As much as it pains me to say it....I can't find room in the side for poor ole Pete at this stage. :sleep:
:loool:
Back to this planet, in particular Dunedin...
- Hoffman cannot be the fullback of this team, he has NO clue about timing in attack or support play. When he does get the ball, the play dies invariably with him charging at the line.
- Norman should move to fullback, where we can take advantage of his characteristics, as well as "hide" his nonchalant nature. He will be able to better choose the times to get involved instead of being constantly in the game, which is something that just doesn't suit him.
- The halves will have to be Prince +1, and based on this game, I would love to give Hunt a try. Wallace can be the ideal backup for Macca during his rest periods, or take back the job from Hunt if he doesn't cut it. Speaking of the devil, Macca doesn't seem to be able to start a season in form, he was hopelessly slow yesterday!
- Hodges and Gillett look awesome. I hope they keep their form and stay injury free!
- Glenn, Parker and McGuire were their usual selves, Stagg did what he does best as well as Dodds, who was a bit of a refreshing surprise with his involvement in the hit-up department. Anderson just didn't have enough minutes to do anything worthwhile...
- Thaiday, Reed and Hannant were definitely not up to their standard, and honestly, I can't see the Englishman keeping his centre spot for long if his form doesn't improve a lot.
- I liked what Kahu had to offer so short after returning from 2 major knee injuries, as well as the little stint from Joe Bond, especially the great efforts to try and stop the Warriors tries, because he didn't had much of an opportunity in attack unfortunately.
- Finally, I think the fight for the left wing will be between Berryman and Kemp, with Maranta almost assured of the right one despite the blunders.
- We need something like an "offensive coordinator" to bring some set plays and creativity in our attack. Hopefully a change in the halves will make a difference, because this Griffin induced soporific football isn't going to appeal to the masses. Besides, the Broncos have always been a team of flair, attacking nous and spectacle, without loosing their defensive integrity. Even the latter isn't a given at the moment, because I couldn't see much of the vaunted wrestling and defensive ruck work we did in the off season...
Of course, this is the only trial game I have seen this season, so I'm not gonna draw conclusions about what our season is going to look like, but I do think that Hook has his work cut-out to get this team to compete eye to eye with the NRL best.
