Trial #3 Warriors vs Broncos - POST GAME DISCUSSION

[Morkel]

I want to vomit. But I have to stand back and take perspective.

Johnson is a fantastic running half, made all the more dangerous by a fullback that may or may not be worth a million dollars, but had enough of a reputation to cause our defence to hold off. Hunt and Nikorima will undoubtedly have more time to work with Barba angling around. But I still don't see much in Hunt and never have.

So, maybe fitness last year wasn't an issue. It comes down to technique and formation on both sides of the ball. I've defended Griffin for too long, but he's clueless. He coaches like he's never played or watched League and only knows how to turn players in to big, strong athletes, with zero footballing smarts. He'd be fine if we had awesome assistant coaches that focus on the attack & defence, and he can worry about people-management, but that's pointless. Get rid of him now, with Kearney.

 

[Brocko]

The Broncos Facebook page basically just confirmed on one of it's status updates that Vidot was dropped.


Brisbane Broncos Coach obviously looking for something more from Vidot - will know more over the next fortnight leading into Round 1.
Like · 46 minutes ago

 

[Harry Sack]

The Broncos Facebook page basically just confirmed on one of it's status updates that Vidot was dropped.


Brisbane Broncos Coach obviously looking for something more from Vidot - will know more over the next fortnight leading into Round 1.
Like · 46 minutes ago

Pathetic if true

 

[Broncoman]

Vidot is a far more promising proposition than Mills. If Mills is picked for Round 1 Hook is deluding himself.

 

[bb_gun]

Has the article been posted yet? Anyway, I like it, it pretty much sums everything up perfectly.

Brisbane Broncos humiliated 48-4 in NRL trial loss to New Zealand Warriors

BRISBANE have less than two weeks to get their house in order for the NRL season, but it is difficult to see where they will find the bricks and mortar after a humiliating 48-4 trial loss to the Warriors in Dunedin.

This was the final dress rehearsal before the big show, and the Broncos were terrible.

The Warriors were everything Broncos fans would have been hoping to see from Brisbane in the last trial: sharp, disciplined, structured, creative.

The Warriors appeared settled and confident, looking for one final run-through before the serious stuff begins.

Brisbane were like strangers awkwardly trying to dance along in a flash mob.

Whatever questions coach Anthony Griffin had going into the game, it is doubtful he left it with too many answers.

Before the match, he said his only wish was for no injuries. He didn’t even get that, with Josh Hoffman (ribs) departing after a big hit in the 57th minute.

Griffin has also had his hand forced on playing Ben Barba at five-eighth for the start of the season, given Ben Hunt, Kodi Nikorima, Hoffman and Zach Strasser all had time in playmaking roles without impact.

Brisbane were devoid of creativity, other than just working their way to the 20m line, putting up a bomb and hoping for the best.

It paid dividends once, in the 10th minute when Nikorima snaffled a fortunate crumb from a Warriors mistake to allow Jack Reed to score.

But putting it high and waiting for an error is not going to work against a quality fullback like Warriors star recruit Sam Tomkins, any more than it will against Billy Slater or any other No.1 in the NRL.

More worrying was Brisbane’s performance in defence.

The ease with which the Warriors scored must have had Griffin grinding his teeth into powder.

Coaches say “defence is all about attitude” so often these days, it is almost cliche.

But they say it so often because it is true.

On the basis of what was dished up, you would have to say Brisbane’s attitude to tackling stinks.

The Warriors are a hard side to defend, no question.

But the Broncos were guilty of clean misses, bad reads or just standing back and watching as attackers passed through Brisbane’s line like an afternoon breeze through a screen door.

Brisbane didn’t so much leak as take on water like the Costa Concordia, particularly on the port side.

The Broncos tried to stuff some gauze into the wound by posting Corey Parker onto the left edge in the second half, so the Warriors scored down the other side instead.

New Zealand’s chief conjurer, the mercurial Shaun Johnson, was taken from the field in the 50th minute with the score 28-4. Even with him gone, Brisbane conceded a further four tries.

“It was very disappointing,” Broncos head of football Andrew Gee said afterwards. “We’ve got two weeks to get it right. Nothing really went right. We were on the back foot from the start.

“We didn’t have too much ball and we found ourselves getting rolled.”

Gee is dead right. Nothing went their way. It didn’t deserve to.

With trial form at 80-12 for-and-against from two games, it would be optimistic at best to write the game off as a bad day at the office.

Yes, the Broncos were missing Justin Hodges. But most of Brisbane’s problems were on the left side of the field, not on the right where Hodges stands.

Yes, they were missing Ben Barba. But Barba won’t make a difference to the mountain of tackles that were missed, or the glut of offloads and clean line-breaks conceded.

Brisbane were like a graffiti-covered laneway: if you looked hard enough, there were glimpses of colour, skill and effort.

But standing back and looking at the wider picture, it looked like a mess.

WARRIORS 48 (G Fisiiahi 2, K Hurrell 2, S Johnson, C Gubb, C Tuimavave, D Fusitua, S Tomkins tries; S Johnson 4, C Townsend 2 goals) d BRONCOS 4 (J Reed try) in Dunedin.

Source: No Cookies | The Courier-Mail

Michael Westlake deserves a medal for that article...

 

[Rowan Edwards]

Obviously not an ideal final hit out before the start of the season, glad I didn't wake up at 2am to watch it from over here in London.

Despite the recruitment drive and big talk, we still appear to have the same issues. We're stuck in this middle ground of our forwards aren't big enough to roll through opponents neither are they skilled enough to posses a short passing game.

Our halves are still a work in progress and I worry given Hook's penchant for playing people out of position just to get them on the field that we'll see Barba at 6 and Hoffman at 1.

But what's done is done. Better to have a shocker now than during the regular season and hopefully it provides a good wake up call to all involved.

 

[Super Freak]

I was just going over the footage, and this is what I heard Voss say about Maranta.

"He's a very handy winger."

I could not believe it. I've got all footage of their games over the past few years, and I'm going to make a video to send to Voss. A video that shows just how many tries he has bombed and just how many conceded tries he has been responsible for. I'm guessing it's going to be a long one.

A wingers job is to score tries, so I don't see how someone that bombs an average of 2 tries a game is a very handy winger.

Maybe I am being overly harsh, but that's just my view. Broncos never should have let go of Winterstein.

 

[Mister Wright]

Maybe we should work on a plan to somehow get the opposition to have 4 players sent off early. We can beat teams when they only have 9 players.

 

[Sproj]

Hook needs an imagination, imagine what other teams don't want you to do and man up enough to do it and that means Parker at lock, Barba at fb and forwards who do ball playing, not one up running and windmill practice for defense. It's not rocket science but if he wants a career, it's what needs to happen starting yesterday.

 

[lynx000]

Maybe we should work on a plan to somehow get the opposition to have 4 players sent off early. We can beat teams when they only have 9 players.

Except for the cowboys, we need them to have 6-7 sent off.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

Anyone still thinking Hunt is first grade material? Hands up?

 

[gordjw]

Anyone still thinking Hunt is first grade material? Hands up?

Yes. Needs much more confidence though.

 

[Fighting Irish]

The only solution to our problem is getting rid off Hook - Has anything changed from last year in attack -NO - has anything changed in defence - YES THEY HAVE GOT WORSE IF THAT IS POSSIBLE - Have we gained some good players - YES - did they make a difference - NO AND WHY - because the bloke at the top has no imagination when it comes to attack and a game plean - same old same old and when it comes to motivation - he is like a wet blanket and I personally think he has lost the dressing room -
We have the cattle to do so much better but its the blokes at the top - Hook - Gee and White who have no idea and until that changes and the IMMEDIATELY BRING IN CHANGES TO THAT SECTION - we have no chance
Make that phone call TODAY to Kevin Walters and Bennett - Get Kevie here next week and Bennett next year as director of coaching otherwise we will - if not already - the laughing stock of the NRL - What an embarrassment
Team attitude starts with the coach and if he has no idea how are the players going to know
SACK HOOK NOW

 

[Splinter]

The only solution to our problem is getting rid off Hook - Has anything changed from last year in attack -NO - has anything changed in defence - YES THEY HAVE GOT WORSE IF THAT IS POSSIBLE - Have we gained some good players - YES - did they make a difference - NO AND WHY - because the bloke at the top has no imagination when it comes to attack and a game plean - same old same old and when it comes to motivation - he is like a wet blanket and I personally think he has lost the dressing room -
We have the cattle to do so much better but its the blokes at the top - Hook - Gee and White who have no idea and until that changes and the IMMEDIATELY BRING IN CHANGES TO THAT SECTION - we have no chance
Make that phone call TODAY to Kevin Walters and Bennett - Get Kevie here next week and Bennett next year as director of coaching otherwise we will - if not already - the laughing stock of the NRL - What an embarrassment
Team attitude starts with the coach and if he has no idea how are the players going to know
SACK HOOK NOW

White just got a 3 year extension because of the great job he is doing

 

[subsbligh]

Maranta has been poor, but he's nowhere near the main problem that some people like to pretend he is. We weren't going to turn that score around if he wasn't playing.

I know I know, you're right but to sound like a NSW Origin supporter - momentum in games is a massive thing.

Failing to score at key points when we've built pressure killed us so often last year, and the cause of that was Maranta's inability to score, where most 1st grade wingers would have gotten over the line.

Hoffman can do it. Manly, Tigers, Eels, Warriors seem to find this untapped resource of rookie wingers that can just score tries down the narrowest of corridors.

At the moment, it's like we're in a nightclub and everyone else is hooking up all over the place. We've turned down a few reasonable opportunities early on but not to worry. The night moves on - we're seeing the Eels over there scoring with a decent 8/10. The Raiders (the fucking Raiders?) with that hot blonde.

Meanwhile Maranta's doing shots at the bar and is shitfaced, McCullough putting up mid-field (jager) bombs ("play the percentages boys") the our entire backline is mirin each other out how well Corvo has conditioned their bodies in the off-season and all of a sudden it's 4AM and the game's over. Our confidence destroyed again. Better hit the gym twice as hard next week.

Hook's suggesting we hit the same bar next week... and he's impressed with Maranta's effort.

 

[Foordy]

The only solution to our problem is getting rid off Hook - Has anything changed from last year in attack -NO - has anything changed in defence - YES THEY HAVE GOT WORSE IF THAT IS POSSIBLE - Have we gained some good players - YES - did they make a difference - NO AND WHY - because the bloke at the top has no imagination when it comes to attack and a game plean - same old same old and when it comes to motivation - he is like a wet blanket and I personally think he has lost the dressing room -
We have the cattle to do so much better but its the blokes at the top - Hook - Gee and White who have no idea and until that changes and the IMMEDIATELY BRING IN CHANGES TO THAT SECTION - we have no chance
Make that phone call TODAY to Kevin Walters and Bennett - Get Kevie here next week and Bennett next year as director of coaching otherwise we will - if not already - the laughing stock of the NRL - What an embarrassment
Team attitude starts with the coach and if he has no idea how are the players going to know
SACK HOOK NOW

White's job is the business side of the club, and if the club is successful off the field then he IS DOING HIS JOB.

The clubs board hire the coach, not White.

Secondly, I want you to tell ne exactly what Kevvie Walters has doing in his coaching career that suggest he will better than Griffin.

 

[Splinter]

Love your analogy

 

[broncos4life]

I know I know, you're right but to sound like a NSW Origin supporter - momentum in games is a massive thing.

Failing to score at key points when we've built pressure killed us so often last year, and the cause of that was Maranta's inability to score, where most 1st grade wingers would have gotten over the line.

Hoffman can do it. Manly, Tigers, Eels, Warriors seem to find this untapped resource of rookie wingers that can just score tries down the narrowest of corridors.

At the moment, it's like we're in a nightclub and everyone else is hooking up all over the place. We've turned down a few reasonable opportunities early on but not to worry. The night moves on - we're seeing the Eels over there scoring with a decent 8/10. The Raiders (the fucking Raiders?) with that hot blonde.

Meanwhile Maranta's doing shots at the bar and is shitfaced, McCullough putting up mid-field (jager) bombs ("play the percentages boys") the our entire backline is mirin each other out how well Corvo has conditioned their bodies in the off-season and all of a sudden it's 4AM and the game's over. Our confidence destroyed again. Better hit the gym twice as hard next week.

Hook's suggesting we hit the same bar next week... and he's impressed with Maranta's effort.

You kind of crossed in and out of your analogy there... but your point is accurate IMO