Trial #2 - Broncos vs. Cowboys

Trying to quit drinking, so I played a game where I'd take shot everytime a cowboys player played the ball on the mark in the 2nd half.
If we controlled the ruck and were not the last ones off the ground the entire time, we may have markers in place to prevent that. But we never got there in time to stand in front of them.

We can blame the refs but we have to take it out of the refs hands and prevent it being from occurring as the refs will not do us any favours.
 
I've been saying it for ages, but we need more of those players who do a lot of the little things you want from players even if they dont play well. We dont have enough of the workhorse, just get the job done type of players. There seems this push to try to get superstars everywhere and as a result the squad has become unbalanced imo. You dont need x-factor players everywhere. Just in a few positions and have the rest just doing their jobs.

Still think our forwards are fine. Lodge, Carrigan, Haas, TPJ, Asiata, Fleger, Glenn and Riki backed up by Oates, Bullemor and Kennedy are fine. We just need to make sure we get the rotation right. Our backs are a worry though are a worry. Our best one is Injured, and i'm not convinced the others we have are good enough, or they arent ready.
 
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I've been saying it for ages, but we need more of those players who do a lot of the little things you want from players even if they dont play well. We dont have enough of the workhorse, just get the job done type of players. There seems this push to try to get superstars everywhere and as a result the squad has become unbalanced imo. You dont need x-factor players everywhere. Just in a few positions and have the rest just doing their jobs.

Still think our forwards are fine. Lodge, Carrigan, Haas, TPJ, Asiata, Fleger, Glenn and Riki backed up by Oates, Bullemor and Kennedy are fine. We just need to make sure we get the rotation right. Our backs are a worry though are a worry. Our best one is Injured, and i'm not convinced the others we have are good enough, or they arent ready.
Agreed.

To add to it; I actually thought our spine looked improved in attack for the most part, but I still really worry about our defence and our mental fragility.

We started well and got a roll on, but then half-time happened, things started going against us and the floodgates opened. Eerily similar to last year.

You’re right though. We need some wiley, successful old-heads to balance out the squad. That, or we need to somehow jag a win, get on a winning streak and gain some confidence.
 
Still think our forwards are fine. Lodge, Carrigan, Haas, TPJ, Asiata, Fleger, Glenn and Riki backed up by Oates, Bullemor and Kennedy are fine. We just need to make sure we get the rotation right. Our backs are a worry though are a worry. Our best one is Injured, and i'm not convinced the others we have are good enough, or they arent ready.
Not sure I can agree. Your boyfriend, for one, is going to need to find his big boy pants if he has any aspirations of taking over the captaincy again this season. Granted he has a big motor, exemplary work ethic, and chicks dig his hair, etc but he's a **** full of cold water in attack and that arm twist strip last night was a fucking embarrassment for a guy his size. If all you can do with the ball is lumber ahead in a straight line, at least hang onto the pill.

At some point - I didn't notice when - Lodge completely clocked off and became a liability. TPJ didn't do anything that stood out. Flegler, I thought, was better than he's being rated, but that spear tackle wasn't great. Oates looked like 2020 Oates. Asiata has brought a higher standard of coaching with him, that's a start. Riki is the new SBW, that's confirmed. And Glenn played his testimonial before the season even started. What's that telling you about his chances of seeing October?
 
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I've been saying it for ages, but we need more of those players who do a lot of the little things you want from players even if they dont play well. We dont have enough of the workhorse, just get the job done type of players. There seems this push to try to get superstars everywhere and as a result the squad has become unbalanced imo. You dont need x-factor players everywhere. Just in a few positions and have the rest just doing their jobs.

Still think our forwards are fine. Lodge, Carrigan, Haas, TPJ, Asiata, Fleger, Glenn and Riki backed up by Oates, Bullemor and Kennedy are fine. We just need to make sure we get the rotation right. Our backs are a worry though are a worry. Our best one is Injured, and i'm not convinced the others we have are good enough, or they arent ready.
Lodge’s contract makes me feel as unwell as Boyd’s did. It also frustrates me to no end that when we re-signed Flegler to a 600k 3 year deal, Funicane, Papalii, Tamau, Capewell just to name a few were all available. Asiata was a move in the right direction but really we needed 1 more good experienced players in the forwards and someone like Oppa in the backs.

I also think Allen for 2 years would’ve been a risk worth taking.

Though apparently the cap thing might not have been a tactic and we might have actually had no money which is insane within itself.

Our best 17 with Oppa and Capewell sprinkled in it is already miles more resilient. A fullback would’ve been nice too.

I think Isaako was qui good in attack, perhaps we need a boring but safe as houses winger to switch with him in defence. Just someone who can catch a ball and bat a grubber over the dead ball line.

Maybe David Mead?

It’s a broken record at this point but it completely baffles me that we can catch a spoon and poor Asiata is our biggest signing. While losing Macca, Bird, Fifita, Boyd, and Offa. 5 origin players. If we didn’t have a sneaky plan to use Maccas money I have no idea why we let him go.
 
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I've been saying it for ages, but we need more of those players who do a lot of the little things you want from players even if they dont play well. We dont have enough of the workhorse, just get the job done type of players. There seems this push to try to get superstars everywhere and as a result the squad has become unbalanced imo. You dont need x-factor players everywhere. Just in a few positions and have the rest just doing their jobs.

Still think our forwards are fine. Lodge, Carrigan, Haas, TPJ, Asiata, Fleger, Glenn and Riki backed up by Oates, Bullemor and Kennedy are fine. We just need to make sure we get the rotation right. Our backs are a worry though are a worry. Our best one is Injured, and i'm not convinced the others we have are good enough, or they arent ready.

Agree in relation to our backline, surely the round 1 team will be one of the worst starting backlines in our history to kick a season off with.

Add that to what is a mid tier forward pack imo and a bottom tier 'spine' my expectations for the up coming season are very low. That might be self preservation so as to avoid the shock, disappointment and then indifference to last season, i'd love us to be in the hunt for a bottom top 8 spot but can't see it.

If Kevvie and the team can find 6 wins this season and more importantly get some quality (not Copley/Mead bullshit) from the player market for 2022 then i will give him a pass mark.
 
Not sure I can agree. Your boyfriend, for one, is going to need to find his big boy pants if he has any aspirations of taking over the captaincy again this season. Granted he has a big motor, exemplary work ethic, and chicks dig his hair, etc but he's a **** full of cold water in attack and that arm twist strip last night was a fucking embarrassment for a guy his size. If all you can do with the ball is lumber ahead in a straight line, at least hang onto the pill.

At some point - I didn't notice when - Lodge completely clocked off and became a liability. TPJ didn't do anything that stood out. Flegler, I thought, was better than he's being rated, but that spear tackle wasn't great. Oates looked like 2020 Oates. Asiata has brought a higher standard of coaching with him, that's a start. Riki is the new SBW, that's confirmed. And Glenn played his testimonial before the season even started. What's that telling you about his chances of seeing October?

Does he have aspirations of being captain this season? or is that being thrust upon him by others. He's clearly a leader, anyone whoss watched him coming through can see it, but that doesnt mean he is ready to be captain in 2021. I've said that on more than one occasion. He needs to grow into the role. Not really sure what you expect from him in attack either. He is a workhorse forward. Thats his role and their is nothing wrong with that. Same as the likes of Webcke or Petero. Why would you suddenly expect him to be what he isnt?

Thats the problem though exactly like i was saying. We are expecting players like Carrigan, Haas, Riki etc to be the cornerstones of our pack. They are all good players in their own right but they need to find their own way and they arent going to be doing that after a couple of years in first grade.
 
Agree in relation to our backline, surely the round 1 team will be one of the worst starting backlines in our history to kick a season off with.

Add that to what is a mid tier forward pack imo and a bottom tier 'spine' my expectations for the up coming season are very low. That might be self preservation so as to avoid the shock, disappointment and then indifference to last season, i'd love us to be in the hunt for a bottom top 8 spot but can't see it.

If Kevvie and the team can find 6 wins this season and more importantly get some quality (not Copley/Mead bullshit) from the player market for 2022 then i will give him a pass mark.

I dont think our pack is mid tier tbh. I think their ceiling is pretty high actually. But like a lot of our side, backs included, its potentially a good pack. People scoffed at it because he isnt a superstar, but we needed a player like Tolman for 12 months, maybe 2 years to help them develop. As i was saying before, we just lack the get the job done type of players instead of us trying to get a team full of the best players in every position. Our squad is so unbalanced its not funny.
 
I fear the only person that’ll get burned is Kevin Walters.

I’d have so much respect for him if he’d just come out and say to the fans that this is not our year and to just accept that we are a bottom 4 side.

What pisses me off is the bullshit lip service we hear about anything short of a finals appearance is underperformance. To think we would be underperforming by not making the 8 is a sledge to the other 15 clubs in the comp.

We are on paper and field performance a bottom 4 side, if Kevs serious about being the coach of broncos he needs to be looking to next year and have a serious blueprint for the 2022 recruitment and using this year to once again improve on the development on the ones who’ll be here long term.

To look down the barrel of yet another non competitive year really does hurt the enthusiasm for the season ahead but that’s the reality, I’ll reserve some excitement for ‘22
 
Broncos fullback Jamayne Isaako believes Brisbane need to forget about the fancy stuff as they adopt a back-to-basics approach to kick-start their 2021 season. The Broncos showed glimpses of undoubted potential in their final pre-season trial on Saturday, racing to an 18-6 lead over North Queensland before a second-half capitulation dented their confidence leading into their round-one showdown with Parramatta. Isaako said Brisbane’s biggest problem was not so much in their defensive concentration but their failure to stick to their simple instructions which piled unnecessary pressure on every other facet of their play.

"We just went away from our game plan and we were too fancy on the edges," Isaako said. "We spread the ball a bit too much when we needed to just go forward. Good teams complete and we didn’t complete in the second half. We just need to stick to what we know best and that’s just punching forward and if we punch forward we create opportunities on the edges."

The big question mark for the Broncos will be how the team responds for the season opener in a fortnight given their confidence had taken such a heavy battering last season. New coach Kevin Walters clearly believes he has the squad that can be big improvers, but they need early wins to start the year so the positivity he has built around the squad in the summer doesn’t quickly erode as it did in 2020 under Anthony Seibold. Isaako is confident the wooden spooners can get their season moving forward quickly. On the right edge he looks to have the makings of dangerous combination forming with Tesi Nui while usual right centre Kotoni Staggs recovers from knee surgery.

"Everyone knows what his attributes are, he has quick feet and he is good when he gets the ball in hand," Isaako said. "As a fullback I just need to get him early ball and get him on the edge."

 
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I’d have so much respect for him if he’d just come out and say to the fans that this is not our year and to just accept that we are a bottom 4 side.

What pisses me off is the bullshit lip service we hear about anything short of a finals appearance is underperformance. To think we would be underperforming by not making the 8 is a sledge to the other 15 clubs in the comp.

We are on paper and field performance a bottom 4 side, if Kevs serious about being the coach of broncos he needs to be looking to next year and have a serious blueprint for the 2022 recruitment and using this year to once again improve on the development on the ones who’ll be here long term.

To look down the barrel of yet another non competitive year really does hurt the enthusiasm for the season ahead but that’s the reality, I’ll reserve some excitement for ‘22
You say that but the reality would bring much different, even if you were happy with that 99% of people would absolutely hate it and he would be destroyed by the media.
 
You say that but the reality would bring much different, even if you were happy with that 99% of people would absolutely hate it and he would be destroyed by the media.

Yeah he would, probably wouldn’t have gotten the job if he was truly honest in his interview either.

Anything short of a major overhaul in the roster won’t be enough. He’s going to be in for a tough year and it’ll be interesting to see if the media and fans cannibalise one of their. He did however ask for the position and obviously he lives and dies by the metaphorical poison chalice that is this roster.
 
I think the fact Kevvie has the fanbase and more importantly the Old Boys on his side is a mjor plus for him. If there is any sign of dissent in the ranks and players try to undermine Kevvie in anyway the Old Boys will have a word in their shell like and tell them in no uncertain terms to pull their head otherwise they'll be shipped out of the joint. Yeh it will be a hard long year but realistically if Kevvie clocks up more than two wins I'll see it as progress considering who we have let go and who we have brought in.
 

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