Round 18 vs. Gold Coast Titans

[Big Pete]

Gold Coast Titans vs. Brisbane Broncos
Cbus Super Stadium, Saturday 12 September 2020
Kick Off 5:30pm

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1. Alexander Brimson 2. Anthony Don 3. Beau Fermor 4. Young Tonumaipea 5. Corey Thompson 6. Ashley Taylor 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Jarrod Wallace 9. Mitch Rein 10. Moeaki Fotuaika 11. Sam Stone 12. Keegan Hipgrave 13. Tyrone Peachey

Interchange: 14. Erin Clark 15. Jai Whitbread 16. Jai Arrow 17. Sam Lisone

Reserves: 18. Tanah Boyd 19. Treymain Spry 20. Darius Farmer 21. Nathan Peats

1. Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Richie Kennar 6. Sean O'Sullivan 7. Tom Dearden 8. Rhys Kennedy 9. Issac Luke 10. Payne Haas 11. David Fifita 12. Alex Glenn 13. Patrick Carrigan

Interchange: 14. Cory Paix 15. Ben Te'o 16. Xavier Coates 17. Joe Ofahengaue

Reserves: 18. Jesse Arthars 19. Ethan Bullemor 20. Brodie Croft 21. Pride Petterson-Robati

 

[Big Pete]

The Broncos are facing another piece of unwanted history - the longest losing streak in club history. The Broncos have currently equalled it with 8 losses on the trot. Fortunately they stand a better chance of beating the Gold Coast than they did the Roosters or Panthers. Even so, they'll still go in as underdogs.

Alex Glenn, Joe Ofahengaue and Xavier Coates will make their returns for the clash.

Glenn is an instant improvement for the Broncos who should provide the Broncos with more stability on the edges and make life easier for O'Sullivan who I presume will be his partner.

Ofahengaue owes the Broncos big time. He's been a massive disappointment this season, so much so, the rumour mill is going into over-drive and he could be off to St. George or Canterbury. He should be an asset to this team, but on form it's hard to get excited.

I'm not a fan of Coates' selection on the bench. If he's right to play, then select him on the wing infront of Kennar. The selection suggests there will be a shuffle mid-way through the match which is just an unecessary headache.

It just feels like we're counting down the weeks for the Broncos on what has been a horrible season. Hopefully for their own sake some of the stars can produce their best footy and at least end the season on a bright note heading into 2021.

 

[Nerd]

Pretty dour game to be honest. Our defence is now going ok but our attack which consists of one out runs off the ruck is obviously something the new coach will address next year. Gentle seems to have undone the defensive disaster that was Siebolds coaching now if he could just work on all the silly mistakes I would be happy. Then again fuxk it just bring on next year already.

 

[Nerd]

I'd just like to add how good are the after game press conferences from Peter Gentle compared to the inane ramblings that used to come from Siebold.

 

[Big Pete]

It helps that none of the blame falls on him and he canjust say what he wants to without fearing for his job. However, it was refreshing to have a coach who wasn't quoting tackle efficiency stats when the Broncos are getting 38 points put on them.

I thought if the Broncos were going to win that then Corey Oates would have to lead the way. His carries coming out of trouble are so important for the team and he really owed the team after his dismal Round 7 performance between the two teams. Instead it was just the same old story, made a complete meal of two kicks and it just put Brisbane under way too much pressure.

The straw that broke the camel's back was the longe range try to Tonumaipea. They actually did well to force the Gold Coast to work it out of trouble, but then Dearden rushed out of the line, allowing Taylor to streak past Fifita and they go on from it. It was a good try from them, but it sort of summed up the night. A try from dummy half, a try off a mistake and then one bad miss leads to a try against the run of play. Throw in the Broncos two bombed tries and it summed the night up.

It doesn't help that the team doesn't have any combinations. Outside of having Boyd at fullback, they're expecting a 19 year old and a rookie coming off three knee reconstructions to lead the team around. Throw in an over the hill Issac Luke and a rookie #7 moonlighting as a 9 and it's obvious why it's such a struggle for this team.

 

[DeeJ]

Our attack is really impotent and I think we regressed slightly compared to the previous weeks. The commentators made the observation that no one was supporting the ball runner and it was very true that we did not have multiple players in motion.

Recently Dearden has been good taking on the line and running things, but I think the lack of possession must of hurt the whole team. I thought we also looked quite impatient and O'Sullivan's decision making was really poor (why did try to run a play with Kennedy on the last?).

I think we need a bit more fire in the team, there's not much running with intent and we have been losing the forwards battle. Our defence has improved greatly, but I'd like to see more aggression without giving away a penalty.

 

[GoTheBroncs]

We are an awful rugby league team. Honestly it's heartbreaking to watch. It's particuarly sad when Boyd is your best player.

Hopefully that's the last time we see Oates on the wing. It's clear he just can't fix that part of his game, and now he has to prove that he can be an NRL standard backrower, or we move him on. Coates comes in, who obviously has his deficiencies, but still has time on his side to improve those aspects.