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Round 21 vs. Newcastle Knights Discussion

Big Pete

Referee
Messages
28,939
Newcastle Knights vs. Brisbane Broncos
Sunshine Coast Stadium, Thursday 5 August 2021
Kick Off: 7:50pm
NEWCASTLE-2021.png



1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Enari Tuala 3. Kurt Mann 4. Bradman Best 5. Hymel Hunt 6. Jake Clifford 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Chris Randall 10. Daniel Saifiti 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Mitchell Barnett 13. Connor Watson

Interchange: 14. Sauaso Sue 15. David Klemmer 16. Josh King 17. Brodie Jones

Reserves: 18. Phoenix Crossland 19. Lachlan Fitzgibbon 20. Starford To'a 21. Jack Johns

BRISBANE-2021.png



1. Tesi Niu 2. Corey Oates 3. Jesse Arthars 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Jamayne Isaako 6. Tyson Gamble 7. Brodie Croft 8. Keenan Palasia 9. Danny Levi 10. Payne Haas 11. Alex Glenn 12. Jordan Riki 13. Kobe Hetherington

Interchange: 14. Xavier Willison 15. Rhys Kennedy 16. Ethan Bullemor 19. Albert Kelly

Reserves: 17. TC Robati 18. David Mead 20. Anthony Milford 21. Xavier Coates​
 

Big Pete

Referee
Messages
28,939
It's a real shame Staggs & Turpin suffered their respective injuries. It's a really tough blow for the club and will make their efforts to jag a few victories late in the season that more difficult.

The big return will be Albert Kelly off the bench. Supposedly he was training at dummy half but it wouldn't shock me at all to see Kobe or Brodie switch over. Willison also retains his spot which is a shock considering how well Robati was playing prior to the injury against Wests but I presume Kev just wants to pump as many games into him as he can and with Flegler out an extra week, we'll get to see how he backs up after a fairly honest performance against the Cowboys.

I suspect it's going to be a scrappy game unless Pearce finds his feet right away. I don't think Newcastle will bring their A game but they'll still be too strong for the Broncos. I suspect the Broncos attack will look lost with Staggs and they'll jag 2-3 but it'll be like the St George game where you get the feeling a good team would be up, but Brisbane really are a spare parts unit.
 

Nerd

Bench
Messages
2,825
Yet again cruelled ourselves with errors. If we could have just hung onto the ball I reckon we had the Knights measure. A case of could've, should've but didn't. With Kelly now having had a run he should start next week as Croft just adds nothing in attack. Same with Hetherington, he needs to start and be left on for much longer periods with Riki only used in 30 minute spells.
 

Big Pete

Referee
Messages
28,939
Newcastle Knights 28 (J. Clifford, M. Pearce, L. Fitzgibbon, M. Barnett, E. Tuala tries; J. Clifford 4/5 goals) def. Brisbane Broncos 20 (F. Niu, C. Oates, X. Willison, H. Farnworth tries; J. Isaako 2/4 goals)

Brisbane did well to draw first blood after having barely any football in the opening 10 minutes. The rushing defence made it difficult for the Knights to conjure up any set-plays. The first contact, particularly from Kobe Hetherington stopped a lot of the Knights in their tracks.

Unfortunately for the Broncos they kept turning the ball over on the back of simple mistakes. Both Haas and Farnworth were dragged into touch and Glenn failed to clean up a poor kick from Ponga which allowed Newcastle to hit right back.

It could have been a different game if Arthars had have grounded the ball in-goal. It didn't bounce his way unfortunately and Newcastle made the Broncos pay right on half-time. From potentially 14-6 to 8-28 with 20 to go.

Oates had one of his better games and Tesi Niu had some nice touches. Unfortunately that lapse either side of half-time hurt them.

It didn't help that the bunker came up with a bad call either on Isaako. That was a pivotal moment in the contest and just gave Newcastle a buffer they didn't deserve.
 

Showtime

Juniors
Messages
926
Yet again cruelled ourselves with errors. If we could have just hung onto the ball I reckon we had the Knights measure. A case of could've, should've but didn't. With Kelly now having had a run he should start next week as Croft just adds nothing in attack. Same with Hetherington, he needs to start and be left on for much longer periods with Riki only used in 30 minute spells.
I agree, I don’t see why Hetherington only played 31 minutes unless he was injured while Riki was a speed bump at times.

I think Niu showed glimpses and I’ve seen on social media that he’s in the process of re signing. I was starting to doubt Farnworth prior to this game but he looked strong tonight.

I won’t list the stats but Haas didn’t get much help from the other forwards. I know it’s only a small sample size but I like the look of Willison, hopefully he keeps getting minutes every week.
 

Big Pete

Referee
Messages
28,939
One of the talking points to come out of the game was the injection of Albert Kelly late in the game. Kev came under fire for not starting with Kelly. To be fair to Kev, Kelly hadn't played any football since the Round 13 loss to the Dragons so he was short of a run.

A bit was made about him coming on for Croft. I don't think it was a reflection of Brodie's performance, moreso it's Kelly's natural position so bring him onto play there.
 

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