Round 9 vs. Manly Sea Eagles Discussion

[Big Pete]

NRL 2019 - Round 9
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles v Brisbane Broncos
Suncorp Stadium, Milton (TICKETS)
Friday 10 May 2019

1. Brendan Elliott
2. Jorge Taufua
3. Moses Suli
4. Brad Parker
5. Reuben Garrick
6. Apisai Koroisau
7. Kane Elgey
8. Toafofoa Sipley
9. Manase Fainu
10. Martin Taupau
11. Joel Thompson
12. Curtis Sironen
13. Jake Trbojevic

Interchange
14. Jack Gosiewski
15. Kelepi Tanginoa
16. Corey Waddell
17. Morgan Boyle

Reserves
18. Abbas Miski
19. Cade Cust
20. Zach Dockar-clay
21. Taniela Paseka

1. Darius Boyd
2. Corey Oates
3. Kotoni Staggs
4. Jack Bird
5. Gehamat Shibasaki
6. Anthony Milford
7. Tom Dearden
8. Matthew Lodge
9. Jake Turpin
10. Payne Haas
11. Alex Glenn
12. Matt Gillett
13. Thomas Flegler

Interchange
14. Patty Carrigan
15. David Fifita
16. Tevita Pangai
17. Joe Ofahengaue

Reserves
18. Jamayne Isaako
19. Cory Paix
20. Jaydn Su'a
21. Sean O'Sullivan​

 

[Big Pete]

It's taken nine rounds but Seibold has made some unforced changes to the team. The right edge has been dropped, with Bird swapping sides of the field, Staggs coming into play left and Shibasaki earning a spot on the right wing. I believe the Bird swap was for the best since he never appeared comfortable on the left and he had no chemistry with his wing partner. However it remains to be seen whether Staggs will be any better given he's naturally a right-side player. He did make a strong debut against Sydney in that position last year but he never held the position down. Shibasaki's selection on the right wing also has a lot of question marks attatched to it. The Broncos had to try something different because Isaako had become an easy target for opposition's offences, but Shibasaki has his own struggles under the high ball and has looked off the pace whenever he's played NRL.

There's also the forced change at #9 with Turpin coming in for McCullough. It will be interesting to see how Turpin fairs given how much he split his time up at dummy half last year and whether he'll be forced to play the full 80. From the sounds of it, Glenn may start the game at 9 or Isaako will go to the bench and there will be a reshuffle at some point with Staggs going to 9, Shibasaki going to 3 and Isaako going back to 5. The latter sounds like a major headache and I'd much rather see a player like Paix or O'Sullivan come to the bench to play that relief role.

If the Broncos play like they did last week, the Sea Eagles will win comfortably even without their star players. Des has got them playing basic honest football with the forwards physically asserting themselves and giving the likes of Fainu a platform to work off of. So the Broncos can't afford to get too ahead of themselves here and they need to concentrate on their game. The back three have to do their job and the Broncos have to use both sides of the ruck to give themselves a good opportunity. They've got to move the ball around and stop relying on the one-out football that was on display in their loss to Souths.

 

[Nerd]

The difference is amazing when we can hang onto the ball. How much better is our attack with Turpin at hooker! Better game from Boyd tonight at last. Our defence did well to hang on early when Manly had all the ball and were getting all the penalties. Manly had a few players out tonight but their replacements still had much more experience than our young forwards and as the game went on our forwards were going better and better. Don't know about Shibasaki he still looks a bit out of his depth in first grade.

 

[renouf]

Problem is McCollough will probably slot back in but really if Turpin goes well in the next month or so he should be there. Not sure why they've persisted with McCollough for so long, his service out of dummy has been pedestrian for years

 

[DeeJ]

We could always go back to two hookers - one on the bench to come on for impact.

 

[Big Pete]

It took 30 minutes for the Broncos to get into the game, but once they got on the board they never looked troubled and did it very comfortably in the end. Manly were without a lot of troops, but it's also worth pointing out the inexperienced of the Broncos line-up and the injuries they also had to contend with during the game. Manly still have a ton of improvement in them, but Brisbane can still take something out of the win.

I don't necessarily believe the Broncos are back, but as long as this squad can avoid losing streaks I think you'll see more victories. The challenge for them will be winning games against an opposition that doesn't have a crippling injury toll.

Payne Haas had his best game for Brisbane yet and while he'll have to wait at least a year, by rights he should already be in the frame for Origin selection. I'd be very surprised if he didn't play for Australia in next year's Four Nations and he's still my tip for Rookie of the Year.

 

[THE CHAMP]

Still nowhere near good enough but I'll take it.