NEWS Tom Dearden to Shit Factory: STFU already

[McHunt]

I’m hot and cold about Milf but there’s no current substitute at the club for his kicking game (chip and chase excluded). His kicking game is currently far superior to both Dearden and Croft’s and I think we are in even bigger trouble without it. I’m happy to move him on but we need someone who has a decent boot to replace him. For me it’s a big Croft OR Dearden situation not both. Unless Dearden really makes some massive gains in his kicking abilities this season.

Milford's kick and lob to Coates directly assisted his two tries, and his break in the second half should've resulted in a try had Croft not dudded it by kicking instead of passing to Turpin.

Match Highlights: Broncos v Eels

The Broncos host the Eels during Round 1 of the 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership

www.nrl.com

 

[abashii]

Not one to judge, but I want to know how @McHunt came into posession of such images!

Given the known legal threats issued to bhq over alleged copyright infringement, I'm guessing that is his original content and one of the gentlemen pictured is none other than our beloved editor-in-chimp himself. But which one?

 

[broncsgoat]

I won't be surprised if we end up with Dearden and Croft as 5/8 with Milf moved on. Milford needs a great season to be considered and the single performance he's given so far I didn't see a massive improvement. I'm biased admittedly and that's due to his more downs than ups efforts over the last couple of years.

His defence was only marginally better than last year in my opinion and I've always thought he just won't put his body on the line. He still does this arm grabber type shit at times.

His pinpoint kick and cut out pass try assists didn’t impress you?

 

[mrslong]

Milford's kick and lob to Coates directly assisted his two tries, and his break in the second half should've resulted in a try had Croft not dudded it by kicking instead of passing to Turpin.

Match Highlights: Broncos v Eels

The Broncos host the Eels during Round 1 of the 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership

www.nrl.com

You mean by dropping the ball cold and somehow connecting with his boot before it was a knock on. Such a muppet move by Croft.

 

[theshed]

Milford's kick and lob to Coates directly assisted his two tries, and his break in the second half should've resulted in a try had Croft not dudded it by kicking instead of passing to Turpin.

Match Highlights: Broncos v Eels

The Broncos host the Eels during Round 1 of the 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership

www.nrl.com

Yeah first half Milford you would keep everyday of the week. The issue is all we needed was smart conservative footy and we were a chance off of winning that game. Hopefully Walters can improve the management and composure side of Milf’s game. The effort was definitely there but he needs to be able to guide the team under pressure and his inability to do so is definitely a contributing factor to the second half fades (though obviously he’s not the only one).

Hopefully Dearden can develop into the the guy who plays the smart footy when we’re under pressure and Milf can just be the flat track bully he’s always been which will rack up points when we have a role on.

 

[Foordy]

Milford's kick and lob to Coates directly assisted his two tries, and his break in the second half should've resulted in a try had Croft not dudded it by kicking instead of passing to Turpin.

Match Highlights: Broncos v Eels

The Broncos host the Eels during Round 1 of the 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership

www.nrl.com

TBF, Croft didn't make the decision to kick, he dropped and was able to get his foot to it in time ... unfortunately that gave the bunker the ability to screw us.

 

[Foordy]

Yeah first half Milford you would keep everyday of the week. The issue is all we needed was smart conservative footy and we were a chance off of winning that game. Hopefully Walters can improve the management and composure side of Milf’s game. The effort was definitely there but he needs to be able to guide the team under pressure and his inability to do so is definitely a contributing factor to the second half fades (though obviously he’s not the only one).

Hopefully Dearden can develop into the the guy who plays the smart footy when we’re under pressure and Milf can just be the flat track bully he’s always been which will rack up points when we have a role on.

TBF to Milf it was his first game under Kevvie (didn't even play a trial) ... like the rest of the team he is still trying to shake the Seibold regime from his system.

I personally wouldn't be making a decision on him for 4-6 weeks

 

[Sproj]

I really liked the way Croft responded to being shown faith last game. No he was not perfect by any means but every time there was a break, he was right there in support or making the break himself. He was often last one chasing and those are the 1 per centers I want to see. I won't hold the Broncs screwing that Turpin no try up, they haven't been in a position to finish off a game in a long time and any other day or any other team, it would have been awarded a try anyway. If it keeps happening, then it is a problem but I won't fault a guy for putting his hand up repeatedly when the going gets tough and despite the constant criticism he receives.

Lets just say, Croft is very much winning me over, I really liked what I saw last week. I think he is going to turn into a really, really good half for us, we just need to get his partner right.

 

[theshed]

TBF to Milf it was his first game under Kevvie (didn't even play a trial) ... like the rest of the team he is still trying to shake the Seibold regime from his system.

I personally wouldn't be making a decision on him for 4-6 weeks

Yeah definitely. I really liked the way the halves were used with Milf popping up all over the field and demanding the ball. It could be really potent once it’s a little more refined and second nature. I think Milford really showed his value and hopefully he builds on that performance because we are a much better side with him playing well. It was the most demanding and assertive I think I’ve ever seen him, and that’s what we’ve all been hoping for.

 

[1910]

I'm not saying we did everything right ... hell, I'm not even saying we did anything right in the Walker case.

But letting him go implies, we did nothing to try and keep him, which isn't the case.

Walker (and his family) thought it best to take the Roosters offer instead of ours ... a decision that probably wouldn't have been made if Kevvie was in place 12 months earlier

What did they do to attract him to the Broncos?

 

[BroncsFan]

Yeah first half Milford you would keep everyday of the week. The issue is all we needed was smart conservative footy and we were a chance off of winning that game. Hopefully Walters can improve the management and composure side of Milf’s game. The effort was definitely there but he needs to be able to guide the team under pressure and his inability to do so is definitely a contributing factor to the second half fades (though obviously he’s not the only one).

Hopefully Dearden can develop into the the guy who plays the smart footy when we’re under pressure and Milf can just be the flat track bully he’s always been which will rack up points when we have a role on.

It should be noted that the chip and chase and whatnot was when we were behind and getting nothing from the refs.

Eels took the lead in the 59th minute so we spent half the second half behind on the scoreboard and were therefore looking for points.

There were a few kicks that Milf could've been better on, but eels back 3 were protecting well enough to make it hard for him and we didn't have extra legs in the forwards to build momentum and get down the field for an early kick, which is what we did well in the first half (ie. kicking behind Sivo whilst he was still up in the line).

I dont think we even got to a nice point on the field to put up a torp bomb which was bringing success in the first half.

The second try was the real killer and put us miles on the back foot with injuries already in place... I'll reserve judgement until there's a game that has been managed poorly when we are in front rather than those where we are on the back foot with no momentum

 

[BroncsFan]

Yeah definitely. I really liked the way the halves were used with Milf popping up all over the field and demanding the ball. It could be really potent once it’s a little more refined and second nature. I think Milford really showed his value and hopefully he builds on that performance because we are a much better side with him playing well. It was the most demanding and assertive I think I’ve ever seen him, and that’s what we’ve all been hoping for.

Yeah it was nice to see Milf popping up both sides of the field and it reminded me of his play in 2017/18 (I believe?).

We had lost Bhunt and it was obvious that the coaching decision was to effectively make Milf the "halfback" even though Kodi wore the 7.

Kodi did a bit of kicking, but Milf was basically our primary kicker and I recall he had a couple 40/20's and I'd say it was his most proficient year with getting kick restarts (we would kick it early inside the 20m to build constant pressure... appears to be a Demetriou tactic as Souths were doing it the second Bennett and JD hit town, but we only started doing it when JD was taking more ownership of the attack). He had 18 forced dropouts in 2018 vs 13 in 2016.

But what he did do was get his hands on the ball a lot at first receiver and at that point I thought he would actually make a good halfback. Maybe not the game managing halfback, but at least the guy who is first receiver inside the 20m and take ownership of the attack inside the red zone.

He likes to run and is strong enough to bump players off so I never like him being restricted to one side of the field... seeing him roam both sides and getting his hands on the ball last week has me excited for what Kevvie wants to do with him, and I think if the forwards can keep the game even or win the middle then he should have a good year.

 

[theshed]

It should be noted that the chip and chase and whatnot was when we were behind and getting nothing from the refs.

Eels took the lead in the 59th minute so we spent half the second half behind on the scoreboard and were therefore looking for points.

There were a few kicks that Milf could've been better on, but eels back 3 were protecting well enough to make it hard for him and we didn't have extra legs in the forwards to build momentum and get down the field for an early kick, which is what we did well in the first half (ie. kicking behind Sivo whilst he was still up in the line).

I dont think we even got to a nice point on the field to put up a torp bomb which was bringing success in the first half.

The second try was the real killer and put us miles on the back foot with injuries already in place... I'll reserve judgement until there's a game that has been managed poorly when we are in front rather than those where we are on the back foot with no momentum

Yeah absolutely. The thing is we were down by 2 points, and were on the ropes with 15 left. We were hanging in there and even starting to build some slight hope. Cameron Smith and Darren Lockyer don’t chip and chase on halfway in that situation. The play smart, they give their players as much rest as possible, they dictate the speed of the game, and wait patiently for the right opportunity. Milford panicked and played like we were down by 12 with 5 to go. It wasn’t what was needed. I get it though, the pressure to win must be immense at this point. The team needed a calm leader to remind everyone to believe in the game plan and keep turning up.

If Milf kicks smart at the end of those sets who know what would’ve happened. We grind out a well fought 2 point loss and I think that game looks even more positive. Even better if we get some good field position Parra make an error at their 30m line, or a penalty and we get 2 points. What we didn’t need is a chip and chase on the 50.

I’m not being overly harsh, I just hope he learned from this and improves this part of his game.

 

[Huge]

Yeah absolutely. The thing is we were down by 2 points, and were on the ropes with 15 left. We were hanging in there and even starting to build some slight hope. Cameron Smith and Darren Lockyer don’t chip and chase on halfway in that situation. The play smart, they give their players as much rest as possible, they dictate the speed of the game, and wait patiently for the right opportunity. Milford panicked and played like we were down by 12 with 5 to go. It wasn’t what was needed. I get it though, the pressure to win must be immense at this point. The team needed a calm leader to remind everyone to believe in the game plan and keep turning up.

If Milf kicks smart at the end of those sets who know what would’ve happened. We grind out a well fought 2 point loss and I think that game looks even more positive. Even better if we get some good field position Parra make an error at their 30m line, or a penalty and we get 2 points. What we didn’t need is a chip and chase on the 50.

I’m not being overly harsh, I just hope he learned from this and improves this part of his game.

I'm going to say this one more time but if there ever was a case for slow as **** play the balls it was the second half of that game with injured players.

I mean, the new normal frantic style is hard to contend with with 17 fit players but down to 14? Slow ptbs gives rests to guys out the back blowing hard. Imagine if our possessions took twice or three times longer than Parra's. We could have conserved energy and anyone who drives a vehicle can tell you, a conservative use of the energy supply has a cumulative effect.

The added bonus is two fold, the defence is stationary and the attack can, if desired be at top speed. It's just a thought and before anyone attacks me for the idea can I respectfully ask that you just try to imagine it as a tactic AND not in isolation for just a single tackle? We needed breaks and in the new era, it's one way to conserve energy.

 

[NSW stables]

.

I'm going to say this one more time but if there ever was a case for slow as **** play the balls it was the second half of that game with injured players.

I mean, the new normal frantic style is hard to contend with with 17 fit players but down to 14? Slow ptbs gives rests to guys out the back blowing hard. Imagine if our possessions took twice or three times longer than Parra's. We could have conserved energy and anyone who drives a vehicle can tell you, a conservative use of the energy supply has a cumulative effect.

The added bonus is two fold, the defence is stationary and the attack can, if desired be at top speed. It's just a thought and before anyone attacks me for the idea can I respectfully ask that you just try to imagine it as a tactic AND not in isolation for just a single tackle? We needed breaks and in the new era, it's one way to conserve energy.

I understand what you are getting at in that it enables the attack to sort itself out, but having the defence set and waiting probably outweighs the benefits on most occassions. An example of this type of play the ball would be a hand over close to the line. The line is set after the changeover and defence rushes up and just hammers the runners. So i dont see it being used as a regular play in most sets of 6.

BUT i do understand where you are coming from that it could be used tactically. You could use it similar to how touch footy you use a slow settler to enable you to organise your attacking set and then take off with a series of attacks. In this case you could use the time to set your attack and then go all out at top speed going from one attacking play to another without having throw settlers in between.

Or you could call for it when the set of six is completely disorganised (i.e. i think we had a couple sets near parras line which were just bad because we couldnt organise anything and the ball went to forwards for each tackle). Calling a halt and resetting ourselves into a proper formation could be of benefit.

 

[Huge]

.

I understand what you are getting at in that it enables the attack to sort itself out, but having the defence set and waiting probably outweighs the benefits on most occassions. An example of this type of play the ball would be a hand over close to the line. The line is set after the changeover and defence rushes up and just hammers the runners. So i dont see it being used as a regular play in most sets of 6.

BUT i do understand where you are coming from that it could be used tactically. You could use it similar to how touch footy you use a slow settler to enable you to organise your attacking set and then take off with a series of attacks. In this case you could use the time to set your attack and then go all out at top speed going from one attacking play to another without having throw settlers in between.

Or you could call for it when the set of six is completely disorganised (i.e. i think we had a couple sets near parras line which were just bad because we couldnt organise anything and the ball went to forwards for each tackle). Calling a halt and resetting ourselves into a proper formation could be of benefit.

Thanks for the consideration here. There's another instance where we see it too, the tap restart. I'm aware there's no marker in that scenario but the defence line is even denser with the two extra players in the line yet time and time again the attacking player makes 8-10 metres. I wondered why making that ground was relatively easy. It's then that I noticed the defence had no rhythm, they always stood still or at best took one step.

I contrasted that with the fast ptb, ratta tat tat we have in a normal set. The defence moves up and back with a rhythm and are already on the move, in sync with the motion of the player playing the ball. In these cases the fast ptbs aids the defence, as I say it gives them a rhythm , a beat to march to.

If I were a coach I'd be looking to disrupt that rhythm and to slow things down. In all honesty, the notion that the defence is better set is over valued. I know it is BUT it's stationary, it's a target and not so much a moving brick wall. The perceived gain is nullified to a great extent by the fact that the onrushing defence doesn't defend(gain) metres , it's always conceding those metres by being forced to remain stationary until the attack DECIDES they can move.

Anyone who watches a tap restart and is truly looking at the metres gained, the defences non movement and the total metreage will start to see what I'm driving at.

Do I mean doing this from 30/40 metres out, hell no. By all means fast ptbs are the go then, no I'm talking more about 10-20 metres out from our line. Basically, a style for each half the field.

 

[NSW stables]

Thanks for the consideration here. There's another instance where we see it too, the tap restart. I'm aware there's no marker in that scenario but the defence line is even denser with the two extra players in the line yet time and time again the attacking player makes 8-10 metres. I wondered why making that ground was relatively easy. It's then that I noticed the defence had no rhythm, they always stood still or at best took one step.

I contrasted that with the fast ptb, ratta tat tat we have in a normal set. The defence moves up and back with a rhythm and are already on the move, in sync with the motion of the player playing the ball. In these cases the fast ptbs aids the defence, as I say it gives them a rhythm , a beat to march to.

If I were a coach I'd be looking to disrupt that rhythm and to slow things down. In all honesty, the notion that the defence is better set is over valued. I know it is BUT it's stationary, it's a target and not so much a moving brick wall. The perceived gain is nullified to a great extent by the fact that the onrushing defence doesn't defend(gain) metres , it's always conceding those metres by being forced to remain stationary until the attack DECIDES they can move.

Anyone who watches a tap restart and is truly looking at the metres gained, the defences non movement and the total metreage will start to see what I'm driving at.

Do I mean doing this from 30/40 metres out, hell no. By all means fast ptbs are the go then, no I'm talking more about 10-20 metres out from our line. Basically, a style for each half the field.

Are the tap restarts you are referring to the 20m restarts? Because more often than not more ground is made on these because the defence is not set and are trying to make it back to the 30m line after a kick goes dead or a knock on in goal.

But i agree being a bit unconventional and changing the game's rhythm or attacking style could really mess with the norm that other teams are used to, and surprise them.

 

[something]

Wow a decent arguement on both sides. Nice guys. Im with Huge on this one. Just basing it off my touch days, changing the pace of the ptb can be weird to defend against. I think anything to disrupt or put doubt in the oppositions mind is good. We saw TPJ do it and Paulo rushed out, only to not be pinged. But i think tactically it could work.