Round 18 vs. Gold Coast Titans Discussion

[Big Pete]

Gold Coast Titans vs. Brisbane Broncos
Cbus Super Stadium, Saturday 16 July 2022
Kick Off: 7:35pm

1. AJ Brimson 2. Sosefo Fifita 3. Phillip Sami 4. Patrick Herbert 5. Corey Thompson 6. Tanah Boyd 7. Toby Sexton 8. Moeaki Fotuaika 9. Aaron Booth 10. Isaac Liu 11. David Fifita 12. Beau Fermor 13. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui

Interchange: 14. Erin Clark 15. Jaimin Jolliffe 16. Herman Ese'ese 17. Paul Turner

Reserves: 18. Sam McIntyre 19. Jamayne Isaako 20. Greg Marzhew 21. Brian Kelly 22. Kevin Proctor

1. Tesi Niu 2. Delouise Hoeter 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Brenko Lee 5. Jordan Pereira 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Keenan Palasia 9. Billy Walters 10. Ryan James 11. Zac Hosking 12. Jordan Riki 13. Kobe Hetherington

Interchange: 14. Jake Turpin 15. Rhys Kennedy 16. Thomas Flegler 17. Tyson Gamble

Reserves: 18. Deine Mariner 19. Brendan Piakura 20. Corey Jensen 21. Tyrone Roberts 22. Logan Bayliss-Brow 23. Corey Oates 24. Patrick Carrigan​

 

[Big Pete]

Kevie has opted to rest his Origin players ahead of tomorrow night's game. With the short-turn around at Parramatta and the win last week it was a pretty easy decision. There is word that Selwyn Cobbo maybe rested until the Wests Tigers game the following week after his brutal head-knock in Origin.

In preparation the team has set up camp in Kingscliffe. The idea is to help recharge on the run home and focus on their campaign for the finals.

It all begins against the Gold Coast Titans who have also undergone a reset of their own. Since the last game against the Newcastle Knights they've parted ways with their defensive coach Jim Dymock and have made a host of changes to their line-up. Sosefo Fifita, Phillip Sami, Tanah Boyd, Aaron Booth, Moeaki Fotuaika & David Fifita all come into the starting line-up and they should all improve the side.

Brisbane go in as favourites and they are expected to win but fans are very wary heading into the game. If anything this is considered a bigger danger game than last week considering the boys have to back-up their efforts against a Gold Coast side that likes to aim up against the Broncos.

 

[DeeJ]

I'm guessing Paix was perhaps brought back from his injury too soon or he may have suffered another.

The team did great last week without the Origin contingent so I hope they can do it again. I almost wish Isaako was playing to gift us a few tries again, lol.

 

[Big Pete]

I'm guessing Paix was perhaps brought back from his injury too soon or he may have suffered another.

Concussion protocols, he suffered a heavy knock last week against the Dragons.

With that said, Paix did appear to be rusty on return.

 

[Showtime]

Scrappy but really solid win considering the quality of the players missing. I thought Palasia, Hosking, Pereira, Hoeter and Niu were great even though Niu makes me nervous.

 

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos 16 (Hoeter, Pereira, Reynolds tries; Reynolds 2/3 goals) def. Gold Coast Titans 12

11-6

The Baby Broncos went 2/2, securing a hard fought 16-12 win against a spirited Gold Coast Titans outfit.

The Broncos started strongly and tried to blow the Gold Coast off the park. However the Gold Coast scrambled well and the Broncos were guilty of forcing plays to let the Gold Coast off the hook. First points were really important, and it was the Gold Coast who were eventually able to cross. They played a style Brisbane should have played, patiently just forcing goal line drop outs before taking advantage of the defence to put a kick through for Tanah Boyd to score.

In the end, it was basically a hail mary that got Brisbane on the board. Pereira put a kick through and despite the Gold Coast having three players around the ball, Jordan Riki did extremely well to recover the ball. With the defence at 6s and 7s, Reynolds was able to sum up the situation to set up Hoeter in the corner.

The Broncos gave up the lead shortly after half-time after a soft effort on Erin Clark allowed the Gold Coast to go on the offensive early. The middle third was understandably soft without the presence of Carrigan and they just gave the Gold Coast too much space.

Fortunately the Gold Coast invited the Broncos into the contest with a mistake off the set after points and it didn't take too long for the Broncos to hit the lead. Interestingly it was Tyson Gamble who stood up. Tyson laid on a great cut-out pass to put Staggs on the outside of his man and give Pereira just enough space to cut through, bounce off a tackle and score.

Then later on Gamble took on the line, tried to go himself before Reynolds ran back through the ruck to give Brisbane the lead.

It appeared Brisbane would go on with it after Zac Hosking crossed. However in trying to ground the ball over the line, Hosking scraped the grass with the ball. This meant he wasn't allowed to extend the ball constituting a knock on.

Then it appeared the Gold Coast had scored another try off the boot of Sexton only for the referee to detect a slight bobble from Sami in the put-down.

Despite the missed opportunity, Hosking was a stand-out again for the Broncos with 144m, 35 tackles, 2 Offloads and a number of kick defussals and intercepts at key moments. He was joined by Jordan Riki, Jordan Pereira, Keenan Palasia and Delouise Hoeter as stand-outs for the Broncos.

I thought defensively they did a good job on Fifita. Dave was a focal point of the Gold Coast attack, but the Broncos read the Titans attack really well and gave him very few opportunities to make an impact. Even when Dave received good ball, the Broncos scramble shut down his plays quite effectively.

On the flipside, the Broncos allowed the Gold Coast to make three big line-breaks off of kick returns. Their kick chase was lacking on two of those occassions with the other being a rushed play from Hoeter who otherwise was a rock solid contributor on the night.

In the end the Broncos missed 57 tackles which prevented them from putting the Gold Coast under any sustained pressure. Still, they scrambled well with Jake Turpin & Ezra Mam (twice) coming up with try-savers.