POST GAME Round 5 - Titans vs Broncos

[Unbreakable]

3. McCullough
2. Gillett
1. McGuire

I'm willing to look away from the errors and penalties that Gillett gave away in the first half, he was an absolute beast on defence tonight, 40+ tackles, same with McCullough.

Honourable mentions to Milford & Thaiday.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

Good to see milford cross, and Im sure people will somehow argue this proves he is a good 6. It doesn't, but was definitely good to see him running freely for the first time this year. His support play is one of his best assets, at least that can be used from any position.

 

[Foordy]

McGuire was again brilliant ... lets fit him for a QLD jersey.

Copley was great in defence ...

2 plays called back for a forward pass, that wasn't even bloody forward ... then they score from a knock on, but you can't call it back because it was picked up too late ... FFS, no wonder fans are fed up with the refs.

Maranta looks sooooo much better at fullback than wing, more confident too. I wish there was some way to transfer the confidence he has playing at the back, to when he plays on the wing ... we might actually have a handy player on our hands.

Milford was better tonight, but his two tries were both classic fullback play ... by that i mean following the ball carrier and taking advantage of their good work.

I think i mentioned it before, but SACK REED NOW!!!!

Oates is a future superstar of this game.

Hunt went MIA at times tonight, we need better.

Macca showed why he should be kicking more, a beautiful 40/20 (although it wasn't technically a 40/20)

If we play as poorly as we did in that second half against a side like the Roosters next week, we will get slaughtered ...


PS. SACK REED NOW

 

[Super Freak]

Not exactly a convincing win (like last week really), but we won! When's the last time we won 4 in a row? Feels like forever.

Last year.

Round 10-13 and then went on a 3 game losing streak.

We also won 4 in a row in 2013.

 

[Splinter]

I'm happy
We only have to accumulate points at present and be playing good footy by the end of the season

 

[Unbreakable]

Do people actually think Maranta was that good tonight? I thought it was one of his worse games this year, the try assist for Milf was awesome, but I mean apart from that it was just typical Maranta things (Catching bombs and making 5 metres a run)

Kahu is still easily our best option without Darius, I really hope he's back next week.

 

[CaptainHook]

3. McCullough
2. Gillett
1. McGuire

I'm willing to look away from the errors and penalties that Gillett gave away in the first half, he was an absolute beast on defence tonight, 40+ tackles, same with McCullough.

Honourable mentions to Milford & Thaiday.

40+? Fair dinkum? They must also be including the ones when he goes high and just bounces off. Or when he goes high and still fails to wrap the ball up.

 

[Cult]

Milford was better tonight, but his two tries were both classic fullback play ... by that i mean following the ball carrier and taking advantage of their good work.

No.. The fullback took the first inside ball. That is the fullbacks job. The halves should be backing up after they make that initial break. Fucking hell.

 

[Tera]

Wish we could have seen a little bit more of Garbutt. All we did while he was on was defend, he made some really strong tackles though.

 

[CaptainHook]

Wish we could have seen a little bit more of Garbutt. All we did while he was on was defend, he made some really strong tackles though.

Agreed - we just couldn't hold the ball though. I reckon there was a 20 minute stint where we did not complete a set. Amateur hour.

 

[Kaz]

40+? Fair dinkum? They must also be including the ones when he goes high and just bounces off. Or when he goes high and still fails to wrap the ball up.

Correct.

They include when a player is 2nd or 3rd player in to tackle.

 

[K-Style]

Do people actually think Maranta was that good tonight? I thought it was one of his worse games this year, the try assist for Milf was awesome, but I mean apart from that it was just typical Maranta things (Catching bombs and making 5 metres a run)

Kahu is still easily our best option without Darius, I really hope he's back next week.

Apart from the one on one trysaver and clean tackle break/ line break that we're not used to seeing from him (Not the Milford try but after taking a bomb). I think Kahu would have been more involved but Maranta did more than you give him ceedit for.

 

[K-Style]

Wish we could have seen a little bit more of Garbutt. All we did while he was on was defend, he made some really strong tackles though.

He made a few runs but yeah he didnt get muc time before Wallace came back on. Should have some decent tackle stats though.

 

[Big Pete]

It was never going to be pretty.

The Broncos were backing up from a really rough road trip against the Warriors and had to contend this game without their two best attacking weapons in Hodges + Kahu. Anyone expecting champagne Rugby League was always going to be disappointed.

And the Titans aren't a terrible team either. They've pushed a few teams to the final few minutes and just haven't been able to put the pieces together. They did some good things tonight, and did some bad things too. Two of their tries were handed straight to them while the third was a weight of possession type problem where Roberts finally troubled the scorers.

I liked our defence early. Sure, the Titans screwed up on key plays but that's why they're at where they are. The positive was that we didn't give them any easy opportunities. To turn that around with a nice James Graham esque inside ball to Maranta was fantastic and if nothing else, the game may give Milford some confidence which he DESPERATELY needs and that second try is why we were so happy to bring him on board.

Second try was pure ass but good presence of mind from Dodds and if there was any player who deserved a double for all his hard work it's him. I'm sure [MENTION=8219]Splinter[/MENTION] was as proud as anyone, how good was it?

And there were some damn good plays out there. Finally got a chance to see Kodi break through and it's such a shame his line ball was pulled up. That's one of those plays where I pull on my hypocritical Gould hat and just say 'play on'. The game was basically dead, the break would have given it some excitement.

Instead we had to pull up with that shoddy James try. That was the only way he was ever going to cross, through some luck. Was it a try? Is Klein a genius? I don't know, his interpretations annoy me.

Actually the reffing annoyed me in general. Too many soft penalties that were completely crap. What happened to the video referee head high system? I didn't see McGuire put on report, you can't get penalised otherwise.

But yeah, the biggest problem right now is that we're getting to a lead, then we're doing this kick-chase thing instead of playing football and it's hurting us. We played way too bunched in the second half with nobody pushing up and people throwing pressure passes that weren't on. It would have been fine had our kick chase been good but it was so poor at times. Hunt put in two great kicks and Hoffy threatened to break through each time - it shouldn't happen and can't happen against the Roosters if we want to win.

Milford tries on the highlights reels. Hopefully it gives him confidence which is essential to any half in the game because that's where he's going to be playing for the rest of 2015.

Deal with it.

Oh and just remembered on Reed. Well, I hate to say I told you so but I predicted that Copley, Gagai & Kahu would be more viable alternatives way back in 2011. It's becoming clearer and clearer too and I still think the 2017 deal was a waste of money, no matter what the savings repotedly were. Still, if you sack Reed now, you're going to have to put up with Whitchurch. That's the next best centre we've got given our injury toll. I didn't think he was that bad either, Roberts got one against him but he had his measure more often than not. Considering some thought he was going to get absolutely destroyed, 1 TA is hardly doom and gloom.

 

[Big Pete]

What were your thoughts Mal?

Titans was robbed.

 

[rnabokov]

The main thing I get from this game is the ridiculous number of stupid errors, momentum killers - which marred an otherwise encouraging evolution of this side. I thought the defence was excellent, the attack looked a little more cohesive, the props always made good metres, and Reed needs to go ... now.

Take away those stupid errors and we could have added a lot more to the final score. Hodges and Kahu will make a big difference to the quality of tonight's backline, even better if Reed is dropped and Copley partners Hodges.

I was also impressed with the team's composure under pressure for most of the game. It's been missing for a long time.

Cut out those stupid mistakes, surrendering possession and we are a great chance against the Roosters.

 

[Kimlo]

Is there a chance Kahu and/or Hodges are back next week?

 

[vertigo]

Take the points and run.

Skip all video review sessions and keep focusing on next week.