Round 8 - Broncos vs. Rabbitohs - Post-Game discussion

[xratedrattice]

the one pass from hodges to maranta showed he is a better five eigth option then hoffman. but still not good enough. for **** sake who cares if the young guys have no nrl experience, if they can just KICK then put them in !!! how could anyone possibly agree with this farce of moving players out of position. just give hunt a playmaking halves partner goddamit !! its not rocket science

 

[Mister Wright]

Although Parker is our best ever goal kicker statistically (sp?) it's time to give the job to Hunt. I dare say, if Hunt is our full time kicker we win that game.

 

[JMG87]

Far too much hate on Hunt. This is what his 13th straight game at halfback with no consistent 5/8? We all rave about DCE, but he came into first grade with a very settled team and an international 5/8 in Foran. You can't compare the two. Hunt is doing a great job. The last few years after Lockyer's retirement our only play was a kick to the winger from Wallace. I love Hunt's variation. Also, those people blasting McCullough need a slap on the cheek. He kept us in that game with his defence and his decisions in attack.

Exactly!!

 

[winslow_wong]

we won't have a legitimate 5/8th for this year. many frustrations to come

 

[Manifesto]

Changing the subject, just seen a photo on facebook from someone who was in the dressing rooms. Glenn is in a moonboot, must have picked up some sort of injury. Hopefully its precautionary until scans are done.

 

[nopatience101]

Far too much hate on Hunt. This is what his 13th straight game at halfback with no consistent 5/8? We all rave about DCE, but he came into first grade with a very settled team and an international 5/8 in Foran. You can't compare the two. Hunt is doing a great job. The last few years after Lockyer's retirement our only play was a kick to the winger from Wallace. I love Hunt's variation. Also, those people blasting McCullough need a slap on the cheek. He kept us in that game with his defence and his decisions in attack.

He is the sole half and an easy target and yet has us in the 8 and competitive in every game, he's doing the job of two pretty well.

 

[JMG87]

He is the sole half and an easy target and yet has us in the 8 and competitive in every game, he's doing the job of two pretty well.

Exactly right. He plays awesome then he has a quiet one then people are straight on his back. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't be anywhere where we are in terms of wining. Our right side is awesome. It's our left that needs help

 

[Big Pete]

At 14 points down, I thought the Broncos were in for a total carve up. Souths looked PISSED and were trampling all over the top of us. I thought GI, the Burgess Bros and the rookies were AWESOME and it's amazing that even Broncos fans were cheering the GI try - it was THAT good. Not me of course, I was a grump and contemplated whether or not I should catch a bus at H/T but the boys fired up.

I thought Ben Hannant was the best forward in the first half. He came up and was on the front-foot from the word go. I think it's a shame he dropped that ball, because it prevents us from really celebrating a good all-round performance but that was a good effort from the Polar Bear after a mixed start to the season.

Anyways, the Macca try was fortunate but the other tries were just plain awesome. Who said Maranta couldn't finish? Oh well, me but that effort made up for his terrible drop ball in our half. He looked like Ty Williams circa 2004-05 and he was one of my favourite wingers to watch of all time.

Then there was the Gillett try. HOLY YOGURT FACTORY what a try. As soon as I saw the crowd erupt and the ball booted I knew I had just witnessed something special. Dead-set, if I didn't go to games just to watch the Broncos win, I would have got my price of admission there. So good and it followed that awesome kick for the goal line drop out.

You know, I liked how Hunt varied up his kicking game to GI and all but it puzzles me that the best kicks came from our non-playmakers. Mind you, the worst kick of the night had to come courtesy of Macca. It was one of those be careful what you wish for scenarios. What a right bell-end.

But hey, he scored in the second half and that's important because we tend to fall asleep in that period. Oh wait, we basically did again when BIG GEORGE FINGERBANGED the Broncos.

From there, Souths really did a great job of controlling possession. They were great but our defence was even better. For that passage alone, the boys should have won the game. Turned them over, made it down their field and Hunt with Lockyer esque vision puts a beautitful grubber that was so difficult to believe the referee even thought it was a no try.

But then it just seemed like the Broncos read the script and the footy gods did everything in their power to get Souths home. Dead-set the ball turned into a cake of soap for us and it seemed like every call was going to go Souths way. Not that I think Badger solely won them the game...but still what a shitty way to end the game. Had Souths been given a penalty on the half-way and they end up scoring, okay, that sort of sucks but I can accept that. The penalty goal was weak and wasn't the right way to end the game.

Anyways, I'm dirty because I went to the game to see the Broncos win but I'm proud the boys showed some character, fought back and really backed themselves. AWESOME moments and I just like how this team, my team fights till the bitter end.

 

[Super Freak]

Souths final try, I thought that was an obstruction.

It's very similar to the Eels no try against the Tigers. Hunt was impeded by the decoy runner which did not give him a proper chance of stopping the play and as a result it left a big enough gap for Souths to go through.

Last time I checked, that's an obstruction...

 

[JMG87]

How does everyone feel about next weeks line up. Should we keep it the same or change it?
I personally think put Hodges back at centre and put an actual playmaker there. I think we looked more dangerous without Hoffman killing every play and we need to give Granville more time

 

[Cult]

Everyone saying we should have closed out the game, yeah you're right but we also shouldn't have to compete with bad ref decisions going against us. Hook really needs to say something about them. I mean we cop ridiculous calls every single week. We couldn't buy a fast play the ball tonight, just like every week. Hunt has more defensive pressure on him than any other player in the game. What does everyone expect him to do? He has absolutely no time for his kicks.

Is everyone happy with that pillow Kennedy "earning" his starting spot? "Oh he will be better if he starts" everyone said. Wrong. He is soft and slow and does nothing. We don't have fast enough players to score from outside of their half. Their really needs to be changes. Changes for us and changes with the refs.

I really hope the video refs get paid more than the actual refs too. They seem to make the "hard" decisions.

 

[austyphoon]

Can't believe no ones brought up Reed's brain explosion 5 meters from the tryline towards the end of the game.

Instead of catching it and momentum taking him over the line (only one Souths player near him), he decides to try a two-hand volleyball slap to imaginary player to the left of him.

Everything else that happened in the last 5 mins wouldn't have mattered if Reed didn't do that.

****

 

[Super Freak]

I thought Hodges had a good first half, but he went missing in the second. However, he showed more vision and playmaking ability than Hoffman and I thought he handled defending in the middle. I would definitely give him another crack since Griffin is not going to use a rookie..

 

[vertigo]

How does everyone feel about next weeks line up. Should we keep it the same or change it?
I personally think put Hodges back at centre and put an actual playmaker there. I think we looked more dangerous without Hoffman killing every play and we need to give Granville more time

Hoffman will obviously slot straight back in.

Look at what Maguire does though:

Sees Walker isn't working at 5/8 - switches Sutton back to 5/8
Sees Reddy sucks donkey dick - promotes Auva'a
Sees Merritt sucks donkey dick - promotes Johnston

If he doesn't make these decisions to HOOK players who aren't performing they keep on losing, so he made them happen.

 

[Super Freak]

Is everyone happy with that pillow Kennedy "earning" his starting spot? "Oh he will be better if he starts" everyone said. Wrong. He is soft and slow and does nothing. We don't have fast enough players to score from outside of their half. Their really needs to be changes. Changes for us and changes with the refs.

I think I would keep Kennedy in the starting side. Not because he played well, I thought he was average again. But because when Hannant and Wallace came on, Broncos got more of a roll on. They were great from the bench and I think they're great impact players.

 

[rnabokov]

Everyone saying we should have closed out the game, yeah you're right but we also shouldn't have to compete with bad ref decisions going against us. Hook really needs to say something about them. I mean we cop ridiculous calls every single week. We couldn't buy a fast play the ball tonight, just like every week. Hunt has more defensive pressure on him than any other player in the game. What does everyone expect him to do? He has absolutely no time for his kicks.

Is everyone happy with that pillow Kennedy "earning" his starting spot? "Oh he will be better if he starts" everyone said. Wrong. He is soft and slow and does nothing. We don't have fast enough players to score from outside of their half. Their really needs to be changes. Changes for us and changes with the refs.

I really hope the video refs get paid more than the actual refs too. They seem to make the "hard" decisions.

Agree with you. Wallace and Oates make so much more impact that the pillow.

As for Hunt, it is again proof that you can't win a game at this level with 1 half. When will they get this in their heads.

Am I blind but does Glenn pass the ball? Tonight, he reminded me of Hoffman - just run. Maybe I'm missing something?
... but having them on our left side is a disaster.

Damn we miss an organizer and leader on the field. Under real pressure, we fall apart far more than we should. Having said that, aside from the 1st 20 minutes, when we played dumb football, the rest was mostly impressive.

Oh for a real 5/8. The absence has so many reverberations throughout, and consequences for this team. Everyone is under extra pressure

 

[Super Freak]

This extra fitness, this more commitment in defense. My god, how good would we be if we still had Lockyer? One can dream...

 

[Big Pete]

Both starting forwards sucked tonight, but Kennedy has basically sucked all season. I had no issue with the Broncos scouting another prop - they had to but Kennedy has been ordinary and needs a rocket in QCup.

Thaiday should just replace him. Problem solved.