Michael Morgan

[big hit!]

Had to be done...

i still can't understand why he took the brain fart option with that over lap NSW had.

 

[ram raid]

Was watching a replay last night and watched that last try over and over again. It gave me a bit of a different take on it.

What actually happened is that as soon as Morgan got the ball he had an overlap. It was Morgan/Lowe/O'Neill/Feldt vs Milford/Reed/Oates. Thurston actually does deserve a lot of credit because he sucked in so many defenders and the Broncos were caught short. I think the most culpable was Parker, who rushed out of the line on Thurston at the last second and did absolutely nothing.

Lowe didn't really do anything, he hardly even bothered supporting, but his initial presence was enough to cause the overlap. Jack Reed was pulled in and O'Neill got too far outside him. It actually looks very different from front-on (they showed a replay from this angle after the try) as opposed to from the normal TV angle, as the normal angle creates the illusion of shortening the areas closer to the sideline.

From the normal angle it looks like Reed maybe has O'Neill covered but if you look at it from the better angle, O'Neill is a long way outside Reed. If Morgan had simply shifted the ball to O'Neill he probably could have drawn Oates and passed to Feldt for a simple try.

Interesting. I'm not sure. I don't think there was enough space. You can see Darius jogging (not sprinting) over in cover defence. This suggests that he at least thought they had them marked. It seems to me what created the play is the speed at which Morgan accelerated towards the line. This is what drew the defenders and created the space. But more importantly was the way Morgan manoeuvred it so his arm was free to get the pass to Feldt. I still think Milf and Reed could have made the tackle, but what spooked Oates was Morgan getting into space. So if anyone is to blame it would be Oates for not staying on his man. Darius was arriving in cover anyway. It's when he sees Oates has moved off his winger that he starts bolting - way too late - and collapses in a puddle of despair.

 

[Big Pete]

I couldn't blame Parker for that situation. McCullough should have wrapped up JT earlier after Blair caused him to race back inside and even then, Thaiday should have come in but he was caught out. In fact, Thaiday should have made a better play on Scott in the play previous as that basically forced Parker to get back before racing back in. If anything, Parker deserves credit for even influencing the play.

 

[ram raid]

Clutching at straws. Oates is the man to blame if anyone. A winger is not supposed to drop off his man unless circumstances are dire. If Oates doesn't leave his man the try most likely doesn't happen.

 

[TheVelourFog]

nearly every time Morgan ran at the line he had the ball in his right hand looking for that flick
Milford and Reed had him covered all game except for when it mattered

 

[Bobby DIGital]

I couldn't blame Parker for that situation.

Can we blame Parker for being such an uncharismatic bore though? I was getting reeeally sick of seeing him on Sterlo every week. What a boring human being.

 

[Shorty]

Was watching a replay last night and watched that last try over and over again. It gave me a bit of a different take on it.

What actually happened is that as soon as Morgan got the ball he had an overlap. It was Morgan/Lowe/O'Neill/Feldt vs Milford/Reed/Oates. Thurston actually does deserve a lot of credit because he sucked in so many defenders and the Broncos were caught short. I think the most culpable was Parker, who rushed out of the line on Thurston at the last second and did absolutely nothing.

Lowe didn't really do anything, he hardly even bothered supporting, but his initial presence was enough to cause the overlap. Jack Reed was pulled in and O'Neill got too far outside him. It actually looks very different from front-on (they showed a replay from this angle after the try) as opposed to from the normal TV angle, as the normal angle creates the illusion of shortening the areas closer to the sideline.

From the normal angle it looks like Reed maybe has O'Neill covered but if you look at it from the better angle, O'Neill is a long way outside Reed. If Morgan had simply shifted the ball to O'Neill he probably could have drawn Oates and passed to Feldt for a simple try.

Agree completely.

It's good to see, I get the impression people think Thurston did a 'hail mary' and that the whole sequence of events was chance but it really wasn't.

Jack Reed got manhandled last week, that's always going to be in the back of Oates' mind, hence he was drawn in.

 

[some11]

Do you get up every morning to shit on everyone BD?

I'd hate to know you.

 

[dogz08]

Can we blame Parker for being such an uncharismatic bore though? I was getting reeeally sick of seeing him on Sterlo every week. What a boring human being.

mitchell moses to be on next year..

 

[forward pass]

The other minor detail that is lost in the final try is the pick up by Thurston of the pass from dummy half. It was a poor pass at his feet and he picked it up sweetly.

By the way - quite a few of Granvilles passes were poor out of dummy half imo. Great player though.

 

[Hutty1986]

Do you get up every morning to shit on everyone BD?

I'd hate to know you.

The simple merkin wouldnt dare hate on his precious world cup runners-up NZ or the poor old Raiders though

 

[Shorty]

The other minor detail that is lost in the final try is the pick up by Thurston of the pass from dummy half. It was a poor pass at his feet and he picked it up sweetly.

By the way - quite a few of Granvilles passes were poor out of dummy half imo. Great player though.

If there's one criticism of Paul Green it's that he kept Granville off for way too long.
I understand that he was waiting as long as he could for the Broncos forwards to tire so Granville's scooting was to maximum effect but it stifled our attack so Granville was probably (as he is relatively inexperienced) starting to get nervous and his passes weren't the best.

 

[redvscotty]

Anyone who thought MOM wouldn't be Thurston if the Cows won has rocks in their head.

Morgan could have scored 14 tries and set up another 35 and JT still would have gotten it.

Easiest betting money all year, especially after he got the Dally M.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

If anyone has the game saved, go back and watch the front on replay of the try and compare it to the normal camera angle. It's really interesting because it reveals how distorting the normal angle can be.

I can see how from side on it looks like Reed has O'Neill covered but the closer and more front-on angle is very revealing. Reed was 4-5 metres inside O'Neill and was never going to catch him if the ball was shifted quickly. Oates had to stay in and be prepared to tackle O'Neill because if he had stayed any wider O'Neill would have simply run in untouched.

The reality is the Broncos were in deep shit the moment Morgan got the ball, they tried to slide and buy time but Morgan played the situation well and there wasn't much the Broncos could do about it.

 

[elyod138]

If there's one criticism of Paul Green it's that he kept Granville off for way too long.
I understand that he was waiting as long as he could for the Broncos forwards to tire so Granville's scooting was to maximum effect but it stifled our attack so Granville was probably (as he is relatively inexperienced) starting to get nervous and his passes weren't the best.

Granville doesn't play long minutes because he can't handle it yet, he struggles when he is tired, the poor passes were because he was out on his feet.

If he was out there earlier the Broncos would have ran straight through the middle of us.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Interesting. I'm not sure. I don't think there was enough space. You can see Darius jogging (not sprinting) over in cover defence. This suggests that he at least thought they had them marked. It seems to me what created the play is the speed at which Morgan accelerated towards the line. This is what drew the defenders and created the space. But more importantly was the way Morgan manoeuvred it so his arm was free to get the pass to Feldt. I still think Milf and Reed could have made the tackle, but what spooked Oates was Morgan getting into space. So if anyone is to blame it would be Oates for not staying on his man. Darius was arriving in cover anyway. It's when he sees Oates has moved off his winger that he starts bolting - way too late - and collapses in a puddle of despair.

Milford had Morgan covered. The problem was that Reed never had O'Neill covered. Milford was trying to buy time for Reed by sliding, if he commits early to Morgan, Morgan simply gives it to O'Neill who draws Oates and Feldt scores. Reed wasn't in the picture. The front-on angle will show you this.

Oates wasn't really drawn in by Morgan at all, he had to position himself further infield because O'Neill was totally unmarked. By the time it became apparent O'Neill wasn't getting the ball it was too late.

 

[JJ]

If there's one criticism of Paul Green it's that he kept Granville off for way too long.
.

Taumololo too - but that goes both ways, he was devastating when he got back on, perhaps Green was wanting him fired up

 

[grouch]

Granville was sent back out too soon if anything. His dreadful passing almost killed off any chance the Cowboys had! The Linnett bombed try occurred while he was off the field I'm pretty sure

He was marvellous in his first stint though

 

[big hit!]

Trying to blame anyone of the Broncos L1, L2, or L3 does them a disservice.

The defensive line broke down before it got to Morgan when Thurston threw an unconventional curve ball at them. He back tracked to keep the play alive. He had a bit of time with the ball and the Broncos defence maintained their discipline. That was until Parker went against the Bennett philosophy and rushed up to try and end the game. All the Broncos had to do was maintain their line, man up and slide like they have done practically all year, and they would now be Premiers.

But Thurston ran backwards and sideways rather than at the defensive line rather than the conventional attack on the line. Thurston attempting to keep the play alive drew out a bunny in Parker. He didn't make the tackle which then provided Morgan with space and a jagged defensive line. It's the thing that the Broncos have largely denied their opponents all year.

 

[Phil McGrawhan]

The other minor detail that is lost in the final try is the pick up by Thurston of the pass from dummy half. It was a poor pass at his feet and he picked it up sweetly.

By the way - quite a few of Granvilles passes were poor out of dummy half imo. Great player though.

Prob a blessing in disguise that pass .
If it was clean JT certainly would have put up a bomb.
He shapes to kick after Blair falls off him .