gillett combined similarly last year to good effect.

For mine, Gillett's "dancing behind the line" thingy was more that he got the ball without any structure to the play and he tried to create his own opportunity. While that's always going to happen in any game, I want to see more rehearsed set plays like the one last night. Give him some space, I reckon Gillett will break the line 8 out of 10 times.

I actually thought Hoffman came up into the line a lot more than his previous efforts and I hope Hook keeps working on that part of his game.

I also thought the support play last night is also improving, and the attack overall was much less ad hoc. The next job is to learn how to finish and get the points.

 

[Dexter]

Gillett was fantastic especially in D some those hits which dislodged the ball were all class. Overall it was just a win.

I hope Griffin can coach a bit more into the team other than dummy half and 1 off runs. I know it's early days and necessary at times but we overdo it and when someone does make a half break there is no support because all we are going for is mtrs and quick play the ball.

Agree with ethos on Hoffman, he really needs to work on who to support and be ready to back up.

I thought Norman took a little step forward again last night, and kudos to Wallace, I have bagged him heaps in the past but this year he has been very good.

 

[ethos]

I thought Norman took a little step forward again last night.

Yeah me too. Seemed to have a lot of time with the ball in hand. Although his attempted tackle on Uate in the first half was terrible. All he did was take a slap at the ball. Uate is a human wrecking ball but in the NRL you have to put your body on the line in that situation.

 

[Crazy Sam]

Hoffman made some outstanding takes in the air last night. So much more confident when he goes up than Beale.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Hoffman was superb under the high ball.

 

[Kaz]

I have a question.

The kick leading up to James McNanus scoring.

I think, it was Tahu who knocked it back.

McManus was just in goal & it looked like he caught the ball with his foot on the ground. (I have replayed it a few times & the vision isn't clear)

If his foot was on the ground, which I think it was, why wasn't it a 20 metre tap.

What is the rule about Tahu knocking it back & McManus catching it. (I am having a blonde moment, ok week)

 

[Porthoz]

I have a question.

The kick leading up to James McNanus scoring.

I think, it was Tahu who knocked it back.

McManus was just in goal & it looked like he caught the ball with his foot on the ground. (I have replayed it a few times & the vision isn't clear)

If his foot was on the ground, which I think it was, why wasn't it a 20 metre tap.

What is the rule about Tahu knocking it back & McManus catching it. (I am having a blonde moment, ok week)

If his foot was in the in goal area, it's a mandatory 20m tap.

 

[Kaz]

Thanks.

 

[schmix]

On the wing that is. Beale was great last year at FB catching the bombs.

That is what's so curious about Beale. I can understand if he has trouble defending on the wing, or even attacking (though that is less of an issue with him), but why can't he catch bombs?? I wouldn't put him in Hunt or Hoffman's league in terms of safety at the back but he was a hell of a lot better than he is on the wing.

Maybe there is an actual reason for this that I wouldn't know because I've never played, but I suspect it's just psychological. We've all seen a fullback drop a kick in the early parts of a game and go on to drop several more. It seems like fielding bombs is a real confidence thing, and maybe Beale just goes into games on the wing assuming that he'll play crap?

 

[Steve]

Aside from the dropped ball and poor finishing it was a good performance. One try conceded through the line and the other was a length of the field effort - pretty happy about that.

Pretty happy with Norman's progress. He should at least keep the 6 until round 10. Benny Hannant MOM by a country mile.

Oh and for those blowing up at missing the Knight first try cause we were in an ad break - probably won't be the last time that happens given the ARLC is looking for opportunities for more commercial breaks. It makes sense financially but it's diabolical from the fans point of view. Mind you it was a quick tap - don't think I can remember missing a try due to an inopportune add break.

 

[Kaz]

Oh and for those blowing up at missing the Knight first try cause we were in an ad break - probably won't be the last time that happens given the ARLC is looking for opportunities for more commercial breaks. It makes sense financially but it's diabolical from the fans point of view. Mind you it was a quick tap - don't think I can remember missing a try due to an inopportune add break.

The extra ads will happen when a player is hurt or a kick for goal.

Years ago, when channel 9 cut the games down to about an hour, they completely cut out a try.

Game went to the ads & came back & the score had changed by 6 points. :lol:

 

[Coxy]

Aside from the dropped ball and poor finishing it was a good performance. One try conceded through the line and the other was a length of the field effort - pretty happy about that.

yep, and that one try they got around us because a) the Broncos didn't react to the sudden recovery of the Knights player who went down injured the previous play, and b) a bad decision by Beale on the wing.