Round 2 vs. Gold Coast Titans Discussion

[Big Pete]

Gold Coast Titans vs. Brisbane Broncos
Cbus Super Stadium, Friday 19 March 2021
Kick Off: 7:05pm (AEST)

1. Alexander Brimson 2. Anthony Don 3. Phillip Sami 4. Patrick Herbert 5. Corey Thompson 6. Ashley Taylor 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Jarrod Wallace 9. Mitch Rein 10. Moeaki Fotuaika 11. Kevin Proctor 12. David Fifita 13. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui

Interchange: 14. Tyrone Peachey 15. Sam Lisone 16. Jaimin Jolliffe 17. Erin Clark

Reserves: 18. Beau Fermor 19. Herman Ese'ese 20. Sam McIntyre 21. Tanah Boyd

1. Jamayne Isaako 2. Xavier Coates 3. Herbie Farnworth 4. Tesi Niu 5. David Mead 6. Anthony Milford 7. Brodie Croft 8. Tevita Pangai Junior 9. Jake Turpin 10. Thomas Flegler 11. Alex Glenn 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

Interchange: 14. John Asiata 15. Rhys Kennedy 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Ben Te'o

Reserves: 18. Tom Dearden 19. Richard Kennar 21. Cory Paix 22. Corey Oates​

 

[gUt]

Hardest game of the round to tip probably

 

[Big Pete]

The Broncos received some good news heading into the game with Coates and Asiata being cleared of serious injury and right to play.

Unfortunately Lodge faces a two week stint on the sideline following a hamstring injury. That will see Rhys Kennedy come onto the bench who should have a point to prove as he's off contract at the end of the year.

Brisbane surprised a lot of people with their performance last week. Even though they blew a 16 point lead they played with plenty of belief and nearly won the game. Had Croft's pass found the mark it would have likely gone down as a famous win but it wasn't to be.

The question is can they build on that performance or was it just the Broncos best effort?

Meanwhile the Gold Coast started slow out of the blocks and never recovered against the Warriors. I don't think the conditions or the match-up suited them, I think they'll play a lot better so Brisbane will have to make sure they don't let the game get away from them.

I think for the Broncos Jake Turpin is key. He's an underrated member of their pack who missed the majority of the Broncos dismal 2020 season but he makes a huge difference to their ruck play. Not only is he adventurous out of dummy half but he also makes really good first contact. His biggest issue is consistency so hopefully he can build on last week's performance and help bring his halves into the contest.

Until they actually show they're capable of winning, I can't tip the Broncos but as always I'm curious to see how the Broncos settle in this season. I still think we're seeing a lot of teams adjust to the new rules and speed of the game so I think there's going to be a teething process through out the entire competition before we get a real sense of how these teams stack up.

 

[Nerd]

Same as last year just too many errors gifting the Titans field position. I'd say we might see Dearden getting a run sooner than expected but which half to replace as both were abysmal tonight. All of Milford's game was crap and Croft wasn't much better but at least he can tackle better than turn style Milford.

I know Walters is probably trying to simplify the game plan but one off runs by the forwards back into the ruck just isn't working. We need to spread the ball a little further and make more of the defensive line come forward instead of the middle 3-4 opposition forwards bash our predictable one up runner.

Pangai had a good crack as a prop but he is much more dangerous out wide and as soon as he was put there in the second half he caused problems for the Titans.

The only positives I can take out of the game was that there were no injuries and even though the Titans probably put the cue back in the rack at halftime we didn't fade out and actually out scored them in the second half.

Patrick Carrigan what do I say. The guy is like a marshmallow or should I say look like Tarzan plays like Jane. With the ball he pulls up whenever he gets near the defensive line and actually appears to not like contact. He might do a thousand runs a game but in every one he is easily contained.

If Isaako wants to stay in first grade he really needs to eliminate his mistakes. He's good for at least 2-3 a game and that's not what you want from a fullback.

Niui, Coates, Pangai, Flegler, Farnsworth, Glenn and Turpin had a go, the rest if there is any competition for spots would be looking over their shoulder. We are desperately short on props and while I don't think the return of Haas will make that much difference it certainly won't hurt.

 

[Nerd]

Here's a late thought. Asiata at 6 and Dearden at 7. They can't possibly be worse than the existing halves. Let Turpin take a few kicks from dummy half to take the kicking pressure off them and let Milford and Croft have a few weeks in the Intrust Cup. Don't bring them back until they are dominating games and if they can't perform leave them there.

 

[blaza88z]

I don't know what the solution is but the thought of Asiata playing at 5/8 isn't the worst one I've heard.

It would also force someone like Croft to be the chief out there, I think if his only role in the team was to manage the game (kick for corners, do the basics), we would probably see some immediate results. They are having a crack out there it's just dropped balls and poor game management from our halves. I actually think there have been some improvements, it all looks the same when we sit at 0-2 but I can see them ripping in and trying hard.

We would have lost that game by 50 last season with how poorly we started the game last night, all the dropped ball etc.

I think it will turn around, it has to, but Kevvie needs to sort out the halves. It's a big issue if we are having to defend their mistakes as well as defending other mistakes due to dropping the ball and the like.

 

[gUt]

Patrick Carrigan what do I say. The guy is like a marshmallow or should I say look like Tarzan plays like Jane. With the ball he pulls up whenever he gets near the defensive line and actually appears to not like contact. He might do a thousand runs a game but in every one he is easily contained.

That's when he manages to hold onto the pill.

Let's hope they use this as a spur for a big one next week.

 

[Bronco18]

Patrick Carrigan what do I say. The guy is like a marshmallow or should I say look like Tarzan plays like Jane. With the ball he pulls up whenever he gets near the defensive line and actually appears to not like contact. He might do a thousand runs a game but in every one he is easily contained.

He was garbage last night for sure but I thought he was fairly good for post contact metres last season.

 

[DeeJ]

He was garbage last night for sure but I thought he was fairly good for post contact metres last season.

He was surprisingly good until about halfway through the season when his lack of size was exposed. Either that, or he was doing too much work and made himself ineffective.

I think he will be on the bench when Haas returns and Pangai Jr at lock.

 

[Big Pete]

Before the game I asked the question.

The question is can they build on that performance or was it just the Broncos best effort?

They gave us our answer.

It was clear that they over-extended against the Eels and came into the Titan's game flat. So many soft efforts in defence and back-breaking errors from the backs and Carrigan who had a shocker. Even with the poor start, the Gold Coast played into the Broncos hands somewhat by trying to go around them.

Brisbane should never have been in that game but there was a small period after J. Wallace scored where they woke up. They brought Te'o onto the field who made an instant impact and forced a turn-over which led to that flukey Tesi Niu try. After that there were three sets where Brisbane had the Titans back-peddling and the halves came up with three dud options to surrender momentum. The moment Isaako made another error just rucking it out of trouble, it was game.

Three tries back to back to back. First was because they got spooked by Fifita and tried to tackle him on the back-foot which was just poor defence. The second was because of soft defence allowing the Gold Coast to offload the ball, get the ball into good field position so the Don could do his thing. The last was off a bad set restart from Niu where he made a good tackle and went on with it. Brisbane were out on their feet and the Titans exposed that.

What's frustrating is that in the second half they had enough ball to chase that scoreline down. Again just too many mistakes trying to force the play or the team just not gelling together. For instance Brisbane would do a play to hold the middle only for the dummy half to send one of the prop forwards running back into the ruck where there's three guys waiting for him.

I just think the game confirmed that it's going to be a long season and it's a matter of who the Broncos can actually build a team around as opposed to them treating 2020 as an aberration.

 

[blaza88z]

The biggest thing for me is that we just seem to capitulate quickly, if we could at least manage that (and not concede tries in a bundle), we'd probably be in a much better position to win a game

Had Parramatta by the short and curlies, they scored once and we know the rest..

Gold Coast, before half time scored 3 tries in a very quick period, we actually competed well for the remainder of the game but the damage was done

 

[Showtime]

He was surprisingly good until about halfway through the season when his lack of size was exposed. Either that, or he was doing too much work and made himself ineffective.

I think he will be on the bench when Haas returns and Pangai Jr at lock.

I think he’s too small but I remember watching the bald headed Corey Parker early in his career and use to think, this guy is rubbish as he got pumped every hit up so there’s hope.

 

[Showtime]

The biggest thing for me is that we just seem to capitulate quickly, if we could at least manage that (and not concede tries in a bundle), we'd probably be in a much better position to win a game

Had Parramatta by the short and curlies, they scored once and we know the rest..

Gold Coast, before half time scored 3 tries in a very quick period, we actually competed well for the remainder of the game but the damage was done

It’s sad to say but I just see 2021 as a season of improvement. It’s just a team with a core group of young players with great potential led by very poor / average group of senior players.

 

[DeeJ]

I think he’s too small but I remember watching the bald headed Corey Parker early in his career and use to think, this guy is rubbish as he got pumped every hit up so there’s hope.

Unfortunately, Carrigan is bigger than Parker was, but still looks smaller?

I think he needs to add something else to his game like be a distributor similar to Jake Trebojivic, or just stick to being a bench forward where he will at least have tired defenses to work with.

I thought back in '15,'16, Glenn looked like he had put on some size and was playing off the bench in the middle and I assume he was going to be Parker's successor. I kind of wish that happened, because he doesn't make much of an impact on the edge, despite the good lines he runs.

 

[blaza88z]

I don't mind Carrigan, some blokes can be criticized for their lack of effort but he's not one of them

 

[Showtime]

Unfortunately, Carrigan is bigger than Parker was, but still looks smaller?

I think he needs to add something else to his game like be a distributor similar to Jake Trebojivic, or just stick to being a bench forward where he will at least have tired defenses to work with.

I thought back in '15,'16, Glenn looked like he had put on some size and was playing off the bench in the middle and I assume he was going to be Parker's successor. I kind of wish that happened, because he doesn't make much of an impact on the edge, despite the good lines he runs.

I still think Carrigan will end up a pretty handy player. Glenn is solid at best but he has very little impact on a game. We really need some decent experienced players.