POST GAME Round 9 - Broncos vs Bulldogs

[rnabokov]

TPJ at prop worked well tonight

Does a fullback really need speed?

I think it's a bit of an overrated quality regarding fullbacks. It wasn't long ago we had the form fullback in the comp, and he wasn't a speedster. Neither was Hunt.

I think we've seen over the years you don't need speed to be a top tier fullback.

The qualities needed, Niu doesn't have. That's something he's going to have to develop if he wants to go any further in the role.

For me, it's speed off the mark, both when running the ball back and also when linking up on the edge or behind the ruck. Slater comes to mind, Tedesco of course and Turbo. All the best FB's have footwork and speed off the mark. With the game now a lot faster, speed is such an attribute, in every facet of the game and the top 3 sides have it and use it all the time, which is why they are at the top of the tree.

 

[Skathen]

For me, it's speed off the mark, both when running the ball back and also when linking up on the edge or behind the ruck. Slater comes to mind, Tedesco of course and Turbo. All the best FB's have footwork and speed off the mark. With the game now a lot faster, speed is such an attribute, in every facet of the game and the top 3 sides have it and use it all the time, which is why they are at the top of the tree.

Absolutely, the ability to take and get to full flight makes a lot of meters. You have a defensive line coming at you at anywhere between 6-10 meters per second. A snappy catch and burst of speed can easily make a 10m+ advantage. Not to mention, hitting the defensive line at full pace with a good step allows you to often get your nose through the line and not get driven back. I always compare people to Karmichael - he would take the ball then accelerate really fast and hit the line flat tack.

 

[heartly87]

Just for those that may have missed it... this happened

View attachment 8680

Didn't know Elton John was into our kind of footy.

 

[Viti]

This probably isn’t the thread for it, but given the discussion on Niu what’s everyone’s thoughts on Reece Walsh?
I rate him pretty highly from the little I’ve seen of him but was hoping someone a bit more in the know may be able to shed a bit more light on him

 

[Jedhead]

Just seeking clarification. Are your votes out of 10 or 5?

5

 

[Dexter]

I think it’s probably good to make sure we have 3 starting quality props... I think try and use fleglers money elsewhere overpaid and just isn’t performing consistently enough... just lazy mistakes that really put us on the back foot... money could get us a decent prop that doesn’t make those errors and contribute better elsewhere in the cap

I agree Flegs has been ordinary this year but we know what he can do. It's too early to be trading him out because if we can fix his mistakes he will develop.into that solid forward we need to balance the pack.
Plus he is a Qlder and Bronco , we need to get back to being who we are and be very selective on our purchases.

 

[winslow_wong]

I agree Flegs has been ordinary this year but we know what he can do. It's too early to be trading him out because if we can fix his mistakes he will develop.into that solid forward we need to balance the pack.
Plus he is a Qlder and Bronco , we need to get back to being who we are and be very selective on our purchases.

Would rather trade Joffa first. He’s more expensive, probably has the same errors and arguably less output than fleggler.

 

[WASSHHH]

Niu is too small to be elite.

He is listed as 1kg heavier than Slater, 6kg heavier than Lockyer and 1cm shorter than both.

But I guess those blokes never really made it as fullbacks.

 

[Dexter]

He is listed as 1kg heavier than Slater, 6kg heavier than Lockyer and 1cm shorter than both.

But I guess those blokes never really made it as fullbacks.

So your saying he's short and fat

 

[jd87]

niu is a natural fullback one of his best traits is to get himself in good positions in both attack and defence. thats something isaako lacked. weather he gets to a billy slater or tedasco is yet to be seen but to be honest he doesn't need to be.

would be really disappointing if broncos cant lock him up long turn because i dont know if they have any other prospects coming through at that level. and **** trying to buy an elite fullback it just will not happen.

would be interested in hearing who some of you would rather be there if not niu because i cannot reasonably think of anyone.

 

[winslow_wong]

So your saying he's short and fat

We have one of those already

 

[Dexter]

niu is a natural fullback one of his best traits is to get himself in good positions in both attack and defence. thats something isaako lacked. weather he gets to a billy slater or tedasco is yet to be seen but to be honest he doesn't need to be.

would be really disappointing if broncos cant lock him up long turn because i dont know if they have any other prospects coming through at that level. and **** trying to buy an elite fullback it just will not happen.

would be interested in hearing who some of you would rather be there if not niu because i cannot reasonably think of anyone.

Not sure why some are reading stuff into a couple of innocuous comments.
Nobody has bagged the kid.
Simple observation that he doesn't look like he is that quick. Given the hype around him I think it's a fair observation.
We all agree he has been very solid and showing good signs.

 

[WASSHHH]

So your saying he's short and fat

Yeh, he’s like Milford.

But unlike Milford, his bulk is from the rib cage up, not down.

 

[Eli Suave]

Well I think what this says to me is that this is not a 'structure' team but rather an 'ad-lib' team.

That's what Seibold needs to embrace, sure a couple of simple plays but ultimately hard direct running, supporting the forwards looking for offloads, good kick chase and let the boys keep the ball alive and play a bit. Then just work on that defence to recover from errors.

I guess truly that's how we have always played, we are not the Storm.

Agreed - In all honesty our style of play over the years has been a fast paced attack with plenty of ball movement and absorbing defence. When we start clicking the new rules should start to favour us. A lot of the reason we lose to teams like storm I think is we aren’t really built to grind a game out. The reason our games with roosters over the years have been close is because we play a similar fast pace up tempo game. My two cents

 

[Eli Suave]

Agreed...much better. and the result....a win.

We must get rid of these handling errors next. Issako and Fledgler always good for 1 or 3 every game. They're killing us.

And bloody Oates- guaranteed 1-2 drops from him a damn game

 

[Cult]

He made 3 errors. Coates made 2.

Context. Coates made one of those errors trying to catch a bomb to score a try on the last tackle. Isaako made his errors in our own half and on the first few tackles.

 

[Eli Suave]

That’s why I am annoyed we are likely not going to be in the finals.

Because as deplorable as we are at the moment, this competition is going to be a Bradbury title hands down. It’s going to be survival of the fittest and any team that is in reasonable health come finals could win it with the amount of injuries to teams occurring every week. Like you said Canberra’s season is practically over if ACL is confirmed for Hodgson. Manly’s season has been crueller by injuries to key players. Roosters are dropping like flies but still have enough class but another big injury and you would assume they would be beatable.

Storm, Panthers and Eels are the ones in decent shape at the moment but even then both Storm and eels are missing their key half to injury. It’s a lottery at the moment in terms of injuries.

I think any time you win a game and have no injuries are worth double in this comp.

These injuries are no coincidences. I blame the new stupid rules- fatigue may “speed” the game up fatigue also leaves your body vulnerable to more injuries. Been saying it since the new rules that there’s going to be more blow outs and by the time finals get here half the players are going to be out injured. Seriously if we are trying to turn the speed into a touch game than they may as well get rid of the play the ball and just allow them to dump it between their legs.

 

[McHunt]

Context. Coates made one of those errors trying to catch a bomb to score a try on the last tackle. Isaako made his errors in our own half and on the first few tackles.

He's a try scoring machine: