salivor said:
I've been pretty negative about the first 2 rounds and our overall prospects this year but I can only see positives out of todays match regardless of how poorly the Eels played.
The Eels really didn't play that poorly, or as poorly as people are making out.
salivor said:
The things that really impressed me were:
- The up and in defence starting to click in to place, Parramatta were continually forced to run sideways and lost a lot of ground. The ruck defence also was rock solid finally and against a side with two very strong dummy halves in Riddell and Marsh, it was a big step forward IMO.
This is what made people think the Eels played poorly, but I think it was more the Broncos defense dictated the play to the Eels, even when they made breaks, the scrambling defense shut them down when in the past Hunt would have been left stranded and made to look stupid. That has been missing, a team makes a break and no one chases, means Hunt is on his own. Hunt saved a few tries today thanks to being able to commit to taking the ball carrier and not having to worry about the support.
salivor said:
- The work of Seymour and Hunt today, neither had the games of their lives but Hunt in particular upping his involvement meant Lockyer only had to make a couple of touches a game and lead to him having his best performances in a long time. Seymour as well took almost full control of our kicking game.
This made our attack look much better, and kept Lockyer fresh. I'd like to see this continue with Seymour doing most of the kicking with Hunt, Lockyer and Ennis chipping in. Hunt got himself into first reciever alot, I don't think Seymour was ever going to be dropped, Hunt playing halfback was probably more to get him into the habit of getting the ball in his hands at first reciever.
salivor said:
- We finally found some creativity in our attack, simple things like decoys, second phase play and getting the opposition backpeddling out of dummy half, things that have almost been absent from the Broncos for a while now.
It's funny, they looked good in attack, yet it was simple things that did it. Decoy runners, offloading, passing before the line, cut out passes, changing the angles and dummy half runs.
I can honestly say I see the light at the end of the tunnel. The attack can and still will improve with Carroll, Tate and Thaiday still to return.
