Round 17 vs. Penrith Panthers

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos vs. Penrith Panthers
Suncorp Stadium, Thursday 3 September 2020
Kick Off 7:50pm
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1. Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Richard Kennar 6. Sean O'Sullivan 7. Tom Dearden 8. Payne Haas 9. Issac Luke 10. Rhys Kennedy 11. David Fifita 12. Ben Te'o 13. Patrick Carrigan

Interchange: 14. Cory Paix 15. Jordan Riki 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Jamil Hopoate

Reserves: 18. Jesse Arthars 19. Pride Petterson-Robati 20. Tyson Gamble 21. Brodie Croft

1. Dylan Edwards 2. Josh Mansour 3. Brent Naden 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Brian To'o 6. Jarome Luai 7. Nathan Cleary 8. James Tamou 9. Mitch Kenny 10. Moses Leota 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Liam Martin 13. James Fisher-Harris

Interchange: 14. Tyrone May 15. Spencer Leniu 16. Kurt Capewell 17. Zane Tetevano

Reserves: 18. Apisai Koroisau 19. Billy Burns 20. Matt Burton 21. Pat Hollis

 

[Big Pete]

It's another tough week for the Broncos. After coming off a 58-12 flogging at the hands of the Roosters they find themselves against the form team of the competition in the Penrith Panthers. In some good news, Payne Haas is back after serving his two week suspension and Corey Oates returns on the wing after it appeared his career could have been over five weeks ago.

If the Broncos are to be competitive, they really need Oates to rediscover his best form. Either he's come up with some awful errors, or he simply hasn't gone looking for the football enough so I hope he takes it upon himself is among the top runners when it's all said and done.

Ofahengaue misses out this week after pleading guilty to that dangerous conduct charge against Friend. Ordinarily I'd consider this a blow but Joe's form has been so poor that it gives Brisbane an excuse to have a look at other options. There's reports that Ofahengaue is off to the Dragons, which seems like the best move for everybody. At the back end of 2018, Ofahengaue appeared to be really finding his feet and maturing into a class player. He didn't look out of place at Origin the following year and it seemed like he had his whole career ahead of him. However, his defence has been awful and he's just struggled to make an impact all season.

Te'o could also miss the game which should see Pride Petterson-Robati debut. It would complete a remarkable comeback to Rugby League. Melbourne Storm and Newcastle Knight fans may remember him from the NYC. He was actually rated a future NRL player back then before he gave the game away in 2015. He made a comeback in 2019, forced his way into the Devils starting pack and Seibold offered him a development deal after they had worked together in Melbourne. If he does play, he'll be the 33rd player the Broncos have used this season, the most since 2002 which is the club record.

Issac Luke also returns which should at least bolster the middle. After one of his better performances against the Dragons, Paix was poor against the Roosters so at least it should shore up the middle somewhat.

I guess for the Broncos, it's about watching the progress of Dearden, Haas, Carrigan, Staggs etc. and see if they can continue to improve. Along with Xavier Coates and other juniors like Tom Flegler and Herbie Farnworth, they've been just about the only positives for the club this season.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

The Panthers are climbing back to full strength.

They get the shudders if you belt the tripe out of them which may not work but seems an enjoyable way to spend a game.

 

[League guru]

Is anyone actually going to tackle Cleary to-night. He's playing in a dinner suit. The Brisbane kickers are continually under pressure but none is directed at Cleary.

 

[Nerd]

Still a loss but much better defence on the try line. Siebold must have deadset done zero defensive training for the last 2 years. Hopefully this is the start of the turnaround and with Boyd gone at the end of the year I feel a bit more positive about next season. Dearden is still a rookie and it showed in his kicking game tonight but the rest of his game I am happy with.

 

[DeeJ]

Our defense was much, much better. I was impressed by the contact and the numbers in each tackle and I think the stats reflected in many less missed tackles. They also did a good job of shutting down their backrowers, who are extremely dangerous especially close to the line.

I think Dearden did a fine job on Kikau especially, who was constantly running at him. Another improvement was the fact that we did not implode completely after errors/penalties.

 

[Bronco18]

We didn’t fold early like we’d done in other games but jeeze I don’t know if the panthers really threw much at us. I’m not sure if either they aren’t much of an attacking threat or if a fit and firing Korisau makes all the difference to their attack.

 

[Nerd]

We didn’t fold early like we’d done all n early games but jeeze I don’t know if the panthers really threw much at us. I’m not sure if either they aren’t much of an attacking threat or if a fit and firing Korisau makes all the difference to their attack.

Probably a bit of both. The Panthers didn't go in at 100% but also you play as well as the defence allows and our defence and especially on our own line was definitely much improved.

 

[The_Frog]

We didn’t fold early like we’d done in other games but jeeze I don’t know if the panthers really threw much at us. I’m not sure if either they aren’t much of an attacking threat or if a fit and firing Korisau makes all the difference to their attack.

Or maybe with the travel on a five day turnaround they were happy to get the job done in whatever manner it took. The Broncos lifting was fully expected. They did it last time the Roosters flogged them as well, very stiff not to win that one.