Round 16 vs. Rabbitohs Discussion + Voting

[Big Pete]

After playing our last 3 of 4 on the road the Broncos will be hoping to make Suncorp home sweet home against the resurgent Rabbitohs. /Jamie Rogers.

Brisbane will welcome back the return of Justin Hodges, Petero Civoniceiva and possibly Sam Thaiday & Corey Parker in a battle of the Top 4 sides. I agree with Hook in that I thought our performance in our loss to the Cowboys was better than our victory against the Chooks. I thought the boys showed a lot of character against quality opposition and honestly felt as disappointed for them as I felt in our loss against Manly...and that was a real tough one to take. I hope the boys build on it and continue to display that same character as I don't want to support just a successful side but one that plays with dignity and respect. If they do, I believe we can beat the Rabbitohs on our home turf.

What do you guys hope to see? I really hope to see big games from Hoffman, Norman & McCullough. To me, these guys are the key to any premiership aspirations we may have this season. I believe we need to play some more positive football and I don't think Wallace has the talent to do that on his own - these guys together certainly do.

I also hope to see big games from Reed & Gillett. These guys have been struggling a bit lately and seem to be down on confidence. Am I alone in seeing Reed's frustration when he makes a mistake? Bar his shocker against Parra, I haven't seen Reed so down on himself before and I reckon it's affecting his game. Gillett just looks stuffed. He hasn't performed as well for the Maroons as I'm sure he expected and he just doesn't seem to be playing with those same bursts of energy that defined him at the start of the season.

As for the Rabbits, I reckon we've got them covered in the forwards & the only guy who really worries me is GI. We need to weather him with good long kicking game, preferably down our left hand side so we can prevent him from bringing out his fend. Big Dave is also a concern but I believe if you run enough traffic at him early he'll tire himself out. He just lacks ticker.

TL;DR - Just win ffs!

 

[GoTheBroncs]

BP I think you've hit many nails on the head there.

Wallace is giving his best but needs help. Norman needs to recover early season form. McCullough, whilst has improved, still lacks consistency. He shouldn't get complacent imo as Baptiste plays well for Norths every week so should be snapping at his heels.

I find it interesting all the media talking about Taylor might not keep his origin spot due to two poor games in that arena. Yet there is no talk about Gillett who isn't even playing well at club level! I would just like to see some indication that he is returning to his former self.

It goes without saying that big games are needed from Civo and Hodges (would normally include Thaiday in list but he is coming back from injury). This is the reason why Hook rests them, so fans have every right to expect a big game out of these two.

If we can reproduce our defensive display of last week combined with our start of season attack, should win this one.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Does anyone know how likely Thaiday is to play? I'd probably still write Parker off for this one. A gash that nasty couldn't heal that quickly.

Agree that Reed, Gillett and Macca really need to step up. All three have been pretty quiet of late, with Gillett bordering on busted.

 

[Snappy]

This game and next week are must win games IMO if we want to finish top 4. Ideally you want to be 2nd or 3rd, because 4th will play Storm in week 1.

Anyways we really need our attack to click into gear. I want to see more movement when we're in their 20 instead of just one up hits, then a kick to Reed at the end. Hopefully we can match the defensive intensity of last week, but ya neeed to score points to win games, and im still not confident in our attack.

I know people will point to all the points scored in previous weeks, but in reality they were against low ranked teams. Did you guys see the Storm v Manly game last night ? I looked at that game and I dont believe we are at the level of those teams in big games.

I think we'll do well to restrict the Rabbits to less than 18 points, so we need to stand up and get the job done.

Im expecting a big game from Taylor. He had copped it this week and will be looking for a huge game.

 

[Snappy]

Parker looking at surprise Broncos return

By Wayne Heming AAP Mon, Jun 18, 2012 - 4:37 PM

Missing out on packing down with Petero Civoniceva in his 300th NRL game was driving Brisbane forward Corey Parker's bold comeback bid more than pushing his State of Origin claims.

Civoniceva, 36, will become only the 17th player in history to play 300 club games when the Broncos take on South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

Brisbane skipper Sam Thaiday's predicted return from the shoulder injury which forced him to withdraw from last week's Origin II in Sydney wasn't unexpected but Parker declaring himself a chance to be part of Civoniceva's special night raised eyebrows on Monday.

Parker sliced his lower left leg open to the bone in the second half of last Wednesday night's 16-12 Origin loss to NSW.

"I hate not playing football. It's a big game on Friday night, it's Petero's 300th and I'd love to be part of that," said Parker, also desperate to be part of the big Fijian prop's Origin farewell next month.

"I'm every chance of playing this weekend," said Parker.

Parker won't make a decision until having a full training session on Thursday morning.

The gash, caused by his own boot tags, was so deep he was taken to hospital immediately after the match and underwent extensive internal stitching during surgery to close his gaping wound.

"The thing that's helped me is that no muscle has been cut, it was just a deep cut through the tissue," he said.

"It will be a week on Wednesday but there's no infection. If they (doctors) are convinced and I'm convinced that it won't split open with taping and padding, I can't see why I can't play.

"I won't have a trot until Thursday and provided there's no damage or risk of reopening and there's no pain, I will play.

"I'll have to do contact. If I'm going to play on Friday I need a session that will emulate game conditions.

Parker, meanwhile, delivered the first of many tributes to come Civoniceva's way in his farewell season.

"Bula (Civoniceva) stands for everything a professional rugby league player stands for and he's done everything there is to do in the game," he said.

"He's played at the highest level for a long time in the front-row which is not easy to do.

"To chalk up 300 games is huge and is why I want to run out alongside him.

"I've had a lot of good memories with Pet and it would be very special to be there for this one."

Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin cancelled Monday's scheduled training session to help freshen his players after a tough few months.

http://nrl.com/parker-looking-at-surprise-broncos-return/tabid/10874/newsid/68111/default.aspx

 

[Bretto]

I was confident last week of us being able to get up over the Cowboys and we lost, so I'll say I'm not confident of a win this week to try and use some reverse phsycology on fate.

In the serious department, I am expecting good things this week. I really wanna see Norman get his hands on the ball a bit more, take the line on and take charge of the majority of plays during a set, or at least the last tackle options when we're in the Rabbits half.

 

[IBA]

Norman and Hoffman are keys for me. Should be a good game

 

[beads6]

Must win game. I love how I saw an article talking about how the Broncos don't play in Sydney for the next 2 months. They fail to recognize how much travel we have already done this season.

 

[some11]

McCullough for 80.. wont happen though.

 

[Big Pete]

Official team from broncos.com.au

1 Josh Hoffman
2 Gerard Beale
3 Jack Reed
4 Justin Hodges
5 Dale Copley
6 Corey Norman
7 Peter Wallace
8 Ben Hannant
9 Andrew McCullough
10 Petero Civoniceva
11 Alex Glenn
12 Sam Thaiday (c)
13 Josh McGuire
Interchange
14 Ben Hunt
15 Ben Te'o
16 Matt Gillett
17 Dunamis Lui
18 Mitchell Dodds

 

[Bretto]

Be interesting to see if Parker plays or not. McGuire at Lock is an odd choice I would have thought, but it probably won't hurt him to play on the fringes a bit more after making 60 tackles last week, :lol:. Having said that, if Parker doesn't play, Hook probably wants him to make another 60 tackles this week filling in for Parker.

 

[beads6]

McGuire reminds me of Gallen at times. Lock and prop are very similar positions these days. I don't think it is an odd choice at all TBH.

 

[Bretto]

Odd choice positionally in a traditional sense I guess, but positionally currently you're probably right, and it's not such a strange choice. I think he should play 80 mins at Lock, and he should play well.

 

[Behold]

Since McGuire's performances towards the end of last year I have been calling for him to be the long term replacement of Parker when Parker retires. I would love to see him play there this weekend but I get the feeling Parker is going to be back. If Parker doesn't play I would like to see Dodds on the bench rather than Lui. I also think Beale will have to put in a few good performances in the next few weeks or his position will come under threat from Maranta considering Beale won't be with us next year.

 

[Snappy]

Beale is a quality finisher. Give him the ball with a bit of work to do and he usually find the line. Cant see him being dropped for Maranta.

 

[beads6]

Beale is a quality finisher. Give him the ball with a bit of work to do and he usually find the line. Cant see him being dropped for Maranta.

He has also been in pretty good form over the last few weeks.

 

[JamesBrandy]

I'm surprised to see McGuire at lock! I'd have thought Te'o or Gillett would be named, but I definitely prefer Gillett to come in off the bench.

 

[Steve_oneskie]

Beale is a better center or fullback than he is a winger, love seeing MacGuire at lock he plays more as a lock than a prop anyway with the minutes he plays and the amount of work he gets through.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Official team from broncos.com.au

1 Josh Hoffman
2 Gerard Beale
3 Jack Reed
4 Justin Hodges
5 Dale Copley
6 Corey Norman
7 Peter Wallace
8 Ben Hannant
9 Andrew McCullough
10 Petero Civoniceva
11 Alex Glenn
12 Sam Thaiday (c)
13 Josh McGuire
Interchange
14 Ben Hunt
15 Ben Te'o
16 Matt Gillett
17 Dunamis Lui
18 Mitchell Dodds

A strong looking side that SHOULD account for the Rabbitohs pretty easily. I feel a little for Maranta, as he's been dropped from the side for no reason other than returning Origin players. He's been epic for an NRL debutant under the high ball and seems to have a motor in him too. He'll more than likely be competing with Copley (who has really turned a corner) for a full-time wing spot next year with Yow-Yeh returning and Beale gone.

I saw on the news this morning that Hannant has injured his knee (looked like a hyper-extension from the footage) in training and is in doubt. That would put McG to starting prop, Te'o to lock and Dodds onto the bench with Lui. Shame, I was really looking forward to seeing what Josh could do at lock. He's definitely got the mongrel for the job.

 

[Vol-Crane-O]

A strong looking side that SHOULD account for the Rabbitohs pretty easily. I feel a little for Maranta, as he's been dropped from the side for no reason other than returning Origin players. He's been epic for an NRL debutant under the high ball and seems to have a motor in him too. He'll more than likely be competing with Copley (who has really turned a corner) for a full-time wing spot next year with Yow-Yeh returning and Beale gone.

I saw on the news this morning that Hannant has injured his knee (looked like a hyper-extension from the footage) in training and is in doubt. That would put McG to starting prop, Te'o to lock and Dodds onto the bench with Lui. Shame, I was really looking forward to seeing what Josh could do at lock. He's definitely got the mongrel for the job.

Good luck to Hannant. We really need him at the moment.