post-Thurston era Cowboys

[Tommy Smith]

Granville's second stint cost him big time. He was really good in the first half, but when he came back on he looked frazzled. His service was awful and he was very indecisive.

Thurston was the difference between the two teams and I'd have Granville behind Tamou.

How on earth was Thurston the difference?

Feldt & Morgan were the heroes. The most underrated play of the game was Feldt's brilliant strip on Hunt with 60-90 secs to go which gave the Cowboys one final shot. That was also Hunt's biggest bonehead play but gets overlooked for the drop on the kick off.

Also the delicious ironing about Granville's awful dummy half service is that it was his last floater to JT that hit the ground first which ultimately threw the D off balance and led to the try.

Unintentional genius.

 

[mozza91]

Thurston didn’t have a blinder but whenever there seemed to be a loose ball on the ground or little kick to be defused he was there. Johns did similar things in the 2001 Grand Final actually.

As mentioned Milford was head and shoulders above anyone on the field that night and absolutely deserved the Churchill Medal. Tamou was the next best I thought.

It’s nothing new though giving it to the wrong bloke, because Fifita should have got in 2016 and Tohu Harris in 2017. At least they got it right this year.

 

[Big Pete]

How on earth was Thurston the difference?

Feldt & Morgan were the heroes. The most underrated play of the game was Feldt's brilliant strip on Hunt with 60-90 secs to go which gave the Cowboys one final shot. That was also Hunt's biggest bonehead play but gets overlooked for the drop on the kick off.

Also the delicious ironing about Granville's awful dummy half service is that it was his last floater to JT that hit the ground first which ultimately threw the D off balance and led to the try.

Unintentional genius.

Because Thurston's kicking game for the majority of the contest gave the Cowboys all the territory and forced Brisbane into exit set after exit set. Morgan was a non-factor until he really had to step up and similar sentiments can be made of Feldt.

 

[Spot On]

Thurston had a fairly ordinary game by his standards - and said so himself. It's a stretch to say he was the difference.

 

[Big Pete]

Thurston didn’t have a blinder but whenever there seemed to be a loose ball on the ground or little kick to be defused he was there. Johns did similar things in the 2001 Grand Final actually.

As mentioned Milford was head and shoulders above anyone on the field that night and absolutely deserved the Churchill Medal. Tamou was the next best I thought.

It’s nothing new though giving it to the wrong bloke, because Fifita should have got in 2016 and Tohu Harris in 2017. At least they got it right this year.

Fifita is the biggest snub in CC medal history. As great as Lewis was as a player, the performance Fifita had on the night was among the best in any GF, period. Poor old Blake Green still has stud marks and the way he toyed with the Melbourne Storm defence was a thing of beauty.

 

[Big Pete]

Thurston had a fairly ordinary game by his standards - and said so himself. It's a stretch to say he was the difference.

I agree by his standards he had better performances, but he didn't have to produce an A performance to be a stand-out. Again I could have just as easily lived with Tamou being the CC medalist, but JT's ability to keep the Broncos pinged inside their own half had a huge bearing on that second half.

 

[Spot On]

.... and the Broncos inability to keep playing makes that look even better imo. They happily handed the ball back without any pressure on the Cows for a long period of the second half.

Thank Christ Tamou did not receive the CC. Yuk.

 

[beave]

JT was solid enough without being spectacular. It was a fast paced game played at a very high level in stiffling heat, it was so enthralling to watch it first hand.

The one player that should count his lucky stars that NQ won was Kane Linnett. He would be held in Ben Hunt levels if we’d end up losing, that dropped pass with the try line open was criminal. He’d be copping it still today if we’d lost.

 

[Big Pete]

.... and the Broncos inability to keep playing makes that look even better imo. They happily handed the ball back without any pressure on the Cows for a long period of the second half.

The Broncos rarely had any field position to play any football. Usually they were getting the ball back after repeating wave after wave of Cowboys attack. JT's performance may have been made to look better by his opposite's, but that's how individuals tend to stand out in a team oriented sport.

 

[King hit]

I agree by his standards he had better performances, but he didn't have to produce an A performance to be a stand-out. Again I could have just as easily lived with Tamou being the CC medalist, but JT's ability to keep the Broncos pinged inside their own half had a huge bearing on that second half.

I heard the reason why Fifita didn't get it was because of all the off field FKL stuff. Which is just bullshit really as it's meant to be for the best player not best bloke or anything.

 

[Tommy Smith]

Fifita is the biggest snub in CC medal history. As great as Lewis was as a player, the performance Fifita had on the night was among the best in any GF, period. Poor old Blake Green still has stud marks and the way he toyed with the Melbourne Storm defence was a thing of beauty.

Yeah the Fifita snub is up there with Fittler's 2002 snub and also the DCE decision in 2013 which was horrendous.

Tbh even Sam getting it over his brother in 2014 was a bit of a fairytale driven joke.

It's rare for the merkins to get it right.

Ben Kennedy robbed in 2001. I could go on...

 

[Big Pete]

Yeah the Fifita snub is up there with Fittler's 2002 snub and also the DCE decision in 2013 which was horrendous.

Tbh even Sam getting it over his brother in 2014 was a bit of a fairytale driven joke.

It's rare for the merkins to get it right.

Ben Kennedy robbed in 2001. I could go on...

There's been a few headscratchers over the year, but Fifita one stands out the most because he was brilliant in the first half and then scored the match winning try. With all due respect to Willie Mason and Brent Kite, I can't think of any other prop forward who played as well in a GF and it ought to go down in legend.

It's been awhile since I've seen one of the most underrated GFs in history, but I didn't think DCE's CC was that controversial. My memory is foggy though, so my general impression was that Moa and Friend were stand-outs while Wolfman was one of the worst GF performances I'd seen up to that point. Fortunately a Bronco was able to out-do him...

 

[Spot On]

The Broncos rarely had any field position to play any football.

That was their choice to be fair. They elected to play that way. See the coach that was sacked today.

 

[Big Pete]

That was their choice to be fair. They elected to play that way. See the coach that was sacked today.

Disagree, you can't play footy when you're starting each set deep inside your half. If the Broncos had a decent kicking game, maybe they would have been able to stem the flow, but they didn't. Hunt's long distance kicking game has always been sub-par, to the extent he'd rather run the ball inside his own half than make the rational choice. Even he knows he can't place any faith in it.

 

[Spot On]

Pete, they happily rolled the ball ibto touch for the last 25 mins. They refused to play their end of sets any other way. No pressure applied. It was a massive f**k up and ultimately cost them the game.

 

[Tommy Smith]

There's been a few headscratchers over the year, but Fifita one stands out the most because he was brilliant in the first half and then scored the match winning try. With all due respect to Willie Mason and Brent Kite, I can't think of any other prop forward who played as well in a GF and it ought to go down in legend.

It's been awhile since I've seen one of the most underrated GFs in history, but I didn't think DCE's CC was that controversial. My memory is foggy though, so my general impression was that Moa and Friend were stand-outs while Wolfman was one of the worst GF performances I'd seen up to that point. Fortunately a Bronco was able to out-do him...

Jimmy Maloney set up 3 of our 4 tries, tackled his heart out and kicked 5/5 including 3 from out wide. He was immense.

Meanwhile DCE went to water after the 50 minute mark.

It was an egregious call.

Though you're right in that perhaps the Wolfman should have won it as he was our 2nd best player.

 

[Big Pete]

Pete, they happily rolled the ball ibto touch for the last 25 mins. They refused to play their end of sets any other way. No pressure applied. It was a massive f**k up and ultimately cost them the game.

Last 10 was when they were deliberately going for touch. Other incidents were unfortunate bounces off bombs or the dummy half stuttering forcing Hunt to salvage the play.

 

[Big Pete]

Jimmy Maloney set up 3 of our 4 tries, tackled his heart out and kicked 5/5 including 3 from out wide. He was immense.

Meanwhile DCE went to water after the 50 minute mark.

It was an egregious call.

Though you're right in that perhaps the Wolfman should have won it as he was our 2nd best player.

I remember Maloney's performance being tempered somewhat with mistakes, but it's been awhile since I've gone back and watched it.

I'll keep an eye out.

 

[axl rose]

Yeah the Fifita snub is up there with Fittler's 2002 snub and also the DCE decision in 2013 which was horrendous.

Tbh even Sam getting it over his brother in 2014 was a bit of a fairytale driven joke.

It's rare for the merkins to get it right.

Ben Kennedy robbed in 2001. I could go on...

Tallis over Tonie Carroll in 98
Lockyer over Luke Phillips in 2000.
Brad Clyde over Bill Harrigan in 89

 

[Vee]

There's been a few headscratchers over the year, but Fifita one stands out the most because he was brilliant in the first half and then scored the match winning try. With all due respect to Willie Mason and Brent Kite, I can't think of any other prop forward who played as well in a GF and it ought to go down in legend.

Check out Kevin Ward being robbed by Cliffy Lyons in the 87 decider.