Finals Week 2 vs. Newcastle Knights Pre/Present/Post Match Discussion

[Big Pete]

In a position we would've ended up either way (I think) however one big difference, confidence.

If we had of won against the Dragons I believe morale would've been high however things seem to be down again...what I think needs to happen.

*Hodges needs to go back to the Centres, Hunt to fullback

Hodges proved he isn't capable under the high ball and the Dragons nullified him for most of the match. Hunt is likely to return next week and I believe we'll be better for it. We also need attack on our fringes which was missing on Saturday, Stagg just isn't an attacking Centre and it showed.

*McGuire dropped, Stagg onto the bench

That's the only change I'd make. Stagg can basically slot anywhere in the forwards (bar prop forward), can play Hooker and Centre and Berrigan can go Halfback if Perry goes off. McGuire just hasn't added anything this year and has been quite ordinary.

Where we could improve...

*Defence

You want to know why we lost? We had no line speed what so ever. Of course we'd make a few big hits but line speed was non-existant and the Dragons forwards picked up easy metres.

*2nd Phase

There was bugger all second phase all night. That was what made us look dangerous the past few games with players offloading. There was none of this and the only time there was we scored.

*Perry!!!

He proved in Round 26 how vital he is however he had no clue against the Dragons. Instead of passing it he just stopped and got tackled it was extremely frustrating, so much so he ended getting hooked. Perry needs to lift, all the pressure was on Lockyer and because of that our attack became way too predictable.

Looking at the opposition

Newcastle are fierce rivals. We love to give it to their fans and they love to give it back. Looking at their team I believe this could be a good chance to beat them. Budearus is likely to be suspended. Kidley will more than likely be their fullback again (if you look past his Friday night performance he is woeful at that position) and Simpson could also be out.

They will still be quality opposition no doubt with the likes of Johns, M Gidley (who has been in good form IMO), Carney, Mullen and Newton. However if we play to potential we should win.

My side:
1. Hunt
2. Boyd
3. Tate
4. Hodges
5. Tupou
6. Lockyer
7. Perry
8. Webcke
9. Berrigan
10. Civoniceiva
11. Thaiday
12. Thorn
13. Carroll

14. Parker
15. Carlaw
16. Hannant
17. Stagg

Your thoughts?

 

[broncoman]

Hodges has be in the Centres, his fairytale run at the back is over. His weaknesses in the position have been worked out and he will only continue to get worse if he stays there.
I agree we dont need many changes, just an attitude adjustment. We weren't tight enough in defence and too slow with the ball in hand, if we can fix these things i believe we will have too much for the Knights.

We've only conceeded 9 tries in our last 5 games, things could be worse than they are now...

 

[salivor]

Hodges back to centre but still give him a roaming license as he has been brilliant in his support play, he's too good to confine to one side of the field.

Newcastle are a tough nut to crack, we certainly won't even make a dent if we play like we did against St George. The one thing we have in our favour though is that Buderus won't be there as the Dragons murdered us around the ruck, that can't happen again this week.

 

[Leagueguy]

4 Pieces of advice for Benny

1. Tell Shane Perry to get into first reciever, run to the line, then pass it to Lockyer. Or if Lockyer calls for it as soon as he gets the ball, don't bother going to the line, just pass it. Golden Rule though - Just don't get caught with the ball.
2. Tell Lockyer to avoid first reciever at all costs and play as wide as possible
3. Tell Karmichael (who better be fullback) to never leave Lockyers side wherever he goes on the field. No matter where Lockyer is he should always have the option to pass to K.
4. Tell the forwads, especially inside the opponents 20, to just keep the ball alive. Our attack is best when the play is broken up and unstructured. Lockyer and Hodges thrive on scrapy, broken play. This is what Souths and other teams do to beat the Broncos. They just chance their arm and throw it around. We need to start doing this.

 

[pennywisealfie]

enough of the "we cant RISK hunt at halfback". Why Not? we cant get any worse.

 

[Rastus_in_Melbourne]

I don't think moving positions around is necessary the magic bullet. I'd just like to see more intensity and purpose.

The most frustrating thing about the Broncos is you never know which side is going to turn up. The committed Broncos or the fat and lazy Broncos.

Dragons had a lot more to play for cause if they lost they were one upset away from elimination. Meanwhile the Broncos could have slugged their guts out all for what, still in the same situation. So I'm just hoping it was a motivation thing.

The game vs Newcastle like all games will come down to teamwork.

 

[Pierced Soul]

whislt we didnt play well I was happy with the performance. the executionw asnt there and lets face it the dragons played evry well.

i cant believe it's taken this long for a team to figure out hodges...

perry had a poor game and the overall intensity in defence just wasnt there. In saying that we can improve a lot and I thought newcastle were lucky to beat manly.

Hunt returning will make a huge difference as will hodges back in the centres (i can see him running over carmont all night).

when the broncos are playing well you'll see second phase play and a lot of support for the ball carrier. when we lsoe intensity it's just one out stuff

 

[borat]

As a dragons supporter venturing into bronco territory I am not here to troll. I read this thread with interest and thought I would throw my suggestion in. I don't think its a question of moving Hodges because he is weak at fullback. But to have Hunt at fullback and Hodges in the centres is the best of both worlds. I breathed a big sigh of releif when I heard Hunt wasn't playing because he is just so good at creating attacking plays. Without him I thought the broncos lacked alot when in our 20m.

Secondly your pack is huge but not mobile enough. When I saw the team sheets I thought the broncos are trying to do to us what the Dogs did. But I think Brown worked this out pretty well in spreading the ball wide quickly and looking for inside runners. Seemed to catch your defence alot which was a little slow to react. I would be thinking of having Stagg in the run on side and pushing Thaiday or Thorn to the bench would help.

Anyway, I have no doubt that you will beat the Knights with a couple of minor changes. Good luck.

 

[Big Pete]

Cheers borat and you're spot on with your critcism. If I was to make changes to the forwards it would be to move Thorn to bench and Parker to start. Parker has become really mobile and is in good form. Thaiday has to start, he was one of our best and needs to stay on for his own good and for the teams own good.

 

[Mr Saab]

This has similarities to 2001.
Lost to the sharks
Smashed the Dragons week 2
Lost to the eels in a close one.

This will perhaps happen again. They will beat an understrength Knights team (i think) and then face a Dogs team which they will prob lose by 1-10 points

 

[Big Pete]

Agreed Charlie that's my feeling too.

Although I'm still not that positive on beating the Knights, just quietly confident.

 

[Pierced Soul]

If we use manly's first half defense as a blue print i think we can easily outfluster the knights. the knights couldnt do anything and relied on bumstead to keep them in the game. and with the loss of buderus i think theknights will alck a lot of direction in the ruck area which should help our poor ruck defence

the dogs looked good after beingdown on form in the past few weeks but it wasnt that long ago we cleaned them (even though they had injuries) and I cant see why that cant happen again if we paly to our potential

 

[salivor]

I think we can beat the Bulldogs, mentally at least the belief will be there in the team with 2 very convicing wins already against them this season. The Knights are the tougher of the 2 clashes IMO as Johns had a pretty quiet match by his standards on Friday night but was still crucial in the victory, if he has a blinder this time around he'll blow us off the park.

 

[Jizmizm]

Play like u did against Eels / Storm and u'll win

 

[Mr Saab]

The warriors curse continued with us with our loss to the Dragons (teams that play the warriors lose the week after). Not using that as an excuse...just a useless stat i guess.

 

[salivor]

Here are the teams guys:
NRL 2nd Elimination Semi-Final
Brisbane Broncos vs Newcastle Knights
Saturday, September 16, Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off: 7.45pm

Broncos:
1. Justin Hodges
2. Darius Boyd
3. Brent Tate
4. David Stagg
5. Karmichael Hunt
6. Darren Lockyer (c)
7. Shane Perry
8. Shane Webcke
9. Shaun Berrigan
10. Petero Civoniceva
11. Sam Thaiday
12. Brad Thorn
13. Tonie Carroll

Interchange:
14. Corey Parker
15. Dane Carlaw
16. Ben Hannant
17. Casey McGuire
18. Tame Tupou (one to be omitted)
Coach: Wayne Bennett

Newcastle:
1. Kurt Gidley
2. Bian Carney
3. Matthew Gidley
4. George Carmont
5. Anthony Quinn
6. Jarrod Mullen
7. Andrew Johns (c)
8. Josh Perry
9. Luke Quigley
10. Adam Woolnough
11. Steve Simpson
12. Clint Newton
13. Reegan Tanner

Interchange:
14. Luke Davico
15. Craig Smith
16. Riley Brown
17. Krk Reynoldson
18. Daniel Abraham
19. Todd Lowrie (two to be omitted)
Coach: Michael Hagan

Don't understand the decision to keep Hodges at fullback, the gig is up, he was worked out last week and if Bennett doesn't think the best kicker in the game Johns won't keep him pinned down then he's kidding himself. I can only assume he's told Hunt to be ready to switch back to fullback at any stage of the match.

 

[Mr Saab]

Johns will pull a hammy with the amount of bombs he will put up to test Hodges.
If Hodges thought Barrett and Hornby bombs were difficult...wait until he cops a Johns bomb that goes away from you in the final 20m decent.

 

[RABK]

Can't wait for this game, first time Brisbane and Knights meet in the finals is it not or is my memory decieving me.

 

[Mr Saab]

This is the 1st time....you are correct.
Very strange though that these 2 teams, which have been on top since 1995 (well the knights really came of age in 1995...broncos 1990) will only be meeting for the 1st time.
Johns vs Lockyer....another poll..................no

 

[RABK]

Well best of luck, bit of bragging rights whoever takes the spoils in the first finals clash between arguably the two most consistent sides of the past 10 years.