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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 2647743, member: 1899"] Round 7, 2007 Suncorp Stadium BRISBANE BRONCOS 18, MELBOURNE STORM 28 Brisbane 1. Karmichael Hunt 2. Steve Michaels 16. Darius Boyd 4. Justin Hodges 5. Brent Tate 6. Darren Lockyer 7. Shaun Berrigan 8. Dane Carlaw 17. Ian Lacey 10. Petero Civoniceiva 3. David Stagg 12. Brad Thorn 21. Greg Eastwood Interchange: 9. Michael Ennis 11. Sam Thaiday 15. Ben Hannant 18. Joel Moon Melbourne 1. Billy Slater 2. Steve Turner 3. Matt King 6. Matt Geyer 5. Israel Folau 20. Greg Inglis 7. Cooper Cronk 8. Antonio Kaufusi 9. Cameron Smith (c) 10. Brett White 11. Michael Crocker 12. Ryan Hoffman 13. Dallas Johnson Interchange: 4. Anthony Quinn 14. Sam Tagataese 15. Jeff Lima 16. Ian Donnelly This is one of those games you could write an essay on. I'm talking from experience here, this is attempt #2 after my first read like a bad David Middleton impression - I'm hoping this maybe more user-friendly. The game followed a very interesting script. Both teams really wanted to win and played with Origin-like intensity through out the 80 minutes yet both teams were guilty of making the most basic of errors. In the end, Brisbane were far more guilty than the visitors, lacked the overall quality of the visitors and arguably received a raw deal from the referees. At the time, I thought the referees were trying to square up the 06 GF. Melbourne had two controversial tries awarded and were somehow deemed the clearner side winning the penalty count. As a passionate 17 year old who hated those Melbourne players, it didn't seem right. Years on, I'm willing to admit most of the calls were merely contentious and the worst call of the evening was merely bad luck for the Broncos. I'm of course referring to Turner's try in the corner, where he claimed the ball behind the back of Tate and planted the ball down despite the attention of three defenders. Live, it looked like a no-brainer and Hampstead ruled accordingly. However, replays showed that Turner had infact spilled the ball. I've seen tries like that given in the past, so it wasn't as terrible as I remembered it but it wasn't a try, it was just a kick-in-the-guts for a Broncos team that continuously shot themselves in the foot in spite of their intentions. It's tries like Turner's that justify the referee's use of the video referee. I understand that fans just want to watch the action, but these calls can make or break careers - I have no problem with the referees checking everything. Regardless, the Broncos were their own worst enemy. Too many cheap mistakes down their own end gifted Melbourne 58% of the ball and by that point, the game was basically over at 28-12. Strangely, it didn't feel that way and Vossy kept noting that the Broncos were going to have the final say but they simply didn't have the fire power to get back into the contest. Their sole try came off a wonderful passage of play. Darius Boyd was like Willie Carne circa 1992 beating the oncoming defence to somehow make it back into the field of play. Brisbane received a rare penalty and Hodgo found the Storm napping, racing 70 odd before being chased down by GI. Next play, Berrigan zones in on the goal-line, attracts two Storm defenders before getting an offload away to Stagg who surges to the line. There was a hint of a double movement from Stagg but the referees deemed it a try. Unfortunately it was a rare highlight in a game filled with plenty of lows. I've been trying to get my head around what it was exactly that made for a poor start to the season. I understand that the GF, Tri-Series and WCC took a lot out of them but that didn't excuse them from making the type of mistakes there were. So far I've been watching a team of individuals who happen to have a couple of Test players in their ranks but they're not all pitching in. I'm watching some of the worst performances I've seen from dummy-half compounded by some soft efforts from the young forwards and lack of confidence in the backs. Brisbane are primarily playing down their right hand side and aren't getting enough from players like Hunt, Berrigan, Boyd or Michaels. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have been calling for Ennis at hooker, Perry at halfback, Michaels to be dropped for Kemp, played Tate in the centres and Berro off the bench. If those changes didn't work, I would have fiddled with the pack. In contrast, at the time I wanted McConnell in the team because I read a decent review of him, Thorn out of the backrow, Boyd out of the team for good and was completely fine with Michaels and Berro. To wrap up, this was a really watchable game and now that the dust has well and truly settled it's worth a watch. Not the highest quality, but definitely entertaining. [/QUOTE]

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