The Wayne Bennett Super thread!

[Foordy]

The thing i do worry about it that WB cant go on forever and what happens next time he leaves? We cant afford to be so reliant on WB to make the Broncos contenders. I don't see Walters as his successor either tbh so it will be interesting to see if we have a better plan this time around.

apart from his form at the Knights, that was my biggest concern ... and still is as a matter of fact. I thought we were finally starting to emerge from his shadow. and even though Griffin certainly wasn't the right coach, we were starting to make moves in the right direction.

Wayne Bennett has done a good job with us ... he brought back in a winning attitude. he tightened our defence. and a few other little things that we were missing that the great teams have.

but once again the next coach will have the shadow of the great Wayne Bennett hanging over his head. and if he doesn't live up the standards of arguably the greatest rugby league coach in history ... people will turn on him , rather quickly.

 

[broncos4life]

Worrying about what happens past Wayne in rd12 in the first year of his first contract back with us just shows how little we have to worry about currently

 

[theshed]

It also depends on Wayne's role after this contract. If he retires or gets s role at the club then the transition should be much more structured and gradual.

 

[Mr Fourex]

The thing i do worry about it that WB cant go on forever and what happens next time he leaves? We cant afford to be so reliant on WB to make the Broncos contenders. I don't see Walters as his successor either tbh so it will be interesting to see if we have a better plan this time around.

This time around it'll be WB's plan....so its likely that it will build on the success that he has restored.

 

[Ari Gold]

WB has definitely exceeded my expectations. He's made some fantastic changes and we're nothing like we were in his final years with us.

By the same token, I'm hating the Boyd signing even more. With Kahu doing so well at fullback too, Boyd feels more than ever like a needless signing.

 

[Porthoz]

WB has definitely exceeded my expectations. He's made some fantastic changes and we're nothing like we were in his final years with us.

By the same token, I'm hating the Boyd signing even more. With Kahu doing so well at fullback too, Boyd feels more than ever like a needless signing.

This is exactly how I feel as well.

I'm still not happy about how it all went (and will never be), but I will give Wayne heaps of credit with what he has done with the collective.
This is a team where every individual is working with and for the one next to him, and that more than anything else, is making all the difference.
I wish he wasn't that conservative, didn't take the two every time it's on offer, and a more attractive attacking style, but I can't really complain.

Re Boyd, regardless of his form, I am still 100% convinced he was not necessary, as we had the players in house to cover for him and plenty of talent coming through.

 

[rnabokov]

This is exactly how I feel as well.

I'm still not happy about how it all went (and will never be), but I will give Wayne heaps of credit with what he has done with the collective.
This is a team where every individual is working with and for the one next to him, and that more than anything else, is making all the difference.
I wish he wasn't that conservative, didn't take the two every time it's on offer, and a more attractive attacking style, but I can't really complain.

Re Boyd, regardless of his form, I am still 100% convinced he was not necessary, as we had the players in house to cover for him and plenty of talent coming through.

I also agree about Boyd but it seems like it was almost a bundle, a package deal - couldn't have Bennett without Boyd. For mine, Kahu is the FB we ought to have had and Boyd if he was to play anywhere ought to be on the wing.

Having said that, I have completely changed my thinking about Milford at 5/8 and taking you up on 2 points: I think Bennett's conservatism is in fact a good thing for this side. For me, it has led to a more settled, composed side which is developing its structures well, and with Milford + Hunt leading the way, our attacking style is becoming very "attractive" with a lot better to come.

My major worry, having just watched the Dragons destroy the Sharks, is their consistently terrific line speed in defence. We are letting every team since the Roosters game get way too many free metres up the middle with slow line speed and, while Bennett's very positive influence on our excellent goal line defence and one-on-one tackling is showing, line speed is where we will come undone against the top sides.

For mine, this is where Bennett's real value as master coach will be proven (or not), to get that right, ASAP. Manly will certainly test us out here, especially if DCE and Foran play.

 

[Socnorb]

I also agree about Boyd but it seems like it was almost a bundle, a package deal - couldn't have Bennett without Boyd. For mine, Kahu is the FB we ought to have had and Boyd if he was to play anywhere ought to be on the wing.

Having said that, I have completely changed my thinking about Milford at 5/8 and taking you up on 2 points: I think Bennett's conservatism is in fact a good thing for this side. For me, it has led to a more settled, composed side which is developing its structures well, and with Milford + Hunt leading the way, our attacking style is becoming very "attractive" with a lot better to come.

My major worry, having just watched the Dragons destroy the Sharks, is their consistently terrific line speed in defence. We are letting every team since the Roosters game get way too many free metres up the middle with slow line speed and, while Bennett's very positive influence on our excellent goal line defence and one-on-one tackling is showing, line speed is where we will come undone against the top sides.

For mine, this is where Bennett's real value as master coach will be proven (or not), to get that right, ASAP. Manly will certainly test us out here, especially if DCE and Foran play.

Having great line speed in defence is one thing. Having a good defencive record is another.

 

[rnabokov]

Having great line speed in defence is one thing. Having a good defencive record is another.

Our attacking record is good. Our defensive record is ordinary. The defensive record of the Dragons, Roosters and Storm is not. They have excellent line speed which makes their defensive records (comparatively) extraordinary. They are the teams who will find us out.

 

[Nashy]

Kahu over Boyd? Pfft please.

 

[broncos4life]

Our defensive record is ordinary. .

Are you being sarcastic again? Because seriously I can never tell

 

[Huge]

Our attacking record is good. Our defensive record is ordinary. The defensive record of the Dragons, Roosters and Storm is not. They have excellent line speed which makes their defensive records (comparatively) extraordinary. They are the teams who will find us out.

Fourth best defence is hardly ordinary ! The teams who are better do in fact have a much better defensive record and yes, we could and should improve that department but we are not that bad. Equal first can only be bettered by outright first and we were close to being that. I would like to see us getting off the line quicker but on the flip side we are pinged less often for offsides and conceding easy metres and a fresh set of tackles. Perhaps that's an equation that WB has done.

 

[Porthoz]

Fourth best defence is hardly ordinary ! The teams who are better do in fact have a much better defensive record and yes, we could and should improve that department but we are not that bad. Equal first can only be bettered by outright first and we were close to being that. I would like to see us getting off the line quicker but on the flip side we are pinged less often for offsides and conceding easy metres and a fresh set of tackles. Perhaps that's an equation that WB has done.

We actually do concede those pretty easily, but we must be close to the top sides at defending our line and conceding line breaks with our sliding defense. Ordinary we're definitely not... that's more a line to be used with Canberra, Parra, Cronulla, Tits and Newy.

Dragqueens, grubs and cheats have much better defenses, because they're able to move their line quick, while still being able to slide side to side. We're not quite there yet...

 

[Huge]

We actually do concede those pretty easily, but we must be close to the top sides at defending our line and conceding line breaks with our sliding defense. Ordinary we're definitely not... that's more a line to be used with Canberra, Parra, Cronulla, Tits and Newy.

Dragqueens, grubs and cheats have much better defenses, because they're able to move their line quick, while still being able to slide side to side. We're not quite there yet...

I take your point but you've misunderstood what I'd written. The metres I was referring to are the easy metres ( generally between 15 and 30 metres ) that are gained from the kicker after the penalty awarded. When combined with the metres gained from the fresh set of six it's a big hit so by not conceding the offside penalties as often as the sides that absolutely jump off the defensive 10 there is a benefit in a rock solid but somewhat slow moving defence line. Most of the penalties we concede are in the ruck but we don't concede a lot of them either. Do you know where I could see our penalty counts for the season Porthoz ?

 

[Socnorb]

Our attacking record is good. Our defensive record is ordinary. The defensive record of the Dragons, Roosters and Storm is not. They have excellent line speed which makes their defensive records (comparatively) extraordinary. They are the teams who will find us out.

I could not agree with this less. We were hardly "found out" by the dragons. Our defence has been outstanding this year regardless of the speed of the line, and here we are = top of the ladder.

 

[rnabokov]

Are you being sarcastic again? Because seriously I can never tell

No, not sarcastic. Our defence is great - goal line and one-on-one. I was referring to our points conceded which is not good. For me, that is largely because our line speed is average. The reason we are sitting near the top of the table is because our attack is bloody good. However, as our game against the Dragons showed, their defence contained our attack, admittedly, just, which is a real positive.

The issue for me is that the top sides with a clearly good defensive record, the Dragons 126 points against v our 204 will become telling as their attack continues to improve while their defence remains rock solid. If we remain soft up the middle, they will outscore us as they contain us.

For mine, we are soft up the middle and sooner than later, we will be found out unless we nail the attack as we did v Roosters, since when we have gone downhill. Thank goodness our attack is getting better and better, but it won't be enough until we hold the middle a lot better than we are doing now.

I doubt the Raiders would have scored a point against the Dragons.

 

[Dexter]

Gotta say, the knights seem to be really thriving post bennett. Only undefeated team so far. Seems Stone is getting far more out of a few players that bennett couldnt.

Uate is absolutely on fire this year. He got progressively worse under bennett, to the point of being dropped.
Snowden is back to, if not better than, his form from way back at the sharks. Under bennett he was mediocre at best. This year he is one of the form props of the comp.
Gidley, back in his rightful position of fullback, is back in form and playing good footy. Without boyd there to steal his spot he can do what he does best.

Knights fans are laughing at the moment. Not only did they get rid of a bad coach (for the time he was at their club), but they also got rid of one of their least liked players in boyd, and they are thriving because of it.

Always interesting to read old posts

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Gotta say, the knights seem to be really thriving post bennett. Only undefeated team so far. Seems Stone is getting far more out of a few players that bennett couldnt.

Uate is absolutely on fire this year. He got progressively worse under bennett, to the point of being dropped.
Snowden is back to, if not better than, his form from way back at the sharks. Under bennett he was mediocre at best. This year he is one of the form props of the comp.
Gidley, back in his rightful position of fullback, is back in form and playing good footy. Without boyd there to steal his spot he can do what he does best.

Knights fans are laughing at the moment. Not only did they get rid of a bad coach (for the time he was at their club), but they also got rid of one of their least liked players in boyd, and they are thriving because of it.

:lol: How are you feeling right about now?