*spoiler* Broncos vs Raiders trial

[Assassin]

Quick run down on what I seen


1. Karmichael Hunt - Normal hard running game before he went off hurt
2. Antonio Winterstein - Very solid, showed good speed. Moved to the centres late in the 2nd half and put Yow Yeh away a couple of times
3. Gerard Beale - Was very involved. Moved to fullback when hunt went off. Showed good speed
4. Israel Folau - {retty well contained by the Raiders outside backs. Looked nervous early but settled into his game. His try was brute strength
5. Jharal Yow Yeh - Similar performance to Winterstein, very solid. Made a meal of one bomb, but caught prob a harder one later.
6. Andrew McCullough - Very impressed with his game from 5/8. Very smooth, created plenty of chances for the outside backs. Got a great offload away late in the game
7. Peter Wallace - A bit scratchy for mine, His kicking game was off
8. Nick Kenny - Seemed to have bulked up a bit. Was strong all night, typical Kenny
9. Aaron Gorrell. - My MOTM. Very sharp from dummy half, and got the team rolling. Always looked dangerous
10. Sam Thaiday - Lead from the front, strong game with out being outstnading
11. Lagi Setu - Pretty quiet in the first half but really warmed into the game in the 2nd half. Was looking preety dangerous out wide, and was solid in defence
12. Ben Te'o - A carbon copy of Setu - Quiet first 40, but shortened a few Raiders up in defence in the 2nd half, and did look dangerous with ball in hand
13. Corey Parker - Solid.

Interchange: David Taylor - Ran hard but wasnt a stand out
Joel Clinton - Not sure he played, if he did he didnt do much
Alex Glenn - Not sure I had the right player, think he played a bit of dummy half. Looked ok if it was him
Guy Williams -Not sure
Aaron Sweeney - Made a few strong runs
Ashton Sims - I love Ash, but he was a passenger tonight
Josh McGuire - Only got a few mins but like Sweeney made 1 or 2 good runs
Tom Hewitt - Played a bit of wing and fullback in the 2nd half. Showed some good pace, made a good break late in the game

Thanks BroncoMatt thats a great post, really apreciate getting a feel for the game not being able to get there myself. THanks mate!!! I'm liking the fact Gorrel's still looking sharp, he may prove a very important signing yet.

 

[nopatience101]

i didnt think sweens was playing? heard he pulled out with a hamstring strain on friday....

 

[BroncoMatt]

i didnt think sweens was playing? heard he pulled out with a hamstring strain on friday....

Looked like him, but the Broncos were running away from where we were sitting in the 2nd half. The hits up I thought were from him may have been Guy Williams or McGuire then

 

[mick]

Good to hear about Gorrell. My biggest concern about him was how well he'd come back after playing in the ESL for 2+ years. He'll definitely be our best hooker atm, if he can keep up with the pace of the NRL IMO.

I would've held those concerns earlier this decade. But check out the ESL sometimes - it's still not the best comp in the world for RL, but it's quicker than the NRL these days.

 

[Assassin]

Yeah you've gotta remember just cause the poms suck badly in the world cup doesn't necesarilly mean the ESL is that bad cause so many of the teams are build around top quality Aussie and NZ imports, and not just the over 30's retiree's like the old days, many of the imports are right in the prime now. Keeps the standards propped up a bit.

 

[mick]

Yeah you've gotta remember just cause the poms suck badly in the world cup doesn't necesarilly mean the ESL is that bad cause so many of the teams are build around top quality Aussie and NZ imports, and not just the over 30's retiree's like the old days, many of the imports are right in the prime now. Keeps the standards propped up a bit.

And some of the home-grown players there are great too - a lot of young and old English talent. It's a great competition IMO - really fast-paced, attacking brand of RL minus the wrestle and crap icon_thumbs_u

 

[Jeba]

No. As Hammo mentioned in the ESL thread, the ESL is fast paced because its mostly one out play. Hence why the Poms can never defend such things as the second man play. The ESL is faster paced but its still quite shit.

 

[mrslong]

Hammo! Sims did do something...he didn't drop the ball. Can't say the same for DT.

From where I was sitting we got a pretty good view of Yow Yeh, and boy does he have an awesome fend and good lot of pace. I don't think I saw him drop the ball you are talking about, perhaps I was in the 6 hour line for beverages.

Sammy T was the stand out in the 2nd half and agree with everyone saying McCullough & Gorrell looked good, Ennis who? McCullough had a heaps better kicking game then Wally that's for sure. All in all we should be competitive this year. I was a little worried after the first half, our forwards looked like turnstiles.



Wraps to Alan Tongue who signed Autographs for the kids from 4pm when they arrived until he walked out the gate, always had a smile on his face too, as though he was really enjoying himself, looked like a nice guy.



The hilight of my night though was when the little ballboys were throwing out the free footies, then the whole crowd just jumped the fence and scab grabbed them out of the box. Lolz. (I didn't need the scab grap as my abilities under the high ball paid off and I caught one of the bazooka balls 8-) )

 

[mick]

No. As Hammo mentioned in the ESL thread, the ESL is fast paced because its mostly one out play. Hence why the Poms can never defend such things as the second man play. The ESL is faster paced but its still quite shit.

Lol. Most teams in the NRL utilise one out plays more than their UK counterparts.

Then you have one out play FOLLOWED by wrestling. Don't get me wrong, the NRL is still the #1 competition, but the UK league has gotten a lot quicker. One out plays after a quick play-the-ball also aren't overly boring - you actually have a retreating defensive line which hasn't had 75 seconds to get set in place during the grapple. More opportunities for attacking plays.

 

[Assassin]

Have to agree with Mick, fast play the balls = exciting footy to watch. Nothing better then a fastly retreating defensive line and attacking play cutting holes up the middle.

 

[Jeba]

No. As Hammo mentioned in the ESL thread, the ESL is fast paced because its mostly one out play. Hence why the Poms can never defend such things as the second man play. The ESL is faster paced but its still quite shit.

Lol. Most teams in the NRL utilise one out plays more than their UK counterparts.

Then you have one out play FOLLOWED by wrestling. Don't get me wrong, the NRL is still the #1 competition, but the UK league has gotten a lot quicker. One out plays after a quick play-the-ball also aren't overly boring - you actually have a retreating defensive line which hasn't had 75 seconds to get set in place during the grapple. More opportunities for attacking plays.

But the ESL halfbacks, five-eighths, fullbacks and outside backs have little to no creativity, most of the tries are the result of shit defence or just a prop forward crossing the tryline from a short ball.

There is a lot of one-out play in the NRL yes, but you'll see a lot of set plays from all around the field, not just inside the opponents' 20m. The ESL just do one-out, one-out, one-out, oh we're in striking distance here, lets try a second man play, oh crap we're shit at it, let's just give the ball to our halfback, bugger, no try this time.

 

[Hamm.0]

By the very nature of having a set defensive line (which is why clubs wrestle these days, because the stupid NRL has tried everything under the sun to speed up the play the ball, however that's for a different thread), halves and backlines in general have to have more set plays and second mans, decys, etc to break set defensive line.

Don't get me wrong there needs to be quick play the balls, however when they become as quick as the ESL, we might as well be playing a defensive line as broken as a Union defensive line.

 

[Je$ter]

ESL is way more 1 out than NRL. There is little or no movement off the ball and very few option runners. That's why the game is quicker - if you've only got 1 guy to worry about getting the ball, your line speed is so much faster because only 2 or 3 guys have to reload hard to make the 10. Because in the NRL there is shape off the ball, you don't know who oculd be a runner, meaning wrestling has come into ruck play to allow teams to reload in bigger numbers.

 

[Coxy]

Translation: The Storm have butchered the game to try and nullify interesting, high ball movement rugby league.

 

[The Brizz]

Holy smokes Batman you forgot the dots after your post!!!

 

[Coxy]

Because it wasn't a bait, Boy Wonder, it was a statement of fact.

 

[The Brizz]

Translation: The NRL have butchered the game by allowing ALL TEAMS to try and nullify interesting, high ball movement rugby league by allowing wrestling and coaches to teach such practices.

Fixed it for you Caped Crusader!

 

[Coxy]

Were the Storm not the pioneers of such boring tactics?