Round 14 vs. Canberra Raiders

[Big Pete]

Canberra Raiders vs. Brisbane Broncos
GIO Stadium, Saturday 15 August 2020
Kick Off 7:35pm
​

1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Jordan Rapana 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Curtis Scott 5. Nick Cotric 6. Jack Wighton 7. George Williams 8. Josh Papali'i 9. Siliva Havili 10. Dunamis Lui 11. John Bateman 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Hudson Young

Interchange: 14. Tom Starling 15. Joseph Tapine 16. Ryan Sutton 17. Corey Harawira-Naera

Reserves: 18. Sam Williams 19. Michael Oldfield 20. Kai O'Donnell 21. Matt Frawley

1. Darius Boyd 2. Richard Kennar 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Xavier Coates 6. Brodie Croft 7. Tom Dearden 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Jake Turpin 10. Payne Haas 11. David Fifita 12. Ben Te'o 13. Patrick Carrigan

Interchange: 14. Cory Paix 15. Jordan Riki 16. Joe Ofahengaue 17. Matthew Lodge

Reserves: 18. Issac Luke 19. Ethan Bullemor 20. Rhys Kennedy 21. Jesse Arthars

 

[Big Pete]

That 56-0 record could be in jeopardy. The latest at the Broncos is that Anthony Seibold has had to break Covid restrictions to tend to a family matter and assistant coach Peter Gentle will have to fill the role over the next two weeks.

It doesn't appear the Broncos have picked up any fresh injuries coming out of the Souths game. No players were charged either, so for the first time all season the Broncos should be able to work on their combinations without any interruptions. Jesse Arthars will be available for the game, so I'd imagine he'll slot into that left centre position with Richie Kennar making way. I can't see Brisbane making too many changes beyond that, possibly Cory Paix may come in for Issac Luke.

If you asked the fans, I'd imagine they'd want a few players dropped from last night's game. Brodie Croft, Issac Luke, Joe Ofahengaue and Matt Lodge appear to be the player's under fire. I doubt we'll see all four dropped and I can't see Brisbane making any bold changes until the Round 15 clash against St. George Illawarra.

 

[DeeJ]

I know Arthurs has a higher ceiling than Kenner. But I'd be tempted to stick with Richie until someone is screaming out to be picked. I was very pessimistic when he was first signed and named, but every game he has played has shown what a reliable, no fuss and mistake free player he can be.

 

[Big Pete]

Pangai is out for two weeks after breaking Covid protocols.

It appears I jinxed it. Right as it appeared that Brisbane were finally going to get through a game unscathed they've lost one of their main strike weapons and their coach.

I know Arthurs has a higher ceiling than Kenner. But I'd be tempted to stick with Richie until someone is screaming out to be picked. I was very pessimistic when he was first signed and named, but every game he has played has shown what a reliable, no fuss and mistake free player he can be.

It would be unfortunate for Kennar who has been solid, but no team should be comfortable with an 18 point loss and some adjustments should be made. Arthars is considered a starting player and was close to playing on the weekend, on the face of it, it would be the most likely change.

However in the face of the Pangai Jr suspension, they may just call it a wash this week, try their best to get through the Canberra game unscathed and focus on the Dragons game at Suncorp instead.

 

[Big Pete]

More development on the Pangai Jr front, the Courier Mail and Channel 7 are both reporting that he could face the sack following his Covid breach. Allegedly it's considered the final straw after a series of on-field and off-field incidents. We'll know more in coming days, but apparently news is imminent.

With Pangai on Covid-hold, Ben Te'o has been promoted to the starting side and Jordan Riki will make his first grade debut. Now I would have personally held off on any first grade debuts until the next home game but in light of the Pangai suspension the Broncos decided to take the opportunity to get it done. Riki would have played first grade by now had he not suffered an MCL tear in the opening week of the QCup. He was infront of Bullemor in the pecking order and of the two has the more upside. Personally I still think he's very raw and a good year off being a NRL regular but he has potential. Just don't expect David Fifita 2.0, Fifita was just a freak, even before he made his debut coincidentally against the Raiders.

Paix also returns in a popular move amongst fans. I think it's the right call as well, if Luke is merely going to be used as a relief option, you may as well get that 15-20 minutes into Paix. I thought Cory was unlucky to be demoted when he was, his defence in particular on Asofa-Solomona was fantastic and I thought he played a big role in the Broncos early ascendency in that contest.

Also it appears Kennar will retain his place.It's certainly not undeservedand hopefully he can continue to be a solid contributor. For me, he's like a Kaine Manihera type as far as not being a game-breaker, but somebody who can help work it out of his own end which is something the Broncos desperately need help in.

 

[Big Pete]

Matt Lodge fractured his tibia in the South Sydney game and will miss the rest of the season. I presume Rhys Kennedy will come onto the bench.

 

[GoTheBroncs]

BP kudos to you for still making these threads. I'm not sure how you have the stamina...

Literally every day it's more bad news and just not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[Big Pete]

Sadly that theme continues, Xavier Coates has now gone down. At first it appeared to be a serious knee injury but in some relieving news it appears to be a ligament in his foot and the early prognosis is he'll only miss a week or two.

That will see Jesse Arthars come into the team. I knew I was clairvoyant and he'd be there in some capacity. I presume he'll come straight in for Coates which for mine is a waste since he's a better centre than Farnworth and Farnworth is a much better winger but I imagine the idea is just to get through this week.

It's been a tough season which is why I don't begrudge these threads for being quiet. It's difficult to look forward to anything when the club has given fans very little to look forward to. Personally I find it easier to write about this season where the Broncos are getting the results they deserve as opposed to last season where they were playing poorly but a few individuals were carrying the team.

Hopefully in a couple of years time, these threads will still be up and we can look back on them and see how far the team has come since.

 

[Big Pete]

Both Arthars and Kennedy have come into the 17, Kahu has been named as an emergency reserve in #22. This is the first time the entire season Kahu has come into calculations.

 

[Nerd]

Good effort in the first half then the wheels fell off again. Surely a new coach and no Darius have to make us a better team next year?

Also when all the injured players a back next season surely Croft is going to struggle to hold a spot in the halves. He has Darius Boyd like tackling issues and offers little in attack.

 

[DeeJ]

Croft has been supremely unimpressive every since the Melbourne game.

 

[Big Pete]

3-11

That second half was horrific. They were walking by the second set and hardly anybody was trying to initiate good contact. In the end, the 36-8 scoreline flattered them, it easily could have been 54-8 but Canberra put the cue in the rack with 15 to go.

They were just so poor defensively. They had no answers for Joseph Tapine who had a field day in the middle and the backs offered no resistance. Staggs once again was caught coming up and in when he needed to be sliding which gave Rapana and Croker plenty of space. Farnworth and Croft were hardly any better, that try from the mid-field kick was just horrendous from Farnworth who was trying to impede 3 defenders instead of just looking to either mark or bat the ball dead.

Turpin had to come off early which certainly didn't help matters. Paix's service was awful from dummy half and the Raiders really targeted him in that second half. Paix hasn't been entirely terrible but for somebody who has been identified as a future star of the club, he's done nothing to suggest he has a future at this level.

Dearden was one of the few shining lights. He's got a strong kicking game and always looked likely with ball in hand. He's one of the few players you'd actually want to keep around in this team. Riki had a couple of nice touches on the edge. He looks to have a bit pace on him for a big guy, he just needs to work on his skill-set. He blew a try with his choice of pass on the offload.

Even when the Broncos were on top in that first half, there were some bad signs. This was where Paix really struggled, he didn't seem to know where the ball needed to go and Dearden seemed to be the only player who appeared to be composed. When the Broncos did shift the ball, they had no options, nobody was running any good decoys and it just meant that players received the ball flat-footed which made it all too easy for the Raiders defence.

Just another horrific loss to add to the pile.

For those keeping track

Round 4 2019 vs. Sydney Roosters 4-36
Round 8 2019 vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs 6-38
Round 14 2019 vs. Parramatta Eels 10-38
Round 20 2019 vs. Melbourne Storm 4-40
Round 25 2019 vs. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 14-30
Qualifying Final 2019 vs. Parramatta Eels 0-58
Round 3 2020 vs. Parramatta Eels 6-34
Round 4 2020 vs. Sydney Roosters 0-59
Round 6 2020 vs. Newcastle Knights 6-27
Round 7 2020 vs. Gold Coast Titans 12-30
Round 8 2020 vs. Warriors 16-26
Round 10 2020 vs. Wests Tigers 0-48
Round 11 2020 vs. Melbourne Storm 8-46
Round 13 2020 vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs 10-28
Round 14 2020 vs. Canberra Raiders - 8-36