Roos squad named.

[Ray]

I'm probably really stupid for asking this....

but where's Steve Price? :shock:

 

[RB30DETT]

Tonga and Rooney overated :? :?

Tonga is the best centre weve got while Rooney is as good under the high ball as anyone else.

O'Meley on form deserves a bench spot but for mine (and probably Bennett as well) is to small and skinny and would be monstered by the kiwis just like he was in the GF. Civoniceva on the other hand is a huge man who is a man you dont run at.

Only three kiwis would make this roo team, Utai, Puletua(bench) and Sonny Bill while the Roos dominate every where else.

Compared to last years team this one is 10 times better, while people questioning the addition of Ryles and Kennedy, yes they have been injured a lot but both of them when in form and full fitness (as they are now) are the best in their position in the world.

O'Meley - Small and Skinny
Am I reading right? That cant be right? You cant be serious? :lol: :? :lol: :? :lol:

Yes he is, you saw what happened in the GF, the Roosters forwards smashed him. While i cant dispute O'Meleys work rate and toughness, he is just too small and is too easily dominated by opposition class forwards, as the Kiwis have got.

He only made 180 metres up the middle.

 

[ozboy]

From what 30 hit ups.

 

[Red Bear]

Ohand a coach without bias would be great. Warren Ryan come on down. Best analysis of the game around.

 

[realredhillboy]

and all the broncos fans are onto this thread like a swarm of blowfly's
"OH MY GOD SOMEONES CRITICIZING BENNY!!! YOU CANT DO THAT!!!!"

 

[lockyno1]

Most of the players in this side picked deserve to be there!

Except:

a. I would have Bowen for Minichello with Minichello on the Wing and Rooney OUT
b. I'd start with Ryan instead of Mason
c. I'd have ANYONE ahead of Ben "i'm injured" Kennedy

Note: for you guys questioning Ryles and Civonoceva they have both been proven at Test level. Despite what O'Meley has done, he is untrialled at Test level!

 

[Matt23]

O'Meley has a leg injury?

 

[Broncodroid]

Anthony Minichiello, Luke Rooney, Shaun Berrigan, Willie Tonga, Matt Sing, Darren Lockyer (capt), Craig Gower, Shane Webcke, Danny Buderus, Jason Ryles, Willie Mason, Nathan Hindmarsh, Tonie Carroll. Interchange: Craig Wing, Petero Civoniceva, Ben Kennedy, Andrew Ryan.
18th man: Shaun Timmins.

Hmm...I will share my opinion, to say I am p#ssed at the non selection of Mark O'Meley is a massive understatement.

The Backline

Pretty much what I had selected barring the selection of Berrigan who was in and out of the Bronco lineup this season and failed to play an Origin game due to injury from memory (or did he partake in game 3 ? I am certain he was a non event).

In place of Berrigan, I had Brent Tate who was solid this season and deservs to be in there ahead of Berrigan. Defensively, Tate is the equal of any outside back and in attack will always be a chance to score from anywhere on the park given his acceleration. Wayne Bennett just proved my selection theory right for when we look at the Broncos in 2005, Tate WILL BE on the wing with Hodges in the centres with Berrigan.

The Forwards

[Massive spray coming for Bennett &amp, post: the selectors"]

Ok, Craig Fitzgibbon was always in doubt for this one as reported last week, I have no problems with the inclusion of Mason though IMO, if you include Andrew Ryan in the 17, start Ryan and bring Mason off the bench where his impact will be ideal and has been in the past when used in this manner.

Tony Carroll will not let the side down at 13. (No, I did not have him in there as I, like many, thought he was a kiwi. Moving on, old news not needed to be rehashed)

Ok, the non selection of Mark O'Meley! What a f'ing joke this is.

Some blokes in the selection room at rep time are blessed, Nik Kosef was one, Kimmorley springs to mind of late, Ryles could be another. Don't get me wrong, Ryles when fit is amongst the best at his position, but if we are selecting this side on form, Mark is in there before Webcke or Ryles ! Ryles did come on strong late in the season, but he was not better than Mark, though I would give you the nod if you wanted to argue he was better than Webcke who struggled with injury.

The sad thing for O'Meley is this, Ryles will not let us down. He is a proven prop who has struggled with injury, when fit, again, he is amongst the best in the 8 or 10 jersey. Mark will now struggle to earn a birth in the side unless injury occurs. This is a selection where Ryles has more fans that Mark...so be it, politics has always played apart in the League sadly. I was hoping Wayne Bennett would rise above that and put his foot down calling for the form player...with regret, he has not.

Shane Webcke is one of my favourite players in the game, with good reason as well being a Bronco fan. But I was disappointed with Shane in the Origin series were he was upstaged by Mark O'Meley quite simply. The passing of the torch had started in my book.

In the late rounds the big fella' was injured admittedly as well, but one of my theory's in League is this, a player leaves excuses in the dressing room the minute he walks onto the field...Webcke is not excluded. If I was picking a side on form, he is not ahead of Mark, Petero or Jason Ryles. Some big time players earn the right to be selected on past performances, Webcke fits that billing and I would of had him partnering Mark.

The bench is fine by me, admittedly, I did not have the human OH & S hazard known as Ben Kennedy in my 23 man squad. If he is fit, he will add some aggression that will be needed.

Australia will win, I have no doubt on the back of good go forward and classier backs in key position.

To the selectors, Bennett and whoever else has a say... :roll: You nearly got this right in my book.

My side based on the above:

1. Anthony Minichello
2. Luke Rooney
3. Brent Tate for Shaun Berrigan
4. Willie Tonga
5. Matt Sing
6. Darren Lockyer (c)
7. Craig Gower
8. Shane Webcke
9. Danny Buderus
10. Mark O'Meley for Jason Ryles
11. Nathan Hindmarsh
12. Andrew Ryan for Willie Mason
13. Shaun Timmins for Tony Carroll.

14. Craig Wing
15. Petero Civoneceva
16. Willie Mason for Andrew Ryan
17. Jason Ryles for Ben Kennedy

 

[shiznit]

yeah, where is price? surely he will be fit enough for the whole series.

 

[borat]

I have no problem with any of the selections in this team. You could not have a better coach in charge than Wayne Bennett who has consistantly been the best coach in the game over the last 18 years. Once Bennett was chosen he has the right to go in with whatever side he wants. If we go poorly through through the tri-series then he will be punted just like Anderson was. So the coach has every right to choose the team that he beleives will win us this game and with such a short space of time to prepare you can't blame him for going with the guys he has the most confidence in beineg broncos and qld'ers.

No one is giving NZ enough credit for this game. They will be very hard to beat on there own turf with a huge pack of forwards and a very classy backline(apart from the halves). This game will be close and last years coresponding fixture where we got hammered should be an indication of whats to come.

On selections I think that Bennett got his backline 100% spot on. You could not go into this test with test debutants in the centres with Cooper and Tonga. And as Tonga has been marginally better throughout the year he is perfect to be paired with our most experienced centre in Berrigan. Bowen was never a chance for this test. He is far to inexperienced and it is unknown how he would hold up to the pressure in this game. I am actually surprised that Bennett didn't select Tate infront of either Tonga or Rooney but if anyone in the world knows what the form of Brent tate is like, it is Bennett.

As far as the forwards go the most contentious issue seems to be the non-selection of Mark O'mealy. O'Mealy biggest problem seems to be that he is too alike Webcke & Civo and unproven at test level. Ryles offeres something completely different then the other Front Rowers with far more of a passing game and footwork rather than the bash it up style of the other three mentioned. Although O'Mealy's form has been outstanding his size an inexperience come against him when comparing him to Webcke and Civo. The NZ game plan will be to try and bash us through the forwards as theirs is a huge pack so you could understand Bennett going for the man mountain of Civo.

Tonnie Carroll has been selected purely so as Bennett can use his elongated chin to rest his clipboard. But seriously, I beleive his selection in the squad was to apease the QLD selectors who were looking at less then 30% representation of Qld'ers. Tonnie Carroll on form would be 7th or 8th best lock in the comp and offers nothing more than tackling as his attacking slkills are non existant.

 

[Broncodroid]

And as Tonga has been marginally better throughout the year he is perfect to be paired with our most experienced centre in Berrigan.

Whilst Berrigan is our most experienced centre in terms of games played at all levels, it is Brent Tate and not Shaun Berrigan, is our most experienced representitive centre in the 25 man squad. Tate has represented QLD 7 times, Australia 5 times, whilst Berrigan has represented QLD 6 times and only made his debut this season for Australia vs NZ.

O'Mealy biggest problem seems to be that he is too alike Webcke & Civo and unproven at test level. Ryles offeres something completely different then the other Front Rowers with far more of a passing game and footwork rather than the bash it up style of the other three mentioned. Although O'Mealy's form has been outstanding his size an inexperience come against him when comparing him to Webcke and Civo.

Whilst I will cop most of that in an argument as to why Mark was perhaps left out of the side, I will not accept his size as a factor in the non selection. Give me a break...this guy's size is not an issue week in week out in the NRL where he plays alot of bigger men which see's him come out on top. Inexperience at test level, fairly or unfairly, is in my mind the biggest factor in line with Ryles ability to get the arm free to ignite second phase play. I will point out, Mark himself has improved on this stat himself in 2004 and it only added to his game.

Tonnie Carroll on form would be 7th or 8th best lock in the comp and offers nothing more than tackling as his attacking slkills are non existant.

Care too nominate the 6 or 7 guys before him ? :roll: I am not going on record to say he is the best option we have for the 13 jersey, but the above comment is way off the mark and I can only assume you did not watch all Bronco games in 2004 which is understandable given your a Dragons supporter.

As much as I am dirty on the selection of TC in the squad, the guy will not let us down. Apart from one of, if not the best front on defence in the NRL, TC is a tough man to pull down in attack. Running wide outside of Lockyer he still is a threat to bust the Kiwi's.

In 2004, TC was not at his attacking best, I agree, but he was being asked to do a different job making up for defensive weaknesses out wide which started in covering McGuire, Lockyer and even pushing as far wide to help out a guy like Kelly.

yeah, where is price? surely he will be fit enough for the whole series.

As for Steve Price, I heard he was undergoing some sort of surgery to correct the knee injury to enable him to start as early as possible in pre-season training with the NZ Warriors. He was never a chance to make the tour when ruled out in GF week.

 

[doogiehowser_md]

NZ is going to win! Carroll is going to have a shocker he's really a mole for the NZRL :lol:

 

[Dogaholic]

ozboy,
In terms of being a top class prop, he is. Compare him to the likes of Webcke, Ryles and Civoniceva and he looks like a dwarf.

Yet he dominated the lot of them all year round!

ozboy,
Yes he is, you saw what happened in the GF, the Roosters forwards smashed him. While i cant dispute O'Meleys work rate and toughness, he is just too small and is too easily dominated by opposition class forwards, as the Kiwis have got.

Read on...

Kris_man,
Petero Civoniceva: i know he cleaned up the Broncos awards night, but big deal?? i haven't seen him do anything spectacular in any of the Brisbane games i've seen, as well as the origin games where he was quiet. O'Meley, on the other hand, has a scorcher every time i see him play. i know he got dominated in the grand final, but that's only cos the Roosters targeted him with about 4 defenders sprinting up on him. i'm sure Civoniceva or any other prop would suffer the same fate under the same circumstances.

couldn't have put it better myself!

 

[miccle]

As i said before... civo isn't a "spectacular" player. That's why he's playing off the bench. He's a workhorse who goes about his job without any fanfare. He consistently makes PLENTY of yardage up the middle of the park and is a superb defender.

This isn't just my bronco-bias talking either. Compare Petero this year to Ryles (who played a lot, didn't he? :roll and Ben Kennedy roll: :roll and I think you will see who deserves the spot more.

Complain that BK or Ryles is there over O'Meley... not Petero.

I don't agree with TC's selection as such. Harrison and Waterhouse deserve to be there over TC and Timmins.

But that's life... and when you cut to the chase: Timmins<TC. Carroll is far superior to Timmins, particularly when playing off Lockyer.

 

[borat]

Whilst Berrigan is our most experienced centre in terms of games played at all levels, it is Brent Tate and not Shaun Berrigan, is our most experienced representitive centre in the 25 man squad. Tate has represented QLD 7 times, Australia 5 times, whilst Berrigan has represented QLD 6 times and only made his debut this season for Australia vs NZ..

Yes Tate is the most expereinced but what I said here was that if there is anyone in the country who is best to judge the form of Brent Tate it is Wayne Bennett. That being the case if Tate is out of form then you must go with Berrigan.

Whilst I will cop most of that in an argument as to why Mark was perhaps left out of the side, I will not accept his size as a factor in the non selection. Give me a break...this guy's size is not an issue week in week out in the NRL where he plays alot of bigger men which see's him come out on top. Inexperience at test level, fairly or unfairly, is in my mind the biggest factor in line with Ryles ability to get the arm free to ignite second phase play. I will point out, Mark himself has improved on this stat himself in 2004 and it only added to his game.

What I was saying here broncodroid was that if Webcke is first man picked, Ryles is picked for his variety and that leaves Civo and O'Mealy. Comparing these two I would go for the size of Civo due to the size of the NZ pack. This is what bennett was quoted as saying in todays SMH.

Bennett said the mobility of Dragons prop Jason Ryles had won him a place in the side ahead of Petero Civoniceva - who was named with Ryan, Craig Wing and Ben Kennedy on the interchange bench - and Mark O'Meley.

"He brings a point of difference to what Shane [Webcke] and Petero offer. They just work extremely hard and are great hit-up forwards but Jason has got an offload in him ... he can get around the park, defend really well and has got good footwork for a big man," he said.

Care too nominate the 6 or 7 guys before him ? :roll: I am not going on record to say he is the best option we have for the 13 jersey, but the above comment is way off the mark and I can only assume you did not watch all Bronco games in 2004 which is understandable given your a Dragons supporter.

As much as I am dirty on the selection of TC in the squad, the guy will not let us down. Apart from one of, if not the best front on defence in the NRL, TC is a tough man to pull down in attack. Running wide outside of Lockyer he still is a threat to bust the Kiwi's.

In 2004, TC was not at his attacking best, I agree, but he was being asked to do a different job making up for defensive weaknesses out wide which started in covering McGuire, Lockyer and even pushing as far wide to help out a guy like Kelly.

This was a bit tongue in cheek from me as I have had some running battles with a few of your fellow broncos supporters over TC and Shaun Timmins.

However, IMO TC is extremely overated and I beleive the following players offer far more at lock forward:- Timmins, Harrison, Waterhouse, Scott Hill, Ben Kennedy, Scott Sattler, Jason Croker, Braith Anasta, Travis Norton, Glen Morrison.

I am serious here as I beleive that you need an attacking lock forward who can take on players, make line breaks and score tries. For mine TC is a great defender but does very little in attack if not stifle it. IMO Harrison or Norton will battle it out next year for the Qld lock position.

 

[stubbsie]

Care too nominate the 6 or 7 guys before him ?

1. Luke Ricketson
2. Ashely Harrison
3. Shaun Timmins
4. Ben Kennedy (plays lock for the knights)
5. Travis Norton
6. Steve Menzies
7. Tonnie Carroll

 

[Dogaholic]

borat,
What I was saying here broncodroid was that if Webcke is first man picked, Ryles is picked for his variety and that leaves Civo and O'Mealy. Comparing these two I would go for the size of Civo due to the size of the NZ pack. This is what bennett was quoted as saying in todays SMH.

What everyone else is saying though, is that O'Meley should be the first one picked. Would you disagree with that?

 

[Kris_man]

i think borat was on the mark when he said that Tonie Carroll was selected to increase the amount of Queensland representation in the side. now, on to the scrutinising:

Care too nominate the 6 or 7 guys before him ?

i can't name 6, but i can name a few: Craig Fitzgibbon (injured, i know), Andrew Ryan, Trent Waterhouse, Ashley Harrison. certainly not Timmins though, i'd much rather Carroll in my team than him.

On selections I think that Bennett got his backline 100% spot on. You could not go into this test with test debutants in the centres with Cooper and Tonga. And as Tonga has been marginally better throughout the year he is perfect to be paired with our most experienced centre in Berrigan. Bowen was never a chance for this test. He is far to inexperienced and it is unknown how he would hold up to the pressure in this game

borat, surely you can admit in hindsight that these were silly comments? Berrigan has played only on test, off the bench, and i don't know if he's ever played a rep game at centre - hardly makes him an experienced centre. in saying that, i think Berrigan is a good selection, he's a top all-round player.
On Matt Bowen: he handled the pressure of Nth Qld's finals extremely well, in fact he seemed to thrive on it. inexperience alone was not a good enough reason to keep him out of the team. i really think that Australia would have more to offer with him on the bench instead of Craig Wing, who's a top player but has struggled just a lil bit in '04.

on O'Meley: silly, if not absurd, to leave him out of the team because of his size. the only problem with lacking size is that you might get smashed and therefore dominated, but to suggest that that would happen to the best Australian front rower of 2004 - i just don't understand that logic.

 

[borat]

On selections I think that Bennett got his backline 100% spot on. You could not go into this test with test debutants in the centres with Cooper and Tonga. And as Tonga has been marginally better throughout the year he is perfect to be paired with our most experienced centre in Berrigan. Bowen was never a chance for this test. He is far to inexperienced and it is unknown how he would hold up to the pressure in this game

borat, surely you can admit in hindsight that these were silly comments? Berrigan has played only on test, off the bench, and i don't know if he's ever played a rep game at centre - hardly makes him an experienced centre. in saying that, i think Berrigan is a good selection, he's a top all-round player.
On Matt Bowen: he handled the pressure of Nth Qld's finals extremely well, in fact he seemed to thrive on it. inexperience alone was not a good enough reason to keep him out of the team. i really think that Australia would have more to offer with him on the bench instead of Craig Wing, who's a top player but has struggled just a lil bit in '04.

on O'Meley: silly, if not absurd, to leave him out of the team because of his size. the only problem with lacking size is that you might get smashed and therefore dominated, but to suggest that that would happen to the best Australian front rower of 2004 - i just don't understand that logic.

Kris man I stand by everything I said here 100%. I am a dragons supporter and am a huge fan of Matt Cooper, wouldn't swap him for any player in the comp. But I can certainly see that with such a limited preparation that Bennett would go with experienced players that he can trust will get the job done. Both Tonga and Cooper both broke into SOO this year and hence they are inexperienced in high pressure matches. Do not underestimate NZ for the match. They will be extremely pumped to knock us off on their home soil after we towelled them earlier this year, they hammered us in the repective match last year, the atmosphere will be intense and they are up against a centre combo that contains one of the best and most experienced at rep level in Vagana. So it will be a very difficult task and not the time to give two centres their test debuts, depite the fact Berrigan has only played one test.

Matt Bowen is very inexperienced and their is no way he is up to making his debut in this test at fullback. Give him a bench spot in a couple of games and lets see him get the Qld fullback spot and perform well first. Keep in mind that the last time he came up against Mini he had a shocker. Mini has been there and done that and is 100% the right man for the job. This is not the Test to be giving out test debuts.

On O'Mealy my personal opinion is that he should have been included ahead of Civo on the bench. But I can fully understand why bennett would go with Civo due to the reasons I have stated and the limited time that Bennett has to prepare the team. O'Mealy is not going anywhere and if any of the 3 props chosen has an ordinary game O'Mealy will be the first picked.