Round 26 vs. Dolphins Discussion

[Big Pete]

Dolphins vs. Brisbane Broncos
Suncorp Stadium, Saturday 31 August 2024
Kick Off: 5:30pm

1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Jake Averillo 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Jack Bostock 6. Sean O'Sullivan 7. Isaiya Katoa 8. Kenny Bromwich 9. Max Plath 10. Mark Nicholls 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Connelly Lemuelu 13. Ray Stone

14. Mason Teague 15. Oryn Keeley 16. Tesi Niu 17. Kurt Donoghoe

18. Lachlan Hubner 19. Tevita Pangai Junior 20. Trai Fuller 21. Anthony Milford 22. Jeremy Marshall-King

1. Tristan Sailor 2. Selwyn Cobbo 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Deine Mariner 5. Jesse Arthars 6. Joshua Rogers 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Corey Jensen 9. Billy Walters 10. Xavier Willison 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

14. Blake Mozer 15. Benjamin Te Kura 16. Josiah Karapani 17. Martin Taupau

18. Jaiyden Hunt 19. Fletcher Baker 20. Corey Oates 21. Cory Paix 22. Payne Haas​

 

[Big Pete]

Payne Haas is set to make his return for tomorrow's Battle of Brisbane. It also appears that Deine Mariner has contracted an illness with Cobbo shifting to centre and Karapani out to the wing.

If the Broncos are to be successful, they'll need a massive game from Haas who hasn't been able to play his best footy for the Broncos this season. In the first game, Haas was enormous and really laid the platform that gave Brisbane the edge for the majority of the game, so if he can deliver something like that again it will go a long way.

With Hetherington out, it appears Walters is prepared to roll the dice with Te Kura. It's a brave call considering both Hunt and Baker are available, but a popular one among the fanbase who are excited about the impact Te Kura can provide off the bench.

I don't mind the selection. Kevie had to get some value out of this period and giving guys like Mozer and Te Kura time should at least give them a head-start on 2025. If Walters had his way, I'm sure Te Kura would have played a dozen or so games this season, it was just the foot injury that kept him out so better late than never.

I expect this to be an entertaining game with all sorts of highs and lows. I feel the Dolphins have been playing better footy despite their recent results but I think the senior players of Reynolds, Carrigan and Haas give them the edge. If they can play their best footy, the Dolphins won't be able to match them.

 

[renouf]

.

 

[Jpw25111]

Hahahaha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

 

[CQLeaguey]

Went to the game. Broncos abysmal. Bafflingly so.

 

[renouf]

just a coincidence that the last few weeks were better?

 

[Big Pete]

Dolphins 40 def. Brisbane Broncos 6 (Patrick Carrigan try; Kotoni Staggs goal)

10-13

The Brisbane Broncos are officially out of the running after being smashed by the Dolphins in a bitterly disappointing night for the club.

The Broncos were completely out-enthused from the opening set. The Dolphins completely smashed the Broncos on the opening three tackles of the match and the only chance the Broncos had came through a nice offload from Haas. Unfortunately Walters' pass failed to find the mark, bouncing in-between Carrigan and Rogers so whatever chance of a counter-attack when out the window. Reynolds couldn't even get to his kick on the last, the Dolphins were so on-top and Fuller was able to go on the counter-attack right away and would have just about scored had he not deliberately fell over to avoid a potential penalty.

It was really important for the Broncos to weather the storm the best they could during that opening stanza. However the detail areas were really lacking with the kick-chase failing to turn momentum and they just struggled to make an impact with the defence.

Instead, the Dolphins eventually scored through a simple shift and even after Kaufusi went to the sin-bin they were able to score with a man down. It was just one of those six-point turn-arounds you often see, with Rogers going for a do-or-die face pass early in the set which Piakura put down. Then the Dolphins found themselves on the attack, played out their set and worked a nice set-play for Hamiso to set-up Averillo.

Still, even with everything going against the Broncos, they did have an opportunity to swing momentum after Carrigan scored. However when Riki dropped a fairly simple short ball and allowed Hamiso to run the better part of 90m, it was virtually all one-way traffic.

Then when it rains it pours, both Piakura (ankle) and Staggs (quad) came from the field and an already depleted side was just there for the taking. The scoreline could have been anything, 40-6 was getting off lightly. Then on top of that Xavier Willison was sin-binned after a head high tackle from the kick-off and it came out later on that Haas had suffered a Lisfranc injury and would spend 3-4 months recovering from the injury, which means he'll miss half the pre-season.

The team looked as despondent as you'll ever see. They have one more game against the Melbourne Storm before they can finally pull the pin and review how it all went wrong this year.

The club right now appears adamant that it was just the Origin period where they lost six games in a row, but the signs were obvious well before then.