Round 14 vs. Cronulla Sharks Discussion

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos vs. Cronulla Sharks
Suncorp Stadium, Saturday 8 June 2024
Kick Off: 7:35pm

1. Reece Walsh 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Selwyn Cobbo 5. Deine Mariner 6. Ezra Mam 7. Jock Madden 8. Corey Jensen 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Xavier Willison 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Jack Gosiewski

18. Joshua Rogers 19. Fletcher Baker 20. Blake Mozer 21. Martin Taupau 22. Josiah Karapani 23. Tristan Sailor 24. Jaiyden Hunt

1. William Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Kayal Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Daniel Atkinson 7. Braydon Trindall 8. Thomas Hazelton 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Oregon Kaufusi 11. Briton Nikora 12. Siosifa Talakai 13. Cameron McInnes

14. Jack Williams 15. Toby Rudolf 16. Royce Hunt 17. Tuku Hau Tapuha

18. Mawene Hiroti 19. Billy Burns 20. Jayden Berrell 21. Niwhai Puru 22. Jesse Colquhoun​

 

[Big Pete]

It's always difficult to make heads or tails of a post-Origin game until the day after. The big question is how many will back up after Wednesday. The second is how will they bounce back after the shock loss to the Titans? Both teams are vulnerable at the moment so it could prove a pivotal contest in both team's seasons.

It will be interesting to see if Kevie names his Origin players as reserves. It may give us a good indication into the Broncos depth, which is being tested as players such as Tristan Sailor, Ben Te Kura, Jordan Pereira and Delouise Hoeter have all suffered serious injuries.

All eyes are currently on Origin, so there wasn't any reports out of training to hear who's filling in where. If I had to take a stab at a 17 without the Broncos Origin players

1. Creedence Toia
2. Corey Oates
3. Josiah Karapani
4. Kotoni Staggs
5. Deine Mariner
6. Ezra Mam
7. Jock Madden
8. Corey Jensen
9. Billy Walters
10. Xavier Willison
11. Brendan Piakura
12. Jordan Riki
13. Kobe Hetherington

14. Tyson Smoothey
15. Fletcher Baker
16. Jaiyden Hunt
17. Jack Gosiewski

That entire left edge would have to work over-time to fix up their efforts against the Gold Coast. Ramien and Katoa would be licking their lips.

You may recognise Toia's name at fullback. Creedence played in the third trial game against the Sea Eagles where the Broncos won the pre-season competition. Unfortunately it was an unhappy afternoon for Creedence and he came from the field early after making a mistake. In the end the Broncos went with Hoeter who played well but is set to miss the rest of the season with his ACL rupture. I doubt he'll play but I'd be curious to know if my hunch is correct and if he's currently training at fullback.

I'd also be interested to know which players are currently on 'training' deals. Remembering that training players are eligible so we could see some shock selections.

 

[Big Pete]

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Sailor in for Walsh, the rest of the Origin players will back up. Sailor suffered a high ankle sprain for Souths Logan only a few weeks back, so he's returned ahead of schedule for this clash.

 

[Showtime]

Out muscled by a far superior forward pack in the second half. Obviously missing Reynolds but Walsh’s absence was highlighted given how little Madden, Mam and Sailor offer with the ball. Still think we’re missing Farnworth, he offers a lot more than Staggs occasional brilliance.

 

[Big Pete]

Cronulla Sharks 22 def. Brisbane Broncos 12 (Patrick Carrigan, Tyson Smoothy tries; Kotoni Staggs 2/2 goals)

7-6

Thought it was a gutsy effort from the Broncos to be ahead at the break, but then Cronulla got their act together and blew Brisbane off the park early. It was far from the Sharks best performance but they did it comfortably and Brisbane never looked likely in the second half. Their only opportunities came through a break from Piakura and Mariner racing down the sideline after picking up a loose ball and they couldn't capitilise on either.

It was one of those performances where across the board the Broncos weren't good enough. Physically they were dominated, they were constantly on the back-foot in the defence, the kicking game offered little respite, the attack was very pedestrian and the spine players appeared uncomfortable in their role. I thought it was very telling that after Piakura made his break, Ezra received the ball and his instinct was to give it to Carrigan when in that situation it should always be the backs ball.

In some cases with players like Ezra, Cobbo, Piakura, Mariner etc. it's a work in progress and you have to accept the good with the bad. However it's also clear the salary cap has made it's mark and the Broncos 17 is comparatively weaker.

 

[Miller was a legend]

Keep it classy Brisbane