POST GAME Round 25 - Broncos vs Eels

KnToad said:
Yeh I noticed that at the time and watched it in the replay and thought he seemed to fade quickly from the play
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I hope to god he picked up a slight injury and that's why he didn't chase, I could forgive him for that.. Because to me, with Boyd there as well slowing him down just a little bit, he would have ran him down quite easily.
 
Player Reviews (and I will unload):

1. Boyd - What the heck was that Mr. Captain??? That was Hayne-like and that is definitely recent-Hayne, not 2009-Hayne. He played like a third-grader and looked disinterested from the get-go. Absolute trash from the captain of one of the most supported and respected league clubs in the world. He lead from the front alright and look at the result of how he lead. Pathetic, he should give his match payments back. He may as well have not even turned up but he gets a one for that pass to Mead. 1
2. Oates - Yes he dropped a ball from Roberts that lead to a try but that pass from rubbish, little Oates could have done. He really showed an ability to read the game tonight with some of his last-ditch tackle attempts and runs out of in-goal, etc. He just has to stay on the win, he is just too good and important there and loved seeing him rip into Norman. 8
3. Roberts - Was he even on the field? Oh yes, he passed a shocker to Oates and took the VERY limited opportunities presented to him. Just give him the ball and let him do his thing...his thing happens to be really special. Defense was nothing to write home about. 5
4. Moga - What a star player, what a gun, what a find he is, how dominant he is...except when he is up against a decent centre. Yep, where was he tonight when needed? That's right, helping let tries and line breaks in. Makes massive metres for us but lets so much through in defense. He has had better games but unfortunately, has also had worse. 5
5. Mead - Oh my goodness, sorry @meady but you need to never grace this great jersey again. Yes, he scored a try...and let in about a million more. Hmmm...I'm up against Radradra...I think I might just let him run all night and not tackle him, not contest bombs, not really do anything, what could go wrong? And seriously, where has his speed gone? Looks slower than Maranta. 1
6. Milford - Was behind a pack that wasn't just beaten, it was annihilated and yet, this little master in the making troubled with every touch and who was there chasing on every (and there were many) line break and try? Milf. That was JT-esque in terms of his competitiveness tonight. On a horrid night, he was one very bright positive. 8
7. KNik - Now look, I am biased, I like him and I think most of you know that I am the leader of his fan club however, I really cannot for the life of me see how he was bad. Yes, he didn't do much but he kept threatening every time (and it wasn't often) he had the ball. He is not a kicker, he is a runner and passer and he did those two aspects well in a team that was constantly on the back foot. Yes, his defense was not great but how many halves' defense is? He was ok in a side that was terrible around him. 6
8. Sims - He was better than last week though that wasn't hard, he was horrid last week and not much better though this week. He fired up...in the last five minutes when it was all over. Where was the aggression earlier? Looks like he has stuffed his shoulder so could be gone which could be a blessing in disguise. What a fire-breathing sack of potatoes he is at times. 4
9. Hunt - He really provided a spark when he came on but unfortunately, we were already a million behind by that stage. Is it time for him to start? @Big Pete seems to think so and I can't really disagree, would be worth finding out. 7
10. Blair - Lead by example by throwing one of the worst offloads of all-time to start the game and set the tone for the rest of the game. Did he come back on after his first stint? If he didn't it is completely understandable given it was probably one of the worst first stints by a prop for us since the dark old Kennedy days, it was that bad. Absolutely horrendous. As one poster said (and I chuckled), he does the 1 percenters, just forgets the other 99. One of the worst performances by a player I have ever seen. He may was well have stayed at home, it would have helped us. 0
11. Glenn - He was horribly out-sized by the Eels pack and yet didn't take a backward step once. What a champion he is and seems to be back to his best thankfully. He was fantastic once again and his try was pure determination. In my opinion, best on ground. 9
12. Gillett - The ultra-consistent Gillett summed up the Broncos tonight really - rubbish. Given his record in recent times, we will take it as an anomaly and move on but he was very lackluster tonight. Is he caring an injury? Let's hope not but regardless, it was a very average game tonight from the best second-rower in the world. 5
13. McGuire - If we had a forward pack full of McGuires, we would be fine because he is just amazing week-in, week-out. He is one of those rare players whose difference between best and worst games is about 0.5%. Unfortunately, he had very little support in the forward pack other than Arrow and Glenn. 9

14. Thaiday - Look, he dropped the ball as many times as anyone else tonight and that was appalling but no one can question his effort, he tried hard all night. Unfortunately, he just kept coming up with rubbish when we needed gold. Hopefully, it was just a blip in the experimental hooker combination. 4
15. Su'a - There is so much to like about this kid, so very, very much. He isn't ready yet...but in six months probably will be. His 'ceiling' as the expression goes, seems huge. Will look forward to seeing much, much more of him next year but for now, he wasn't on for long and wasn't really needed given the game was over well and truly before he entered the fray. Made a nice run when he was injected but wasn't required to do too much. 5
16. Arrow - I keep saying it (and while Carrigan may prove to be a gun) but this kid is a huge loss for us and a massive pick up for the Titans. He is a defensive rock and has an offload and motor to go with it in attack. There is no coincidence (in my opinion) that the Eels were at least momentarily slowed whenever he was on the field. He hits and sticks...but he also hits hard and that is such an under-rated skill in our team of trick-shot merchants. You need a player like him in every side who can glue the middle together through the middle part of a game. He was really, really good. 8
17. Ese'ese - He seems to have caught the Broncos-2017 bug in that he blows hot and cold. When he is hot, he runs like the wind and hits like a wall. When he is cold, he drops the ball, runs sideways and looks lost out there. His first half stint was atrocious and killed our momentum at a very important time when we were mounting a comeback. His second half stint was much better but too little, too late. 5

18. Klein - Look, let's be honest, despite that howler of a try to Parramatta to kill off the contest, he did everything he could to gift us some 'game-managed' penalties to keep the 'contest' tighter than it really should have been.
 
@Big Pete seems to think so and I can't really disagree,
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Do I?

That's news to me. All I know is that the idea that Sam should retain the spot next year is silly. As is the idea to experiment with other forwards...

Very insightful read as always Sproj!
 
Some players efforts during that game leave a lot to be desired
How they can look each other in the eye after that game would be a sight to see
I would rather take a close lose than an absolute pummelling
Nikorima needs to go to tackling school
Some of those attempts on radradra we school yard shirt grabs
We have a lot of work to do in defence if we are going to do anything in the finals
 
Perhaps Milford and Nikorima came good in the second half, I don't know, I was half way home by then, but I don't get some of the wraps they are receiving from some people.

In that first 20 minutes when we needed them to step up and take charge, they didn't. They were nowhere to be seen.

In fact, when Milford did do something, he put in terrible kicks that just hurt us even more. By the time they even started to come good, it was well too late.

It was like we cloned Ben Hunt twice and ran him out there..
 
Super Freak said:
Perhaps Milford and Nikorima came good in the second half, I don't know, I was half way home by then, but I don't get some of the wraps they are receiving from some people.

In that first 20 minutes when we needed them to step up and take charge, they didn't. They were nowhere to be seen.

In fact, when Milford did do something, he put in terrible kicks that just hurt us even more. By the time they even started to come good, it was well too late.

It was like we cloned Ben Hunt twice and ran him out there..
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Milford did all he could considering the situation. Yes his long kicking game wasn't at its best, but his short kicks were good and he took his opportunities when he could and looked dangerous.

The best thing was that he never stopped trying.
 
Here is a statement that wraps things up. The 20s game tonight was 14-8 to the broncos. That's a proper nrl first grade scoreline.
The first grade scoreline was 52-34. That's a Toyota cup scoreline. These guys want to take a good hard look at what it means to play first grade
 
I actually left the game just after half time, for the first time in my life. :awwwman:

It's not the mistakes and the off day, which can happen to any team, especially when they give the ball so often to the opposition and defend their edges so badly.

I was really embarrassed and pissed off at what our captain and vice-captain dished out, taking into account what was on the line, as well as the stage of the season we are in.
We were smashed by Parra 3 weeks ago, and this was redemption time, as well as consolidation of second spot on the ladder, all on a day the Broncos were supposedly thanking their members...

Well, thanks for nothing Boyd! You fucking soft, whingeing, sorry excuse for a captain, whom will never be capable of inspiring his team like our previous legends wearing the honourable title. Your attitude on the field was what made me pack it in and leave.
And before people try to chime in with a single game... no it is not a single game, it is a picture of most games this season, which culminated in the worst display by a captain in Broncos history!

Of course, Darius is not the only one to blame, especially when his co-captain decided it was a good idea to offload in his own 20 meters on the first carry of the night.
Other players made mistakes as well, but when you look at guys like Milford, Moose, Oates, or even Glenn and Gillett, whom despite mistakes and a rotten day at the office, kept trying their best under those trying circumstances, and you then look at Boyd's sooky, defeatist demeanour on the field... it is infuriating, unworthy, inexcusable, and I just couldn't take more of it.

What happens next is really the question.
Everyone is charmed of JD's free attacking tactics, and I like them too, but only if our forward pack aims up and dominates the opposition with hard punishing defense. Being bullied twice in a short time by Parra doesn't inspire confidence in the future, especially not when Melbourne showed they well and truly have our measure too, while we don't seem to have a plan B to combat teams who take it to us, and have halves capable of turning us inside out.

On the other hand, putting 34 points on them despite such a horrid performance, as well as the returns of Kahu, TPJ and Ofa, give me a faint glimmer of hope for the rest of the season.
Knik needs to turn it around as well. He and the right side have been mostly passengers of late, while his diminutive defense has been heavily targetted and is costing us field position and tries. Gillett, Roberts and Kahu are every bit as potent as Glenn, Moga and Oates, and he needs to go back to what he was doing so well in his first stint in the position.

Anyway, most importantly, I just hope they are hurting like hell and show the character, the will and the steel to never endure it again.
 
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Sproj said:
Player Reviews (and I will unload):

5. Mead - Oh my goodness, sorry @meady but you need to never grace this great jersey again. Yes, he scored a try...and let in about a million more. Hmmm...I'm up against Radradra...I think I might just let him run all night and not tackle him, not contest bombs, not really do anything, what could go wrong? And seriously, where has his speed gone? Looks slower than Maranta. 1
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Thankyou for the 1 pt, it equals the number of working legs i have. He shouldnt have even been out there, his knee is shot and prob wont play again this yr including the world cup. If you give me 1 pt u can take a half off that and give it to Roberts, how many times Semi run around or through him and not a single chase was given. You gave players in the Bronx game 8s ? jesus
 
What a disgrace of a game. Where was the intensity, aggression and most of all structure, that just went out the window. WTF was Boyd doing all night? Shitty passing, not even running the ball back and that backhand tackle, please!

The whole team was ordinary, a definite kick in the nuts and a massive wake up call.
 
Darius comes out in the presser and says the effort was great ... ugh.
 
What's everyone's thoughts on the Radrada "fumble over the top" try? What is the actual rule in this situation? Need to look at it again but it appeared like he batted it up to gain an advantage over a defender. Didn't think you could do that.
 
Aldo said:
What's everyone's thoughts on the Radrada "fumble over the top" try? What is the actual rule in this situation? Need to look at it again but it appeared like he batted it up to gain an advantage over a defender. Didn't think you could do that.
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you can fumble it and regather (as long as it hasn't hit an opponent or the ground.) however you can't intentionally throw it over the top of a defender.
 
Aldo said:
What's everyone's thoughts on the Radrada "fumble over the top" try? What is the actual rule in this situation? Need to look at it again but it appeared like he batted it up to gain an advantage over a defender. Didn't think you could do that.
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Live I thought it was alright but he definitely bats it over McGuire in order to gain possession. Should've been a penalty for deliberately throwing it forward.
 
Caniffe said:
Darius comes out in the presser and says the effort was great ... ugh.
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why does everyone expect coaches and captains to come out in PC's and say that they were shit and didn't deserve their pay etc.

never happens...

most coaches just whinge about the refs ... but Broncos coaches have a different tact and use "the effort was there" line
 
I think my neighbours may have thought there was a riot going on at my house last night, all the yelling at the TV.
It's nights like these that make me realise what it must be like supporting the Warriors.
I don't know how they do it; I'd fear coronary failure if performances like this were regular.
 
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