Round 13 vs. St George Illawarra Dragons Discussion

[Big Pete]

St George Illawarra Dragons vs. Brisbane Broncos
Netstra Jubilee Stadium, Thursday 3 June 2021
Kick Off: 7:50pm

1. Matthew Dufty 2. Cody Ramsey 3. Brayden Wiliame 4. Gerard Beale 5. Mikaele Ravalawa 6. Corey Norman 7. Ben Hunt 8. Blake Lawrie 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Paul Vaughan 11. Josh Kerr 12. Jack Bird 13. Jackson Ford

Interchange: 14. Talatau Amone 15. Poasa Faamausili 16. Daniel Alvaro 17. Jack de Belin

Reserves: 18. Kaide Ellis 19. Adam Clune 20. Jayden Sullivan 21. Jordan Pereira

1. Jamayne Isaako 2. Selwyn Cobbo 3. Herbie Farnworth 4. Jesse Arthars 5. David Mead 6. Albert Kelly 7. Tyson Gamble 8. Matthew Lodge 9. Jake Turpin 10. Thomas Flegler 11. Alex Glenn 12. Tevita Pangai Junior 13. John Asiata

Interchange: 14. Kobe Hetherington 15. Keenan Palasia 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Tc Robati

Reserves: 18. Jordan Riki 19. Tesi Niu 20. Dale Copley 21. Cory Paix​

 

[Big Pete]

Matt Lodge, Alex Glenn and Tyson Gamble return for this Thursday's clash against one of the club's most famous rivals St George Illawarra. In recent history they've had the wood over the Broncos and with a smattering of ex-Broncos in their ranks and the return of some of their best players like Dufty and Ravalawa it's going to be a tough night in the office.

I thought last week the Broncos played well up until Albert Kelly spilled an offload which should have drawn first blood. Instead the Broncos were out on their feet, Hynes shrugged off some tackles and put Brandon Smith into space to score. They were still in the contest but once Milford injected himself and came up with some of those howlers it was all she wrote.

They'll be up against it here but I think they'll have more direction with Lodge, Glenn and Gamble back on the field.

It's also worth noting the debut of Selwyn Cobbo. As a Broncos fan we're reminded everyday about what we lost in Reece Walsh, but there was another quality youngster who starred in that Seagulls try and he'll get his opportunity tomorrow night. He's still very raw and the GI/Latrell comparisons are very premature but he's earned his opportunity and I'm excited to follow his development over the coming years. He's one of those high ceiling prospects like Xavier Coates we've been looking for and I suspect he's going to do something that will turn heads - hopefully positively.

I think we're in for an exciting period over the coming weeks. We're starting to see the team finally move on from the heart ache that's been the past couple of years. Some tough decisions have been made and while it hasn't all fallen the way fans would have liked I do think the club is on the mend. With Staggs to return in the coming weeks and a few more players set to debut/sign we can finally see a direction forward.

Still the focus is tomorrow night. I just hope it isn't a crapshoot and that we get 13 vs. 13 for the entire game.

 

[Showtime]

Glenn is a rubbish player / captain, he parks himself on an edge and has no impact on a game.

 

[Big Pete]

In the end it was a poor loss but I saw some good signs there for the Broncos. I thought Kelly played well in the halves and gave the Broncos some nice options and Robati was impressive with the two tries he scored. They played some good footy but it was the lapses that hurt them.

There were just so many avoidable situations but they just let themselves time and time again. Not only do you have Isaako's effort on half-time but there was also the error from Herbie in the lead up. While I thought Robati was strong with the football, that attempt on Faamausili was poor and the floodgates well and truly opened from there.

I just hope Walters is learning the right lessons here. Some players are just proving time and time again that they're not the answer and Kev has to keep experimenting with combinations.

 

[DeeJ]

I hope that's the last time we see Isaako at fullback. Even in his best ever game (vs Titans) he was terrible in defence and always out of position.

I don't know how he has convinced 2 coaches he is an NRL standard fullback. I don't even think he would be worthwhile on the wing anymore.

Kelly was impressive and seemed to take the right option 90% of the time and Lodge was great during his first stint - he always got his arms free.

 

[Nerd]

We played ok at the start then unforced errors just killed us. Surely that's the end for Isaako as a Bronco. While he can be damaging in attack his unforced errors every bloody game just kill us and he must be worth 6-18 points to the opposition every game. Some of the ball from Turpin out of dummy half was just terrible so don't know what's going on there. Thought the halves went ok and when we could actually hang onto the ball and get into the Dragons 20 we were able to put points on them and then in the very next set of six make an unforced error and gift field position to the Dragons. Robati went well and Cobbo looked ok on debut. I'd say this is Glenn's last year as he just looks to be a passenger out there.

We definitely should be in the market for a fullback and losing Walsh to the Warriors is now turning out to be a massive blow.

 

[blaza88z]

Isaako has always been given his opportunities as a fullback, you can go back to when Wayne was coaching us.

He's shown glimpses of brilliance, he's good a great kick on him, good footwork.. all of that but he just has basic errors in his game that tend to show up at the worst possible moments. It happened against the Cows and it happened again tonight.

I don't think it can be coached out of him, or it would have been by now, surely.

 

[LineBall]

Isaako needs to have a line put through his name for good. He has one good game every year, which seems to make up for the terrible, basic errors he makes every other game. Send him to Q cup, never to return.

Kelly and Mead have been made the most of their chances and have shown promise.

 

[blaza88z]

Corey Oates got dropped for a lot less, can't see Isaako being in the team next week.

 

[Bronco18]

Who plays fullback next week?

Cobbo? Farnsworth? Adds insult to injury that we missed out on Hynes and don’t have Walsh...

 

[renouf]

Amazing how we get stuck with these players and let other players go, he was being chased by other clubs a few years ago, great work by the recruitment once again. Pathetic to be smashed by St. George, shows how bad they are

 

[Mr Spock!]

Ex Broncos 28 (J Bird, G Beale, B Hunt tries; C Norman 7, J Bird goal) defeated Brisbane Broncos 24

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

I think Shaun Johnson is exactly who you need to settle the nerves of the youngsters.

Renno will solve the halves crisis in a billionth of a second.

 

[Nerd]

I think Shaun Johnson is exactly who you need to settle the nerves of the youngsters.

Renno will solve the halves crisis in a billionth of a second.

Maybe if he was a few years younger. Shaun Johnson is at that stage of his career where his body has had enough and he seems injured more than he is fit.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

My general plan for the Broncs would be to bring in some experience to steady the ship and make better decisions in play.

Just to bring more structure and composure to their game, especially play making and d.