Round 7 - Knights vs Broncos - Pre-Match Discussion

[Porthoz]

I don't know whats happened to the like buttons but ...

This, if Griffin leaves mid season Kearney will be guaranteed head coach ... unfortunately it gives him a chance to push for the job full time ...


if you think the complaining about Griffin was bad, just wait until Kearney takes over.

If the board decide to terminate Griffin, and honestly that is a real possibility, I hope they do it in a way that see's Griffin see out the year. Giving the board time to scour the rugby league universe for the best possible coach to take over. whoever that may be. whether it is Walters or not, what i don't understand is why so many on here seem to think he has done enough in his coaching career to warrant us hiring immediately without looking at all the options.

They can scour the RL Universe without giving Griffin the boot... that would be just stupid.
If they do, then he has to go, not stay one for the rest of the season!

 

[Foordy]

They can scour the RL Universe without giving Griffin the boot... that would be just stupid.
If they do, then he has to go, not stay one for the rest of the season!

For all we know that is exactly what they are doing ... As a general rule, Broncos management don't play things out in the public eye.

 

[nostradamus]

1. Barba
2. Vidot
3. Hodges
4. Copley/Reed
5. Hoffman Never play 5/8 again the experiment aint workin
6. Nikorima
7. Hunt
8. Hannant
9. Macca
10. McQuire
11. Gillett
12. Thaiday
13. Parker

14. Glenn Can relieve Macca for at least 15 mins before we burn him out
15. Hala Must have at least 2 x 10 min impacts
16. Reed/Copley
17. Kennedy Must have at least 2 x 15 min impacts


FFS Hook with the speed of the game can u please use all of the bench its not that hard to work out :ciao:If you have any trouble just ring me and I will gladly assist u in the box. I will bring my own stopwatch if you like.:clap2:

 

[coreyh88]

okay guys so we all agree our two most serious issues are a 5/8 that doesn't pass and a fullback that can't catch and is currently hardly running:

1. hoffman
2. vidot
3. reed
4. hodges (swapping with hoffman which was very successful at the end of last year)
5. copely/maranta (copley looks injured)
6. barba(he has played 6 well before and can clearly pass and kick clearly the best option)
7. hunt (has been a revelation)
8-16 less of a problem

the only issue with this being hodges is clearly still not match fit so alternatively we reward maranta for his solid early season and give him ashot in his natural position.

1. maranta
2. hoffman
3. reed
4. hodges
5. vidot
6. barba
7. hunt
8-16 less of a problem

now there are two other viable options. we blood duncan paiaua. he won't set the world on fire but is solid and clearly next in line after both being promoted to qld cup and outplaying strasser. alternatively considering we have hala/lowrie/oats/kennedy/hannant who can all play many more minutes we shift gillett to 6 until kahu is back he has done a job there before and could not be worse than hoffman. barba would still get the punt from fullback as he is currently a liability.

 

[88to2006Glorydays]

1. Barba
2. Vidot
3. Hodges
4. Copley
5. Hoffman
6. Paiaua
7. Hunt
8. Hannant
9. Macca
10. McGuire
11. Gillett
12. Thaiday
13. Parker


14. Glenn
15. Hala
16. Oates
17. Kennedy

 

[I bleed Maroon]

1. Maranta
2. Vidot
3. Hodges
4. Copley
5. Hoffman
6. Barba/Strasser
7. Hunt
8. Kennedy
9. Macca
10. McGuire
11. Gillett
12. Thaiday
13. Parker


14. Glenn
15. Hala
16. Oates
17. Hannant

- Strasser to 5/8th if he trains well, Barba if not. Otherwise, Barba rested.
- Kennedy into starting side. Last chance to prove worth. If he continues the marshmellow man form, he's off to Qcup.
- Reed to Qcup. Don't come back until you've learned to be a decent centre.
- Maranta to full back as he is our safest player under the high ball and would completely **** up any oppositions plans to bomb all night as if Barba were back there.
-Parker back to Lock. He should never have been taken out of there in the first place. Work on those offloads in preparation for Barba's return.

Also, worth considering if we wanted to test the waters:

1. Maranta
2. Vidot
3. Hodges
4. Copley
5. Hoffman
6. Macca
7. Hunt
8. Kennedy
9. Granville
10. McGuire
11. Gillett
12. Thaiday
13. Parker


14. Glenn
15. Hala
16. Oates
17. Hannant

Same setup except Granville comes in to 9 and McC goes to 6. His kicking game is pretty underrated in my opinion so I'd like to see his playmaking chops given some breathing space to see if he thrives. I'd also like to see what Corvo could do with Granville in terms of an 80 minute performance.

The absence of Barba is completely intentional. He needs a break, I reckon. Either that ankle is not 100% and is really bothering him or his head is a mess. I'd also ban him from social media because the Dogs supporters love to stick their grubby boots in and that can't be good for his confidence.

 

[88to2006Glorydays]

I like Macca at 5/8 for something different.

 

[Porthoz]

Granville 80 mins at hooker in the NRL... for real?

 

[Super Freak]

I would consider moving Thaiday to the left edge or using McGuire in the second row to target Scott. He has had problems with that knee for a couple of weeks now and went down several times in the Raiders game. I wonder if he would be able to defend against Thaiday or McGuire..

I would target his knee in a tackle..

 

[winslow_wong]

I can't believe barba is the scapegoat in the media at the moment whereas Hoffman the hack flies under the radar and isn't accountable for anything. people are spastic to think we are better off with Hoffman at fullback too. remember last year when our attack was vomit with Hoffman at fb?

 

[subsbligh]

1. Hoffman
6. Nikorima/Strasser (whoever is in form)
17. Barba

Use Barba off the bench sparingly, or not at all (just as Oates sat on the bench for 80 minutes this week).

 

[broncos4life]

I can't believe barba is the scapegoat in the media at the moment whereas Hoffman the hack flies under the radar and isn't accountable for anything. people are spastic to think we are better off with Hoffman at fullback too. remember last year when our attack was vomit with Hoffman at fb?

No one is saying that Hoffman is the best option at 1, but barba is a far better option at 6 and for this year it will probably serve the purpose better to have Hoffman at 1 until another option arrives

 

[Dexter]

Not for mine B4l, putting him anywhere near a position where he has to think about passing is going to hurt us. He is a runner and a good one, unfortunately he has delusions of being a play maker or at the least a talented link man.

Surely even he has proven to himself he is neither.

If hook picks him again at 5/8 that will be it for me. I was coming back on board with Hook at the start of this year but now IMO he has to address the obvious with the 5/8 problem for the Knights game. Seriously if he thinks Hoff is our best option at 6 he needs to go.

 

[broncos4life]

Not for mine B4l, putting him anywhere near a position where he has to think about passing is going to hurt us. He is a runner and a good one, unfortunately he has delusions of being a play maker or at the least a talented link man.

Surely even he has proven to himself he is neither.

If hook picks him again at 5/8 that will be it for me. I was coming back on board with Hook at the start of this year but now IMO he has to address the obvious with the 5/8 problem for the Knights game. Seriously if he thinks Hoff is our best option at 6 he needs to go.

I completely agree with you dex. My first choice is hoff to the wing or the bulldogs and give maranta a shot at fullback... But we all know that won't happen so I am looking for the option that griffin might actually consider

 

[Dexter]

I completely agree with you dex. My first choice is hoff to the wing or the bulldogs and give maranta a shot at fullback... But we all know that won't happen so I am looking for the option that griffin might actually consider

Let's hope that is the way he goes. I hope Maranta does get a go at 1 it can't be worse then Barbas form back there so far. That kid has earned a lot of respect being able to come back after the crap he copped last year and even early this year. Some of the stuff coming from the crowd was pretty bad.

 

[Harry Sack]

I can't believe barba is the scapegoat in the media at the moment whereas Hoffman the hack flies under the radar and isn't accountable for anything. people are spastic to think we are better off with Hoffman at fullback too. remember last year when our attack was vomit with Hoffman at fb?

People make excuses for Hoffman because he's playing out of position, Barba is not. We brought him as a FB and currently, he is way down on form. I'm not expecting him to set the side on fire, due to the weak link at 6, but I do expect him to catch bombs and bring the ball back with some pace and conviction. It was at the point on Friday night where he was letting them bounce. Not good enough. Hoffman belongs on the wing, nowhere else. The only reason I think people are putting him at 1 is because we all know Hook won't drop players.

If hook picks him again at 5/8 that will be it for me. I was coming back on board with Hook at the start of this year but now IMO he has to address the obvious with the 5/8 problem for the Knights game. Seriously if he thinks Hoff is our best option at 6 he needs to go.

I'm already there personally. I've always scratched my head about his use of the bench...bringing on fresh, non-impact players at the 65th minute, bringing on some players for 10 minutes all game etc etc......but to essentially run with a 16 man bench for most of the season just boggles the mind. He lost me in the game where Lowrie copped that head knock and couldn't come back onto the field. Instead of running with a 16 man bench, he used a 15 man bench!!! Wallace(?) still got no game time.

 

[Foordy]

Lets not screw around with whats actually working ...

Macca has been our best player this year, leave him right where he is.

the problem seems to be that Macca is now doing it for 80mins and Hook, seems to think that position 17 in the team is solely for giving Macca a rest. which must be why he rarely gets on the field ... because Macca doesn't need a rest anymore

 

[Morkel]

Let's hope that is the way he goes. I hope Maranta does get a go at 1 it can't be worse then Barbas form back there so far. That kid has earned a lot of respect being able to come back after the crap he copped last year and even early this year. Some of the stuff coming from the crowd was pretty bad.

Most of the criticism of Maranta was warranted, you have to admit. None of us was wishing him to play badly, he just seemed to derp everything up. I even made a joke about him realising he had his boots on the wrong feet and turning in to a gun. We're all glad he's seemingly come good. To the point where he is a genuine fullback option.