Round 18 vs. Dolphins Discussion

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos vs. Dolphins
The Gabba, Saturday 1 July 2023
Kick Off: 7:35pm

1. Reece Walsh 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Keenan Palasia 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Xavier Willison 13. Patrick Carrigan

14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Corey Jensen 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Martin Taupau

18. Jesse Arthars 19. Deine Mariner 20. Jock Madden 21. Tristan Sailor 22. Logan Bayliss-Brow

1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Euan Aitken 4. Valynce Te Whare 5. Tesi Niu 6. Isaiya Katoa 7. Sean O'Sullivan 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Herman Ese'ese 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Kenny Bromwich 13. Ray Stone

14. Josh Kerr 15. Mark Nicholls 16. Connelly Lemuelu 17. Kodi Nikorima

18. Max Plath 19. Harrison Graham 20. Poasa Faamausili 21. Brayden McGrady 22. Kurt Donoghoe​

 

[Big Pete]

What a rollercoaster of a week for the Broncos. It started on Game II with the Broncos reps all having quality games, to the news that Ben Hunt could be coming to the club finally to the loss of the Titans and the fall-out of that.

As it stands both Tom Flegler and Jordan Riki will be on the sideline for at least 3 and 8 weeks respectively. There is a chance both their seasons are over with a foot injury and the consequences of that could be huge for the Broncos. Then later tonight we learn about the fate of Reece Walsh who was referred straight to the judiciary for swearing at the official. Walsh claims he was swearing at Carrigan, which seems like the only defence he could make in this situation.

I can't recall if Andrew Johns made the same defence when he swore at Matt Cecchin in a fiery 2006 clash. However I'd say he's long odds of being let off and I'd imagine he'll miss at least this game and Origin III.

This was always going to be a big game, but despite the short priced odds, I think this is going to be a season defining game for the Broncos. If they get beat, it's 2022 all over again.

 

[Showtime]

Kev looks like a coach who knows something is seriously wrong but he’s not good enough to fix it.

 

[Showtime]

Smoothy is a rubbish footballer

 

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos 24 (Selwyn Cobbo 3, Herbie Farnworth 2 tries; Adam Reynolds 3/5 goals) def. Dolphins 16

12-6

Thank god for Cobbo.

With just over 10 to go, Brisbane found themselves behind and were struggling to generate momentum even in prime field position. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and Selwyn Cobbo backed himself and produced a hail mary chip and chase play that he executed to perfection.

It was that type of night for the Broncos. Off the back of a lopsided penalty count and some fortuitous errors, the Broncos had more than enough opportunities to run away with the game. However they bumbled around in attack, often running back into traffic and settling for kicks into corners.

Reynolds had a checkered night, but it was his kicking game that brought the Broncos back into it. His bombs had the Dolphins on high alert and just brought the game back to even pegging when the Dolphins were marching through the Broncos with ease through out the second half.

Defensively the Broncos were poor and when the Hammer waltzed over in the early stages, it appeared they were in for a long night. It was only a technical foul that saved the Broncos on that occasion and somehow they only conceded the one try down that edge.

It was a case of just doing enough against a side woefully out of form. There's parrallels to draw between the Broncos victories against the Gold Coast and Knights in 2022 before they bottomed out. Can they find another gear or will they go 12-12?

NOTES
- Usually only gronks still go on about #penaltybroncos but tonight was definitely a case. Brisbane received 9-4 share along with some calls like Carrigan knocking the ball on.
- Haas was a man mountain running for over 200m. He's a freak and if he can find a way to be effective in the redzone he'll be unstoppable.
- Carrigan did a serviceable job at backrow, but the Broncos are just asking for trouble if he lines up there again. They desperately need another back-up in case Capewell or Piakura suffer an injury.
- There was a strange moment in the game where Brisbane tried to activate their 18th man when Herbie had to come off for an HIA for a head high. Had Cobbo not scored, the Dolphins could have targetted that left edge. I'm not sure on the official ruling, but I presume the touch official didn't deem a 15 minute head-knock with 3 minutes to go as a match ending injury as a result of foul play.

 

[Showtime]

Brisbane Broncos 24 (Selwyn Cobbo 3, Herbie Farnworth 2 tries; Adam Reynolds 3/5 goals) def. Dolphins 16

12-6

Thank god for Cobbo.

With just over 10 to go, Brisbane found themselves behind and were struggling to generate momentum even in prime field position. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and Selwyn Cobbo backed himself and produced a hail mary chip and chase play that he executed to perfection.

It was that type of night for the Broncos. Off the back of a lopsided penalty count and some fortuitous errors, the Broncos had more than enough opportunities to run away with the game. However they bumbled around in attack, often running back into traffic and settling for kicks into corners.

Reynolds had a checkered night, but it was his kicking game that brought the Broncos back into it. His bombs had the Dolphins on high alert and just brought the game back to even pegging when the Dolphins were marching through the Broncos with ease through out the second half.

Defensively the Broncos were poor and when the Hammer waltzed over in the early stages, it appeared they were in for a long night. It was only a technical foul that saved the Broncos on that occasion and somehow they only conceded the one try down that edge.

It was a case of just doing enough against a side woefully out of form. There's parrallels to draw between the Broncos victories against the Gold Coast and Knights in 2022 before they bottomed out. Can they find another gear or will they go 12-12?

NOTES
- Usually only gronks still go on about #penaltybroncos but tonight was definitely a case. Brisbane received 9-4 share along with some calls like Carrigan knocking the ball on.
- Haas was a man mountain running for over 200m. He's a freak and if he can find a way to be effective in the redzone he'll be unstoppable.
- Carrigan did a serviceable job at backrow, but the Broncos are just asking for trouble if he lines up there again. They desperately need another back-up in case Capewell or Piakura suffer an injury.
- There was a strange moment in the game where Brisbane tried to activate their 18th man when Herbie had to come off for an HIA for a head high. Had Cobbo not scored, the Dolphins could have targetted that left edge. I'm not sure on the official ruling, but I presume the touch official didn't deem a 15 minute head-knock with 3 minutes to go as a match ending injury as a result of foul play.

It was an interesting game, it appeared like our 9, 7 and 6 were really ineffective at times and individual brilliance got us there. I still think our play out of dummy half is extremely limited and slow. Marshall-King did some things tonight that Walters just isn’t capable of doing.

Credit to Oates, his work out of our half is invaluable, he doesn’t get enough credit.

Piakura’s late foot work is impressive, he looks to be a talent. He and Riki could form a great combination for years to come.

I think Haas might be the best player in the game at the moment, his consistency for a young guy is special.

Agree with Carrigan, he was wasted on the edges and it weakened the middle too much.