The Jury is out: Matt Gillett

[I bleed Maroon]

I don't think there is a single player in the entire Broncos squad that divides the fanbase more than Matt Gillett.

The Test and Origin backrower, in my mind at least, is a solid player whose errors/brain fades tend to come at pretty crucial moments, which therefore amplify their severity. The dropped ball and thus bombed try during Origin 1 being the perfect example but there have been other instances such as this one, but not necessarily bombed tries. He isn't foreign to a stupid penalty or two.

Ultimately in my opinion, he is a very talented backrower who needs some serious work on his discipline. Maybe he was thrown into the representative deep end sooner than he should've been, but those who consistently call for his head really don't have a clue how a backrow is supposed to work if Gillett does not qualify being there. Were we so quick to call for Thaiday's sacking? I bet there were some that were.

Give the kid a break.

 

[rnabokov]

When you have that much talent, your mistakes look a lot bigger. The focus shifts. The terrific things you do get taken for granted or ignored.

What Gillett needs is a coach who knows how to bring out the best in him, and some decent ball which comes from some decent play making structures wouldn't go astray. Then, maybe there will be some support for the high expectations we have of him.

I don't see any more brain fades/errors in Gillett than any other talented player in this, or any team, and the fix for that is what I have already said.

 

[pennywisealfie]

I can't stand anyone, get rid of them all. They are fine with losing all the time. Can you imagine our teams of old putting up with this shit? hell no. Embarrassing.

 

[Big Pete]

Gillett is one of the stars of the team.

Yes, he has technical faults but his ability to create or capitilise on opportunities is rare and cannot go unappreciated.

I have some concerns over how he is being utilised at the Broncos. I don't believe he is a player who should be playing 80 every game and there are times where he would perform better if he was afforded a breather. I also don't believe he is being fed enough quality ball either.

However, I don't believe anybody outside of a limited minority believe Gillett is a bad club player. The argument is whether or not he's a representative player and despite playing 7 Origins and 1 Test he's yet to stake his claim for one reason or another. The question is, will he be able to have that break-out performance? Additionally are there superior options outside of the 17?

 

[broncos4life]

I can't stand anyone, get rid of them all. They are fine with losing all the time. Can you imagine our teams of old putting up with this shit? hell no. Embarrassing.

Wtf?

 

[Bucking Beads]

I've been disappointed with how Gillett has gone at rep level. I think he is capable of better. His biggest flaw is that he has a dropped ball or 2 in him per game. He is our best backrower at this stage and is developing into a leader of our forward pack.

 

[Brett]

His biggest problem is the way he's being used.

He's primarily being used as a battering ram through the middle when the Props get tired. His best game is when he plays as a wide running Backrower (SHOCK, HORROR!). His run off Barba against the Knights where he trampled Boyd, and there was another one a few games prior that I can't remember right now. That's where he's best used.

 

[winslow_wong]

let's sack hook first and see which players are the real deal

 

[broncos4life]

let's sack hook first and see which players are the real deal

Can't agree more

 

[Super Freak]

His biggest problem is the way he's being used.

He's primarily being used as a battering ram through the middle when the Props get tired. His best game is when he plays as a wide running Backrower (SHOCK, HORROR!). His run off Barba against the Knights where he trampled Boyd, and there was another one a few games prior that I can't remember right now. That's where he's best used.

Round 2 vs Cowboys.

 

[rnabokov]

His biggest problem is the way he's being used.

He's primarily being used as a battering ram through the middle when the Props get tired. His best game is when he plays as a wide running Backrower (SHOCK, HORROR!). His run off Barba against the Knights where he trampled Boyd, and there was another one a few games prior that I can't remember right now. That's where he's best used.

This is spot on. I also think he is not being used properly at rep level as a hole running back rower consistently, although that dropped ball was such a disappointment.

We should use Gillett like the Roosters use Cordner, and also utilize his ability to offload. I can't Gillett surrounded by support runners very often.

Yet again, it is a question of consistent, organized structures and set plays properly executed by both halves ... sorry ... in our case, we only have 1 half ... maybe that's also an issue

 

[broncos4life]

I'm not sure why everyone is going on about the drop ball like it was a certain, he was well wrapped up by the defense

 

[Cult]

At the start of the year I was all for Gillett having a stint in Q Cup or being shopped around to other clubs. Based on his form at the time, he was doing horribly. Since then he has won me over. He played alright in the Origin game and was better than McQueen. He made one error that may or may not have resulted in a try. Other than that he really did nothing wrong.

 

[rnabokov]

At the start of the year I was all for Gillett having a stint in Q Cup or being shopped around to other clubs. Based on his form at the time, he was doing horribly. Since then he has won me over. He played alright in the Origin game and was better than McQueen. He made one error that may or may not have resulted in a try. Other than that he really did nothing wrong.

While I disagree about the QCup bit, I thought Gillett was poorly used for much of Origin, and what he did was run strongly and defended well. I thought his performance was as good as any forward.

I'll say it again, he should be used a hell of a lot more like the Roosters use Cordner and Manly use Stewart - hole running on the edges and ball playing more or less out wide.

We actually have used him a few times like that as posted earlier, and look at the results, as well as that time he kicked and chased. I will watch the Manly game with interest if Gillett plays to see if he and Barba/Hunt will work combinations.

 

[Super Freak]

Even if Gillett caught that ball, Jennings tackled him short of the line. He was covered by the defense, he wasn't going to score.

Why are there no calls to drop Guerra? If he passed the ball to Inglis, he is left one on one with a blues defender and you would back Inglis to run over the top of him and score.

 

[subsbligh]

11. Glenn
12. Thaiday
13. Parker

15. Gillett

Problem solved.

Hannant, McGuire, Kennedy and Walllace share the front row duties.

Thaiday and Gillett as edge running second rowers... **** if only we had a coach that knew how to utilise a gameplan and a 6 that could put these two into holes.

 

[noisetheory]

what brought this thread on?

i like gillett and think he's a good player. i dont think he's as good as he's been made out to be, with australian selection and basically walk up starting spot in the qld back row.

 

[Splinter]

I'm not sure why everyone is going on about the drop ball like it was a certain, he was well wrapped up by the defense

He was stopped about 1.5 meters short of the try line by a desperate tackle only be caused he started to stop the run after the dropped ball. I would contest a 90% probability he would have scored if the ball had been caught and he did not start to halt his run