Your 2013 team.

[Broncos1995]

Wouldn't mind seeing how Copley goes at centre in a pre-season trial.

That'd be a pretty good idea. From my recollection didn't make his first grade debut as a centre?

 

[Big Pete]

Fullback actually in one of the dumbest moves Henjak made.

Kid was terrible at fullback at NYC level and instead of going with Hewitt who was playing very well for Central and wouldn't have let us down he goes for the inexperienced kid who still had a lot of development left in him.

 

[Broncos1995]

Fullback actually in one of the dumbest moves Henjak made.

Kid was terrible at fullback at NYC level and instead of going with Hewitt who was playing very well for Central and wouldn't have let us down he goes for the inexperienced kid who still had a lot of development left in him.

I heard promising things about Hewitt it's a pitty the Broncos let him go.

 

[Alec]

I remember being kinda excited about Tom Hewitt, thought he was very promising in his matches for St George. Shame he never got the chance.

 

[subsbligh]

I remember being kinda excited about Tom Hewitt, thought he was very promising in his matches for St George. Shame he never got the chance.

Remember that time when we bought:
Ashton Simms
Peter Wallace
Joel Clinton
Tom Hewitt in the off-season.

Man that went well.

 

[Coxy]

Remember that time when we bought:
Ashton Simms
Peter Wallace
Joel Clinton
Tom Hewitt in the off-season.

Man that went well.

 

[coreyh88]

My thoughts on what should be done with the team next year excluding any signings:
1. hodges (if Hoffman doesn't get his act together. To me Hoffman is one dimensional and has little potential.)
2.Yow Yeh (pretty sure this is the right side)
3. Glenn (That's a shocker i know. He has an excellent running game, he can defend and he can catch a ball. Will replace Hodges well here with Hodges still often slotting in keeping the defence guessing)
4. Reed(Possibly Copely if Reed loses form)
5. Copely (or maranta if copley moves to centres.)
6. Wallace/Hunt/Kahu(Whichever gets the passing combination better with this potentially lethal right side. I like seeing Thaiday linking up with Hodges here. If we have JYY, [Hodges in FB], Glenn, Thaiday and a 5/8 who can pass this will be the best right side attack in the comp. Even better than Manly)
7.Wallace/Hunt (Either way Wallace dominates kicking, Hunt sucks at this. Norman had to take over and did really well while Hunt was replacing Wallace. Norman will try to work on being a FB for the long term future he has potential here Hoffman does not.)
8. Hannant
9. Macca (Underrated Hooker of the year. He is one of the rare {Farah, Smith] Hookers with a complete game [He still needs to work on some of it but it's all there to some extent]. He just needs to learn to play 80)
10. Mcguire
11. Gillet (His ability to offload and break lines will be most useful here. I think capitalising on this is something both Reed and Wallace could do. Potential for Maranta to be really zippy and good support around here [Support was actually Norman's best factor when in FB])
12. Thaiday (as previously stated does really well with passing on the right side. Once his injuries are gone will become a lethal runner again as well.)
13. Parker (A true Warhorse. His Straight Hitups and quick play the balls are indispensable not to mention his defence)

14. Jarrod Wallace (Is that the guy everyone was speaking about being bench 2rf?)
15. Hala (Had a great [short] game this year before injury.)
16. Anderson (The same game as Hala he did well although if off form Dodds. Possibly a 2rf here at times as well.)
17. Copely/Whitchurch/Maranta (depending on how the rest of the team works out)

Hopefully we can acquire a half instead of betting on Kahu/Hunt instead.

 

[subsbligh]

To the people suggesting Hoffman be sent off into the wilderness, how did you rate his form early this year pre-origin?

 

[Coxy]

To the people suggesting Hoffman be sent off into the wilderness, how did you rate his form early this year pre-origin?

Good without being spectacular.

To me I think he could become a very good winger, but he lacks the necessary X-factor skills that top teams need from their fullback these days. The days when it was a player who caught the kicks and ran them back, and occasionally chimed in for support play are gone.

Hoffman's been in and around the top grade for 4 years now and I haven't seen any real development in his "playmaking" ability.

Putting my fairness cap on, Billy Slater had bugger all playmaking skill until about 3 years ago either. Whenever he chimed into the backline he ****ed up. But he was also so fast, and read the play so well to be there in support or to collect chip kicks etc that it wasn't such a big deal that those skills were taking a while to develop.

With Hoffman, he's not especially fast. He doesn't seem to read the game in attack terribly well so he's often not there in support when needed. And while he's strong as an ox and as courageous a player as you'll see, there's only so often you can bust tackles. You need to be avoiding them, going around the chasers. That's what made Lockyer so good at the back. It's what made Slater so good - his ability to pick up a kick on his own line, sum up the chase, find a straggler and beat them on the outside and then he'd go 90 metres.

Is Hoffman deserving of the scrap heap? God no. I wouldn't even write him off as a fullback. But this offseason is critical for him. He needs to develop and quickly.

 

[broncos4life]

Here's my team for now (which will change about 30 times before kick off next season)

1. Hoffman - I think once he gets over whatever has been hampering him he is still our best option here. I would like to see him and hodges swap positions in the attacking zone though to keep the opposition guessing

2. Copley - To me he is getting better and better, hopefully Reed realises this and starts passing him the f***ing ball

3. Reed - Will probably eventually move into the back row, but not yet. As above, needs to realise copley has arms

4. Hodgo - Our best back by far. Would be unstoppable at FB but I dont think he's body is up to it week in and week out.

5. JYY/Maranta/Bond - JYY is a pipe dream for the start of the year, so Maranta or Bond depending on who wins the pre-season

6. Marshall - How a guy can dream right? - but nah we all know it is gonna be Norman

7. Wallace - Regardless of his critics he is still our best option in the halves. In the unlikely event that someone tells Paul White that we are actually allowed to purchase players from other clubs, Wallace and Marshall would form a fantastic halves partnership IMO - Seriously White must look at other clubs buying players from everywhere and think "when is the IC gonna put a stop to this... I'm gonna write John Grant a polite but strongly worded letter"

8. Hannant - obviously

9. Macca - As someone else said, severely under rated

10. Moose - Need I say more

11. Glenn - Fantastic player, one of those guys that could get the job done from any position.

12. Thaiday - Been playing completely busted and is still better than a lot of forwards in the comp. Hopefully we see the best of him next year

13. Parker - Absolute work horse, never gives up, could lose a leg and half an arm and still top the tackle count

14. Hunt - Until Macca can play the full 80 - Not sure what is gonna happen with the hunt/norman situation

15. Hala - Hopefully he has some better luck with injury, would be a bulldozer close to the try line - would have a huge impact for us if he can stay on the park

16. Gillett - He needs to come off the bench and he needs to find his best form again

17. J Wallace/Dodds/Gibb/Frei/Whitchurch - The spot is open and it's up to them to put there hand up

 

[dukey]

1. Norman
2. Hoffman

Our halves are competent at best. With that in mind, we need a playmaker at fullback, and Hoffman doesn't offer much more other than his strength.

3. Reed
4. Hodges
5. Yow Yeh or Copley, depending on Jharal's fitness
6. Wallace
7. Hunt

I would like to see the Marshall gossip come to fruition, in which case he'd be 6 to Wallace at half, but I'm not holding my breath.

8. Hannant
9. McCullough

A-Mac needs to start playing the full 80 minutes. No more bench cover for him; if he gets injured Glenn plays dummy half.

10. McGuire
11. Glenn
12. Thaiday
13. Parker

14. Gillett
15. Hala
16. Dodds
17. J Wallace

 

[subsbligh]

Good without being spectacular.

To me I think he could become a very good winger, but he lacks the necessary X-factor skills that top teams need from their fullback these days. The days when it was a player who caught the kicks and ran them back, and occasionally chimed in for support play are gone.

Hoffman's been in and around the top grade for 4 years now and I haven't seen any real development in his "playmaking" ability.

Putting my fairness cap on, Billy Slater had bugger all playmaking skill until about 3 years ago either. Whenever he chimed into the backline he ****ed up. But he was also so fast, and read the play so well to be there in support or to collect chip kicks etc that it wasn't such a big deal that those skills were taking a while to develop.

With Hoffman, he's not especially fast. He doesn't seem to read the game in attack terribly well so he's often not there in support when needed. And while he's strong as an ox and as courageous a player as you'll see, there's only so often you can bust tackles. You need to be avoiding them, going around the chasers. That's what made Lockyer so good at the back. It's what made Slater so good - his ability to pick up a kick on his own line, sum up the chase, find a straggler and beat them on the outside and then he'd go 90 metres.

Is Hoffman deserving of the scrap heap? God no. I wouldn't even write him off as a fullback. But this offseason is critical for him. He needs to develop and quickly.

Don't you think there is an element of lack of confidence here?

Maybe he is just not as willing to stick his head into horrible places because his halves are serving him up utter shit.

 

[Coxy]

If that's the case it's an even bigger issue for Hook to sort out then. Because if you have players not wanting to do their job because they don't have faith in other players doing their job then the team is FUBAR.

 

[subsbligh]

Here's my team for now (which will change about 30 times before kick off next season)

1. Hoffman - I think once he gets over whatever has been hampering him he is still our best option here. I would like to see him and hodges swap positions in the attacking zone though to keep the opposition guessing

2. Copley - To me he is getting better and better, hopefully Reed realises this and starts passing him the f***ing ball

3. Reed - Will probably eventually move into the back row, but not yet. As above, needs to realise copley has arms

4. Hodgo - Our best back by far. Would be unstoppable at FB but I dont think he's body is up to it week in and week out.

5. JYY/Maranta/Bond - JYY is a pipe dream for the start of the year, so Maranta or Bond depending on who wins the pre-season

6. Marshall - How a guy can dream right? - but nah we all know it is gonna be Norman

7. Wallace - Regardless of his critics he is still our best option in the halves. In the unlikely event that someone tells Paul White that we are actually allowed to purchase players from other clubs, Wallace and Marshall would form a fantastic halves partnership IMO - Seriously White must look at other clubs buying players from everywhere and think "when is the IC gonna put a stop to this... I'm gonna write John Grant a polite but strongly worded letter"

8. Hannant - obviously

9. Macca - As someone else said, severely under rated

10. Moose - Need I say more

11. Glenn - Fantastic player, one of those guys that could get the job done from any position.

12. Thaiday - Been playing completely busted and is still better than a lot of forwards in the comp. Hopefully we see the best of him next year

13. Parker - Absolute work horse, never gives up, could lose a leg and half an arm and still top the tackle count

14. Hunt - Until Macca can play the full 80 - Not sure what is gonna happen with the hunt/norman situation

15. Hala - Hopefully he has some better luck with injury, would be a bulldozer close to the try line - would have a huge impact for us if he can stay on the park

16. Gillett - He needs to come off the bench and he needs to find his best form again

17. J Wallace/Dodds/Gibb/Frei/Whitchurch - The spot is open and it's up to them to put there hand up

This is pretty much how it will play out.

Though one of Hook's biggest problems this year is our B props not being able to dominate like our starting props, hence our renowned last 20 minutes of each half fade outs.

I can see perhaps Parker or Thaiday taking on a prop rotation. Our bench is pretty lean without Te'o and Civo.

Maybe we need to stop playing the power game and start hitting the edges more

 

[Alec]

Maybe we need to stop playing the power game and start hitting the edges more

If we start copying the dogs, we could probably make use of our entire pack. We've got one of the best packs in the comp, with some Bulldogs-like variety, we could be scoring tries every set, haha.

 

[subsbligh]

If we start copying the dogs, we could probably make use of our entire pack. We've got one of the best packs in the comp, with some Bulldogs-like variety, we could be scoring tries every set, haha.

You look at their pack and they are pretty awesome now - Kasiano, Tolman and Graham - what an awesome prop rotation. Plus Pritchard, Eastwood and Jackson and Stagg.

Is Hala ready to play 40 minutes a game though? McGuire and Hannant can easily cover 60 each

 

[Porthoz]

Don't you think there is an element of lack of confidence here?

Maybe he is just not as willing to stick his head into horrible places because his halves are serving him up utter shit.

Did you see what Hodges did as a fullback with the same service from the same halves?

I'm with Coxy regarding Hoffman's abilities in the ball playing and game vision dept. He just doesn't have enough...
I think he will do very well in any 3/4 position though.

 

[Browny]

1.hoffman
2.copley
3.reed
4.hodges
5.maranta
6.marshall
7.johnson
8.hannant
9.macca
10.mcguire
11.glenn
12.thaiday
13.parker

14.hunt
15.gillett
16.?
17.?