Round 4 - Broncos v Dragons - Pre Game Discussion

[Old Mate]

His playmaking at fullback is infinitely better than anything Hoffman has ever done, in that regard it makes more sense to play him there than Hoffman who looks incredibly unnatural. But I do agree, Hodges shouldn't be there.

 

[broncos4life]

BHQ will go into meltdown if that happens.

I'll storm red hill

 

[Old Mate]

Hodges at 6 is just as bad, if not worse than hoffman there. Hodges is not a play maker. I hate that people seem to think five eighth is just a place you throw a good player that u cant fit elsewhere. Teams have tried with Inglis, Hayne, Wighton, Harrison with little to no success and we are currently trying with hoffman. Hodges is a centre or fullback, thats it

And we'll soon be trying with Milford or Barba.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

And we'll soon be trying with Milford or Barba.

Yeh thats right. It worries me that we are stifling barba, and will very soon be stifling milford. The article the other day where barba says he doesnt get to roam as much as he used to because we have inexperienced halves really worried me. He admits he has to play a lot more structured at the broncos and i just dont think barba and especially milford can flourish under those conditions. I have genuine concerns Milford will come to us as one of the best in the game, and once he is here, he will become the victim of our rigid structure and defensive mindset

 

[broncos4life]

Yeh thats right. It worries me that we are stifling barba, and will very soon be stifling milford. The article the other day where barba says he doesnt get to roam as much as he used to because we have inexperienced halves really worried me. He admits he has to play a lot more structured at the broncos and i just dont think barba and especially milford can flourish under those conditions. I have genuine concerns Milford will come to us as one of the best in the game, and once he is here, he will become the victim of our rigid structure and defensive mindset

As you have pointed out in your own post the reason Barba has to play different this year is because he has to do far more playmaking because he is carrying Hoffman in that department, that won't be next year with Milford. Also, why is having structure a bad thing? How many unstructured teams have won the comp? Once Barba doesn't have to do so much playmaking he will be more free to roam

 

[Sproj]

Barba and Milf roaming and playmaking when they please is exciting!

 

[noisetheory]

I agree. The only thing we can say at this stage is that we can be competitive. Our attack must improve heaps.. The Dragons deserve to be favourites for this match.

we have improved with each game so far, i see no reason for that to continue.

dragons deserve to be slight favourites i agree. no reason we cant beat them.

i get the feeling barba will stand up this week

 

[Waynesaurus]

Milford will be fine next year, if anything he should help negate some of poor timing and lack of sharpness in the limited number of structured plays that we do actually use, he will just create opportunities on his own and out of nothing.

 

[FaceOfMutiny]

I want to see Hoffman pass more and kick more this game but not so much that he never runs at the line.

Everyone says he can't kick or pass but when he does they are generally good ones! I don't think he should be the dominant playmaker but if he just starts to kick and pass enough to stop Hunt from being swarmed by defence every time he touches the ball (because everyone knows he is going to get it) it will improve the team as a whole.

I really doubted the Hoffman experiment but he is actually showing some good touches that end up in points or in a drop out (like the wobbly kick Mini dropped) and Hunt is starting to show good signs also. If they keep it up it will be a good season! Though I agree defence needs to be looked at, Parker shouldn't be kicking(I am sure he is a good kicker with fresh legs though but his work rate is too high) and I hope they learn from last week that the game isn't over until the final whistle.

Though I admit we deserved to lose after slacking off at the end... was anyone else confused that there was no obstruction called when Hoffman was impeded but still touched the player before the ball was put down? Isn't the rule that if you are a decoy you can't just stop at the defensive line? I would like to see a couch or captains challenge for moments like that. The week before Ben Hannant got pulled for the same thing because he stopped in the line(which I agreed wasn't a try at the time either).

I am expecting an 80 minute effort on friday after that loss. Should be a good game!

 

[broncos4life]

I want to see Hoffman pass more and kick more this game but not so much that he never runs at the line.

Everyone says he can't kick or pass but when he does they are generally good ones! I don't think he should be the dominant playmaker but if he just starts to kick and pass enough to stop Hunt from being swarmed by defence every time he touches the ball (because everyone knows he is going to get it) it will improve the team as a whole.

I really doubted the Hoffman experiment but he is actually showing some good touches that end up in points or in a drop out (like the wobbly kick Mini dropped) and Hunt is starting to show good signs also. If they keep it up it will be a good season! Though I agree defence needs to be looked at, Parker shouldn't be kicking(I am sure he is a good kicker with fresh legs though but his work rate is too high) and I hope they learn from last week that the game isn't over until the final whistle.

Though I admit we deserved to lose after slacking off at the end... was anyone else confused that there was no obstruction called when Hoffman was impeded but still touched the player before the ball was put down? Isn't the rule that if you are a decoy you can't just stop at the defensive line? I would like to see a couch or captains challenge for moments like that. The week before Ben Hannant got pulled for the same thing because he stopped in the line(which I agreed wasn't a try at the time either).

I am expecting an 80 minute effort on friday after that loss. Should be a good game!

I was definitely. Just as I was confused why the bad play-the-ball from JWH that led to the try was not called, when parkers bad play-the-ball was, and why when Evans tried to remove Gilletts head we didn't get a penalty... then I remembered we were playing the roosters and I wasn't confused anymore

 

[Super Freak]

Last time I checked, there is also a rule that says if the defending player makes contact with the decoy runner then it's not considered obstruction. Hoffman is the one that made contact with Aubusson.

I had no problem with it. I thought Hoffman was fooled by the decoy runner for a moment and tried to make up for his error.

 

[Cult]

Last time I checked, there is also a rule that says if the defending player makes contact with the decoy runner then it's not considered obstruction. Hoffman is the one that made contact with Aubusson.

I had no problem with it. I thought Hoffman was fooled by the decoy runner for a moment and tried to make up for his error.

How dare he run in the direction that the attacking player was running at!

 

[FaceOfMutiny]

So if they make contact the player can then stop and stand in the line? I don't know that rule always confused me... Hannant ran into their line and stopped... and then they made contact with him because he was in the way so that should have been a try? I find the rules around that to be very confusing.

It's only one loss and all in all I didn't even come away from that game mad because they are doing much better than I expected at the start of the year so far and if they can learn from a loss early in the season it is worth the loss(last year I got mad almost every game!).

 

[CaptainHook]

I'm really looking forward to this game but am not sure what to expect. Dragons have a scored a lot of points in their opening three games and there were some real positive signs for us in the Roosters game. Our attack is starting to click. I would like to see a renewed focus on our defense after letting the Roosters put 30 points on us but am also excited at the prospect of seeing some real attacking footy from both teams. Brisbane by 10.

 

[Harry Sack]

The thing that annoys me is if Hoffman had of fallen over after making contact, it would have been ruled obstruction.

 

[Unbreakable]

Not sure how I feel about this game, ill wait to see the team we name before I make a real prediction, they won't be easy to beat at home though.

 

[noisetheory]

dugan not named for dragons.

 

[Sproj]

Who really cares if he is though, he's overrated. There I said it!