Round 9 - Broncos vs Cowboys Pre-game discussion

[Rabbir]

The thing I find amusing is that fans of other teams actually have Kennedy ahead of McGuire in the QLD Origin pecking order.

 

[MaroubraBroncos]

You've got to have both Hodges and Hoffman in the starting 13.

Odds on Hodges will step into the 6 during out attacking raids. The way the Souths defence hung off him and allowed him to throw those cut out balls all night to Vidot and Maranta...

No doubting that at all, but definitely not a 5/8. He's probably one of the best wingers in the game on his day!

 

[Old Mate]

I hope so much Macca doesn't come off for Granville, would be gun having him as another kicking option, or even playing a bit of 5/8.

 

[Morkel]

I hope so much Macca doesn't come off for Granville, would be gun having him as another kicking option, or even playing a bit of 5/8.

I keep hearing this but I keep asking the same question - who comes off??? Unless it's one of the halves, it will mean that one of the hookers will have to play back row. Big no for Granville, he'll be steamrolled. And while it is kind of unfair to just McCullough on last year's cameo in the #12, he's just not suited to the role. He's fine in the middle where he can make early contact and have the props around him to add their size, but in the back row he'll be isolated and exposed. You'd be painting a target on him for Sims & Taumalolo, especially when you consider he'd likely be next to one of our halves in the defensive line. Red rag to a bull.

It's best to utilise it as it should be - it gives McCullough a breather so he can close out the game with air in his lungs.

 

[Old Mate]

I keep hearing this but I keep asking the same question - who comes off??? Unless it's one of the halves, it will mean that one of the hookers will have to play back row. Big no for Granville, he'll be steamrolled. And while it is kind of unfair to just McCullough on last year's cameo in the #12, he's just not suited to the role. He's fine in the middle where he can make early contact and have the props around him to add their size, but in the back row he'll be isolated and exposed. You'd be painting a target on him for Sims & Taumalolo, especially when you consider he'd likely be next to one of our halves in the defensive line. Red rag to a bull.

It's best to utilise it as it should be - it gives McCullough a breather so he can close out the game with air in his lungs.

In attack I want Macca playing as a 5/8 on Hoffman's side, Hoffman can then just act as a ball runner which is all he is anyway. I'd be fine with Granville coming on for a second rower and having Macca defend in the forward who came offs position. I think he can handle it, I'd even be happy for Granville to defend there, it's only for 5/10 minutes a half.

 

[CaptainHook]

maybe griffin is being harsh on the dropped balls. not the first time he has this season. to win those close games we need the senior players to stand up instead they've been making mistakes

YES! I agree 100%, coreyh88.

Rightly or wrongly, errors like the ones we've been committing need to be rectified. It's not the younger players letting us down - it's the seniors who should know better. Hannant, from memory, has dropped the ball twice on kick returns after points have been scored.

It's happened far too often in the last two seasons for us to call it 'unlucky.' I feel for Hannant as his stats recently have been impressive but geez sometimes we just need to respect the footy and hang on to it.

 

[Alec]

Both hookers have to defend in the middle anyway, so clearly a front rower comes off. Running from dummy half makes better metres than props do late in the game, and then you have the 2nd hooker at dummy half after the first ran to take advantage of the retreating defence.

 

[CaptainHook]

It's best to utilise it as it should be - it gives McCullough a breather so he can close out the game with air in his lungs.

Agreed. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome that Macca is going the full 80 after all this time, but he still needs some time to get his fitness up to 80 minutes of quality. A good example was the Knights game. For a period of about 20 minutes in the second half, he looked buggered. The side was struggling for momentum and it had been a while since we scored. Granville comes on for a quick stint, our attack sprung to life again and we scored. Macca then returns and we pile on one or two more tries.

 

[rnabokov]

For me, the bottom line is at this point in the season, we need a stable, settled structure ASAP or we will fall in a heap.

 

[Morkel]

Both hookers have to defend in the middle anyway, so clearly a front rower comes off. Running from dummy half makes better metres than props do late in the game, and then you have the 2nd hooker at dummy half after the first ran to take advantage of the retreating defence.

That's assuming during that 10 minutes we have any momentum in attack to allow dummy-half scoots. If we're pinned, they'll each make 5 metres and then get dragged back 10.

And defence! You'd seriously have both McCullough & Granville defending in the middle with whatever bench prop is on at the time (probably Hala ffs)?!?!?!?

 

[Cult]

That's assuming during that 10 minutes we have any momentum in attack to allow dummy-half scoots. If we're pinned, they'll each make 5 metres and then get dragged back 10.

And defence! You'd seriously have both McCullough & Granville defending in the middle with whatever bench prop is on at the time (probably Hala ffs)?!?!?!?

Granville running from half will get us on the front foot.

 

[Morkel]

Granville running from half will get us on the front foot.

Granville defending at prop will certainly have us on the back foot.

 

[Alec]

Granville defending at prop will certainly have us on the back foot.

Then why pick him at all? He'll have to defend in the middle regardless of how we play, unless Griffindor uses him as a 80 minute bench warming specialist.

And in case someone brings up the subject of "size", some of the best defenders in recent times have been the smaller blokes (like Dallas Johnson) and hookers.

If Granville can't defend, then don't pick him at all. If he can, then it won't make a difference having both him and McCullough out there at the same time, especially since McCullough is a better defender than most of our props anyway.

 

[Big Pete]

Then why pick him at all?

Fresh legs.

The game has really sped up to the point where running a player like Granville for short bursts can be advantageous and prevent any potential burn-out Macca may suffer.

And in case someone brings up the subject of "size", some of the best defenders in recent times have been the smaller blokes (like Dallas Johnson) and hookers.

Johnson was an exception and not the rule.

Even so, there were examples where they tried to put Johnson together with smaller players in the pack and they just got trampled over. (ie Origin 1 2006).

Similar deal with McCullough last season where they shifted him into the backrow. Even last week he was brushed off pretty easily by George Burgess. I'm aware that Burgess will do that to most, but it was hardly a great endorsement for Macca's defence.

It's an idea but at best it's a horses for courses approach when we're desperate for points and the opposition is showing signs of weakness in the ruck.

 

[coreyh88]

Why don't we shift macca to 6 instead. It will give him as a constant kicking option while Granville is on enormously reducing the pressure on hunt. We will have people that can pass in every spine position. I think it will give us more composure.

he even played at 6 in the under 20's

 

[Big Pete]

McCullough only played five eigth for a game or two in the NYC and was quickly moved to hooker.

 

[Alec]

I'm not asking one of them to defend on the edges, they'd be defending in the middle, just like they would by themselves. You'll lose a few Ks, but the whole size thing is rubbish anyway, they've already made that mistake with Kennedy thinking that he'll be bending the opposition back, while in reality he's having less impact than Dallas Johnson in attack. Size doesn't mean your tackling technique or your lateral movement improves.

 

[CaptainHook]

McCullough only played five eigth for a game or two in the NYC and was quickly moved to hooker.

I thought he made his debut for Brisbane in the halves?