POST GAME Round 9 - Broncos vs Bulldogs

[ZTop]

Typical reaction of today's spoilt Broncos fan.

 

[BroncsFan]

I hate to say this but Bird has done nothing to justify getting a run in the 13 so far.

Time to face facts - does he even deserve to be in the side?

I said a while back that I thought he needed to be eased in off the bench as a floating player, because he is so versatile. Starting off the bench also reduces the pressure until his style melds with the rest of the team.

I think at this stage he just has to be put into left centre for the first year.

He is not making enough for himself or his outside men to be in a prominent position.

 

[T-rent]

I think we are to structured. We look way better when we just play what’s infront of us. When we straighten up the attack we scored 2 tries

 

[Mr Fourex]

It was frustrating watching Milford play as the only half again. He was so gassed at the end. No support from Bird, no support from Nikorima. We need a half soon.

Even just one other attacking option. We are so plainly obvious in our "throw it to Milf" attack strategy..

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

Bird to the bench I think... he needs to be told by Bennett "you have 10 minutes to show me what you got, prove to me you want it and I'll build up your game time"...

Boyd was absolutely terrible, wtf game was johns and co watching (although he'd stil do the job on the wing in origin, he's got too much experience in that arena and isn't expected to do much compared to at fb and captain). He honestly should have been hooked at one point. Still on origin spots, Roberts is obviously playing busted and was MIA for most of the night but ffs nsw are stupid if they don't pick him AGAIN. He was involved in both our lasts tries & in the 79th minute with the game locked it is the lasts person in the nrl outside of jt and smith I'd want with the ball in his hand against my team (not saying there isn't better options but he is just about the best game breaker in the nrl). The old made for origin crap they always spit out is actually true about Roberts....

Shame about haas but with the mentality he seems to have then it could be a good thing in a way in the long term (settles the hype train down).

With the game... TPJ, well what more can be said. Milf was awesome tonight and doesn't seem to be getting much credit on here. He was a TRUE halfback tonight, schemed and tested the line, kicked well, made great choices, controlled the game (he couldn't control the Suncorp turf bounces and Boyd/bird mistakes), great pass selection. Proper halfback game I thought. Macca was awesome too considering the injury! Ofa is winning me over big time this year and if sims keeps it up we may not despise his tenure at this club. Thaiday is not getting noticed (a good thing actually considering his shockers before the last 2-3 games). Lodge had a great first stint, isaako was solid, opacic is slow but pros outweigh the cons. Knik was ok-ish but leave the kicking to milf, would have been better if he played a bit of dummy half. Oates was great again, not sure if anyone else noticed this but he was actually used as a second rower in attack late in the second half. Glenn was great but a few near breaks he made thanks to milf I couldn't help but think Oates running there would have broke the line for sure. Also, not sure why he wasn't defending on the edge (anyone know why?). Sua was awesome and we are now seeing why the club held him in such high regard, hits hard + big body + big on effort areas + stunningly good late footwork for such a big body...

Did I miss anyone? Got a bit excited after thinking we'd lost that game after another "play as good as we have to"-type performance...

 

[WASSHHH]

Yet another awful game to watch.

Yes we won, but as I’ve said before, we honestly look like we have never trained together as a team.

One positive; our forward rotation is finally starting to outplay their opposites on a consistent basis. We could be building something formidable at this rate.

It’s been said before too; Milford looks like he is carrying a lot of weight. Well I can confirm he is, the weight of the entire Broncos attack.

Help the man out, he can’t do it on his own and it shows in how unhappy he looks on the field. He’s far from perfect, but I honestly believe he is playing his guts out whilst playing 1, 6 and 7 for the most part.

 

[Donny]

We have a few huge issues!

1. The lack of a halfback
2. The lack of structure
3. We don’t use Roberts AT ALL

 

[Morkel]

Get off the Boyd sucks train. He's been pummeled for a supposed lack of effort and positioning but tonight he showed plenty of both. His two big errors were down to (1) slipping while getting to a kick, conceding a try, and (2) slipping while getting to a kick, conceding a dropout. The results were awful, but nothing but bad luck.

 

[Super Freak]

Roberts is obviously playing busted and was MIA for most of the night

Knee cartilage issues.

 

[Cult]

Sua hits pretty damn hard. Not a bad replacement for Gillett

 

[Stix]

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This is him. No excuse for being unfit and out of shape whatsoever. When you are physically soft it is a sign of being mentally soft and at days end you know you aren't being a professional who is reaching potential in that type of shape. Not impressed. I think a few weeks in a lower grade might shock him into pulling his head out.

Spot on.
No excuses for the weight he has packed on. He's had 3 months to get himself in shape and he's still plodding around.
****, if he doesn't get fit and get his head right he'll be asking for a release before the end of the season. I reckon it's nearly make or break time for him.

 

[Alec]

On a positive side, gee our forward pack looks good in form. Glenn still got it too, really nice step for his try.

 

[Super Freak]

Get off the Boyd sucks train. He's been pummeled for a supposed lack of effort and positioning but tonight he showed plenty of both. His two big errors were down to (1) slipping while getting to a kick, conceding a try, and (2) slipping while getting to a kick, conceding a dropout. The results were awful, but nothing but bad luck.

I can't believe people are actually slamming him for running the ball over the sideline in the Bulldogs first set..

You don't take the risk of the player stripping the ball and scoring so you run it over the sideline.

On the Boyd slip, I will have to watch it again but to me it seemed like a problem with the communication. I think he thought Milford was going to get it, but then had to beeline for it at the last second. I'm not entirely sure on that, I will have to watch it again.

 

[Unbreakable]

Get off the Boyd sucks train. He's been pummeled for a supposed lack of effort and positioning but tonight he showed plenty of both. His two big errors were down to (1) slipping while getting to a kick, conceding a try, and (2) slipping while getting to a kick, conceding a dropout. The results were awful, but nothing but bad luck.

His positioning and lack of urgency have cost us at least 6 or 7 tries conceded this year, in comparison to 2015 & 2016 where he was flawless and would only make 1 mistake out of every 5 or 6 games. It's a major concern, and he deserves all the criticism he's getting.

Luck can only get you so far, you make your own lucky in Rugby League by wanting the ball more than the opposition, at the moment Darius wants the ball like he wants a kick in the teeth, I think he'd happily play Centre if Wayne asked him next week, he looks genuinely afraid of touching the footy right now.

 

[The True King]

I suspect the Dogs will get the spoon this year. They're dreadful.

Why is it that we always seem to play to our opponents level? No consistency whatsoever and its painful to watch.

Refs and a goal post have been instrumental in 3 of our 4 wins this season. Think we are very lucky to be where we are on the ladder, Warriors game aside we haven't look remotely like a top 8 team.

 

[Super Freak]

His positioning and lack of urgency have cost us at least 6 or 7 tries conceded this year

Can you point out those tries?

 

[Morkel]

We have a few huge issues!

1. The lack of a halfback
2. The lack of structure
3. We don’t use Roberts AT ALL

Yes
Yes
No. I disagree completely. He doesn't need more ball, he needs more room. We tried heaps of times to get the ball to him, early, but their defence was swarming on him. If we fix Issue 1 and Issue 2, we'll work out ways of drawing their defence in, giving him more room to move.

 

[BroncsFan]

Let’s clone Oates and Tpj and mass produce them

Might be the best development plan I've heard.

Needs a fullback, halfback and five eighth so should probably mass produce Lockyers and a couple Hodgos to play centers as well