Thierry Henry said:
I disagree on one point A4E. I think you slightly underrate our backline. imo we weren't beaten by the "individual brilliance" of the Broncos (I assume you're talking about the likes of Hodges and Lockyer). I actually think they consistently got the better of us in the forwards. Despite all the talk about 2 big packs going to war, our relatively lightweight backrow of Guttenbeil/Luck/Anderson, and the sadly ineffectual Wiki, didn't have the requisite muscle.
True, they definitely got the better of us in the forwards, but I dont think we were totally dominated and Hodges, Tate & Stagg were all effective in doing the grunt work along with their pack. I think we were outskilled every bit as much as we were outmuscled. Having a platform built for your halves is one thing, but being able to capitalise on it like Lockyer can is another. He was finding & creating holes in our defense from the beginning and he links so well with the likes of Hunt, Berrigan, Tate & Hodges who can all be lethal. His involvemant is huge and without him, the Broncos are pretty one dimensional.
Iafeta said:
Jerome doesn't escape criticism because yet again he was well behind the 8 ball. He's not a #6. While it may be "yawn"ing, there's a "yawn"ing gap between him and the level we should expect from a 6.
Sure. I yawn because its been obvious for some time that there is no quality option at standoff.
Given Feins performance at hooker, people would have gone with Hohaia for yet another stint? The yawning gap is still there. Hohaia has no more vision or finesse than Ropati. Perhaps less. Bar the odd offload, I cant think of when he ever put anyone into space. At least Ropati has managed to do so a handful of times. Hohaia was less error prone, but also less involved & didnt threaten the line on anything like a regular basis. He was largely invisible for much of his career at 6.
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