Round 20 vs. Wests Tigers Discussion

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos vs. Wests Tigers
Suncorp Stadium, Saturday 30 July 2022
Kick Off: 7:30pm

1. Tesi Niu 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Deine Mariner 5. Delouise Hoeter 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

Interchange: 14. Cory Paix 15. Kobe Hetherington 16. Corey Jensen 17. Keenan Palasia

Reserves: 18. Te Maire Martin 19. Zac Hosking 20. Jake Turpin 21. Brenko Lee 22. Xavier Willison

1. Daine Laurie 2. Brent Naden 3. Starford To'a 4. Asu Kepaoa 5. Ken Maumalo 6. Adam Doueihi 7. Luke Brooks 8. James Tamou 9. Fa'amanu Brown 10. Joe Ofahengaue 11. Alex Seyfarth 12. Kelma Tuilagi 13. Jackson Hastings

Interchange: 14. Fonua Pole 15. Zane Musgrove 16. Austin Dias 17. Tyrone Peachey

Reserves: 18. Jock Madden 19. Junior Tupou 20. Brandon Tumeth 21. James Roberts 22. Thomas Freebairn​

 

[Big Pete]

Last week was a real statement game against the Broncos and they have an opportunity to continue their roll on against the Tigers. In recent history Wests have been the better team and the Broncos haven't been able to beat them since 2018 in a controversial golden point win. The Tigers will go into this game with a point to prove especially after the controversy in Townsville and they could get the jump on the Broncos if they're not careful.

In team news, Jordan Pereira is out with illness with Delouise Hoeter returning to the side. He'll be joined by fellow Wynnum Manly player Deine Mariner who will be making his debut for the club. Mariner is one of the most exciting young prospects coming through the grades and has scored 8 tries from 7 appearances for the Seagulls, including 4 on debut against one of the competition heavyweights Burleigh.

Deine is still a very raw prospect but he has the talent to be a quality centre and he's somebody New Zealand fans should keep a very close eye on. He was rated the best Queensland schoolboy talent last year and tends to stand up in the big games so I would not be shocked to see him among the try-scorers.

If the Broncos are to make an impact in the finals this is one of those games they'll have to ice. Even if they win here, they're still not guaranteed a spot in the finals which really speaks to how competitive the competition is.

 

[Showtime]

Really poor performance tonight. Kevs use of the interchange was really ordinary tonight.

 

[Big Pete]

Wests Tigers 32 def. Brisbane Broncos 18 (Niu, Mam, Riki tries; Reynolds 2/2, Staggs goals)

12-7

A really loose performance from the Broncos tonight. They tried to promote the football without any real purpose and got their pants pulled down by an improved Tigers outfit. I thought first try scorer was really important and it was Wests who exposed that right edge of the Broncos which has now been identified as a chink in the Broncos armour.

I thought they did well to bounce back. Brisbane started running harder onto the ball and making space, in the end they were able to work a simple shape for Tesi Niu to score down that right edge. Similarly for the Mam try, Staggs and Haas made a couple of big carries which caused the Tigers to panic and the halves combined to score a good try.

The Broncos really should have extended their advantage heading into the half, but the passing game was off and they let the Tigers off the hook. Instead of taking a lead into the halves, the Tigers squared the game up and it changed the complexion of the game.

Then the game just unfolded for the Broncos from there. Reynolds put in a fantastic clearing kick, but the chase couldn't trap Laurie in-goal. Instead the Tigers score a try off a tap back and they received a 'bonus' when Doueihi caught Reynolds with the knee to the back of the head. The Broncos really struggled during that period and the Tigers capitilised when Zane Musgrove crashed over under the posts.

The ruck defence was a real issue for the Broncos during that opening stanza. With Haas, Flegler and Carrigan all off the field at the same time the Tigers really got on a roll on. It's probably where Walters needed to be better with his bench rotation to get some fresh troops out there as some of the forwards really struggled to make an impact.

When the forwards came back they helped swing the momentum of the game. Riki crossed to bring it back to a 6 point ball-game and it appeared the Broncos were going to lock the game up. However, the Broncos kept letting the Tigers off the hook with some poor passes.

It appeared the Broncos were still in the game when referee Adam Gee blew a whistle against James Tamou. However replays justified the spray as Patrick Carrigan caught Jackson Hastings with a clear body-drop tackle that injured Hastings. When Doueihi put the Tigers ahead by 8, it all but sealed the game, then when he crossed off a scrum win to make it 14, it was over.

It wasn't all bad news from the Broncos, just one of those nights when they got ahead of themselves and let the game slip. They did well to fight back but when they earned their right to play some attacking football they came up with poor options or sloppy execution.

 

[renouf]

seems like every week there is a new group of players, temaire at fullback, no idea why Brenko Lee was replaced with a rookie?

 

[Big Pete]

seems like every week there is a new group of players, temaire at fullback, no idea why Brenko Lee was replaced with a rookie?

Yeah I think that just typified the Broncos mentality heading into the game. They wanted to experiment and reward one of their prospects but it didn't really help the team out. I thought Mariner played well and it's certainly not his fault the Broncos lost but it's that old adge of don't change a winning combination.

I'm pretty sure Te Maire is still nursing those ribs. He could have come back tonight but with Tesi playing well, they gave him the opportunity to get fitter heading into the Roosters game.