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

[Foordy]

After watching Granville add a bit of spark over the last couple of weeks, I wouldn't be completely against starting him at Five-Eighth, I know he's had his problems with his kicking and defense in ISC.. but we've gotta do something, surely..

1 - Barba
6 - Granville
7 - Hunt
9 - McCullough

Please Hook, if you're listening, anyone but Hoffman and Hodges.

quick question ... if he has had problems with kicking and defense in the ISC, how the hell will he be able to do it in the NRL?

 

[winslow_wong]

quick question ... if he has had problems with kicking and defense in the ISC, how the hell will he be able to do it in the NRL?

if he kicks then already he's a better option than hoffman

 

[1910]

After watching Granville add a bit of spark over the last couple of weeks, I wouldn't be completely against starting him at Five-Eighth, I know he's had his problems with his kicking and defense in ISC.. but we've gotta do something, surely..

1 - Barba
6 - Granville
7 - Hunt
9 - McCullough

Please Hook, if you're listening, anyone but Hoffman and Hodges.

Isn't one of your gripes that you don't want someone out of position? Granville is a 9. He just doesn't have problems kicking- he doesn't do it.

 

[Unbreakable]

Isn't one of your gripes that you don't want someone out of position? Granville is a 9.

Implying that transitioning from Hooker to Five-Eighth is even in the same ball park as transitioning from Wing to Five-Eighth. But you're right, I'm just trying to get inside the mind of the worst coach in NRL history, trying to stoop to his level and figure out what he might be willing to do, he's obviously not willing to play a young Five-Eighth, maybe he's willing to play a 25 year old with 3 games of NRL experience.

[Insert sarcastic self-entitled comment from 1910]

 

[Brett]

I was extremely disappointed last night with the result of the game. Even more disappointed with those ref decisions at the end of the game. Having said that, we should have gone on and put a score on the Rabbits. We had the opportunity, but didn't execute.

I felt the game turned when Kennedy came back on around the 60 minute mark. Our middle defence went really soft and I often saw Kennedy just jogging around getting back into position.

Kennedy: 5 runs (39m) + 18 tackles - For a starting NRL prop, that's just not fucking good enough.
Hannant: 16 runs (149m) + 28 tackles - Huge effort and our only shining light really.

I thought our forwards got dominated early and no one had an impact except Hannant. He has to start next week. I'd drop Kennedy. Wallace was strong with his runs, but let that really soft Burgess meat head try in. Granville again was dynamic, but got like 7 minutes.

Kahu should be back for our next game in 2 weeks barring any injuries to himself.

My team against the Cowboys in 2 weeks would probably look something like this...

1. Barba
2. Hoffman
3. Copley
4. Hodges
5. Vidot
6. Kahu
7. Hunt

8. Hannant
9. McCullough
10. McGuire
11. Thaiday
12. Gillett
13. Parker

14. Glenn
15. Wallace / Hala
16. Oates
17. Granville

 

[Sproj]

Isn't one of your gripes that you don't want someone out of position? Granville is a 9. He just doesn't have problems kicking- he doesn't do it.

Not disagreeing as I haven't seen him do that much kicking in ISC, though that's not to say he doesn't do it all. I also remember him grubbering through a try on his NRL debut last year.

I'm not saying I want him there, I don't but it is understandable why frustrated fans want anyone with playmaking ability there.

Personally, I want Duncan P put in for the origin period starting from next round.

 

[Harry Sack]

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.

For me, the kick by Barba that led to the GI try was an absolute howler, I don't recall the kick you're referring too. Good summation too, I just didn't want to quote the whole thing :laugh:

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...

Bad read IMO. I always look at it as a case of if the roles were reversed and I'd hate for that try to be taken off us. In saying that though, the on field ref ruled "no try" and under the current rules, I don't believe there was enough evidence to overturn that decision. So in that context, it should have remained a no try.

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

I don't like changing the squad too much personally. I always prefer bringing someone else in, rather than shuffling the squad around. I think that leads to defensive lapses etc as players adjust to either a new position or a new defender beside them. I would have left the squad as is this week and brought someone in to fill the 5/8th role.

When is The Hoff back anyone?

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.

Problem is, when we lose, we aren't losing by much and we're putting points on. Would be a different story if we were getting spanked or if we were on a losing streak.

The stop-gap experiment has served out it's purpose and as we move into the representative period, I believe it's important the Broncos explore their other options.

Agreed

Perhaps someone that watched the game on TV can confirm this for me as I haven't seen the recording yet.

Did the ref not allow Broncos to take a quick tap for the penalties that weren't for players inside the 10? I remember a couple of penalties for Rabbitohs players laying on the player for too long or stripping the ball and they have waved the Broncos back? Or did the Broncos just not want to take them?

As far as I know, you can take a quick tap for any penalty that's not for a player inside the 10 as long as your players are on side and they were every time.

I could be wrong, though..

It's always been my biggest issue with that rule, some teams are allowed to do it, whereas others always seem to be pulled back for 1 reason or another. The only way, to my knowledge, that you can't tap and go is if you're in the other teams 10m or if the penalty was for offside. Other than that, I think it's fair game. Someone to correct me if I'm wrong. I was at the game as well, so I'm not to sure but I swear there were a number of occasions where we tried to go, legitimately, but were pulled back. Meanwhile Souths were allowed to go several times.

A lot of positives. Tonight was a litmus test. The first 15 mintues was Rabbitohs steamroller football at it's best.

We showed our true colours and were scored 5 tries to 2 in the remaining 65 minutes of the game.

The video referrees don't know how to administer there own procedural fairness.

No try call on-field means you need conclusive evidence to overrule. There was much doubt about whether Hunt had a clear line of sight (which he didn't) and that Copley had to change his mind to come in on Hunt's man (Inglis) instead of the try scorer.

The on-field ref, in real time, saw the obstruction.

There was not enough certainty in the video evidence to overrule it.

Could not agree more.

Exciting as the game was, ultimately we lost the game by ourselves. Not wrapping the ball up, poor kicking and kick decisions, missed tackles was our undoing. Was good to see both sides, left and right, have a go on the attack though instead of just the right. Hodges ball to Maranta on the cutout was awesome.

also felt like being at an origin. The atmos was massive.

Agreed. Hard to believe there were 6,000 spare seats. Haven't been to a game like that for a long time. Great atmosphere.

 

[1910]

Duncan is physcially and maturity wise the most ready I think if you absolutely had to promote someone. I've only seen him on DVD though since he got promoted to ISC I'd like to see him live.

 

[wilson61]

Granvilles kicking has come improved this year

 

[animal eater]

Exciting as the game was, ultimately we lost the game by ourselves. Not wrapping the ball up, poor kicking and kick decisions, missed tackles was our undoing. Was good to see both sides, left and right, have a go on the attack though instead of just the right. Hodges ball to Maranta on the cutout was awesome.

also felt like being at an origin. The atmos was massive.

Bingo. We are close to being a top side but lacking a bit in polish and discipline. When they came back to take the lead I thought that was going to be a real character defining effort. Were a few calls iffy, sure but that doesn't make up for what meiko listed above.

Also, I don't care what Kennedy is being paid, he is not an asset and should not have a spot period. He is a cream puff. A million dollar body with a ten cent heart. Also the obvious is besides the missed tackles, ball handling blunders etc. if Parker converts either of those fairly easy kicks, we all go to bed happy on Friday with some swagger in our step today. Instead it's back to the drawing board and a tad more anguish.

 

[Harry Sack]

Bingo. We are close to being a top side but lacking a bit in polish and discipline. When they came back to take the lead I thought that was going to be a real character defining effort. Were a few calls iffy, sure but that doesn't make up for what meiko listed above.

Also, I don't care what Kennedy is being paid, he is not an asset and should not have a spot period. He is a cream puff. A million dollar body with a ten cent heart. Also the obvious is besides the missed tackles, ball handling blunders etc. if Parker converts either of those fairly easy kicks, we all go to bed happy on Friday with some swagger in our step today. Instead it's back to the drawing board and a tad more anguish.

Agreed about Kennedy, I'd punt him to Qcup. Who else can kick? Clearly Hunt is next in line given he took the kick when Parker was off but I'm loathe to add the responsibility of converting on top of everything else. Who else is there?

 

[Super Freak]

Agreed about Kennedy, I'd punt him to Qcup. Who else can kick? Clearly Hunt is next in line given he took the kick when Parker was off but I'm loathe to add the responsibility of converting on top of everything else. Who else is there?

I've seen Sammy nail some conversions from the sideline at training..

 

[Unbreakable]

1. Barba
2. Hoffman
3. Reed
4. Hodges (c)
5. Vidot
6. Paia'Aua
7. Hunt
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Hannant
11. Glenn
12. Gillett
13. Parker (c)

14. Granville
15. Thaiday
16. J.Wallace
17. Oates

This isn't my "ideal" side, but I think it's certainly realistic.. I'd prefer Copley over Reed, but Reed is signed until 2017, Hook isn't going to drop him. As 1910 said, Duncan is the probably the most likely to succeed at this stage in the NRL, although I wouldn't mind seeing how Strasser & K.Nikorima go, if given the opportunity. Kennedy has to be dropped for Thaiday, Granville has to stay on the bench, Wallace and Oates have provided very noticeable impact when they've come on over the last 2 weeks, they're the future of our club.

 

[rod78]

Dont know if it has allready been mentioned, But when Renolds put the last kick in when we got trapped in goal. george burgess was in our deffensive line and he jumped over the ball. He was in front of the kicker he didnt touch it but he still interferd with the play. That was on our try line too.

 

[broncos4life]

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.

Could not agree more. Post of the year so far

 

[Alec]

McCullough's passing game from dummy half is still absolutely disgusting. The slowest in the comp. If he worked on that, he could truly be a great.

 

[simmo77]

Seriously disappointed with the result. We gave them too much of a head start and then at the end when the game was there for the taking no one stood up. Hard not to be pissed at the refs though. I mean even Fatty said it was a bad call and that it cost us the chance of a win. Paul sinkthebootinthebroncos Vautin of all people.

 

[ningnangnong]

McCullough's passing game from dummy half is still absolutely disgusting. The slowest in the comp. If he worked on that, he could truly be a great.

Word.

He's been excellent for us this season, and I hope he's finally realising that potential we've all talked about since he came into first grade - but his passing game really irks me.

He always, always has to pick it up and take a step or two before passing, and it just completely ***** everything up - slows down our play, forces our forwards to check their run so they don't overrun the pass, etc. His service has improved a little bit, but there's still a way to go yet. At least we're not seeing the ball knocked out of his hands at dummy-half anymore, which seemed to occur once a week last year.

At least it's not a difficult thing to fix (well it shouldn't be), but the fact his service is still so slow after all this time in first grade says to me that no one at the Broncos thinks it's an issue.

Before [MENTION=2160]Mister Wright[/MENTION] rips into me (or should that be Mrs McCullough :p), other than that one aspect of his game, I think he's had a sensational season so far.