Round 4 vs. Melbourne Storm Discussion

[Big Pete]

Melbourne Storm vs. Brisbane Broncos
AAMI Park, Friday April 2 2021
Kick-Off: 7:05pm (AEST)

1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. George Jennings 3. Reimis Smith 4. Justin Olam 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Brandon Smith 10. Christian Welch 11. Tom Eisenhuth 12. Kenneath Bromwich 13. Nelson Asofa-Solomona​

Interchange: 14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Tui Kamikamica 16. Chris Lewis 17. Darryn Schonig

Reserves: 18. Aaron Pene 19. Nicholas Hynes 20. Trent Loiero 21. Dean Ieremia​

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

Interchange: 14. John Asiata 15. Thomas Flegler 16. Tevita Pangai Junior 17. Ben Te'o

Reserves: 18. Tom Dearden 19. Rhys Kennedy 20. Richard Kennar 21. Ethan Bullemor
​

 

[Big Pete]

It's tough times for the Broncos, after finally tasting victory they have Melbourne, Souths, Penrith and Parramatta in successive weeks. It'll be interesting to see how they handle these games, there's certainly no expectations on them to win so it could be the perfect time for these younger players to step up and make a name for themselves.

To make matters worse, the team is currently in Sydney after another Covid out-break which saw the Greater Brisbane area go into a three-day lockdown and restrictions introduced until mid-April. It's just another hurdle these young players are being asked to overcome and it maybe a bridge too far.

Payne Haas and Matt Lodge are timely additions. Hopefully it will just settle the Broncos attack and give the halves a stronger platform to work off of so they're not over-extending or second-guessing themselves. On the flipside, hopefully the halves don't go into their shells and rely too heavily on their middle forwards which is where things ended up going horribly wrong.

In late news, Dearden will come in for Asiata. Ordinarily I wouldn't be a fan of this move but with the QCup undergoing a bye week and Covid restrictions in place I can live with finding room for a promising talent like Dearden. I do find it odd that Asiata has made room instead of Te'o who just seems like a placeholder. Either it's a precautionary move to make sure that Asiata's neck is 100% or Kev believes Te'o is playing the better footy. While he hasn't been blowing teams off the park, Te'o has been noticeably better for the pre-season.

Coming off last week's game, fans appear to be happy with the team with the exception of the halves. Fans appear to be split on who they want dropped, but they want to see a change there after both halves struggled these past couple of weeks. Personally I think it's just a matter of time before Dearden is given the reigns. A 6. Milford 7. Dearden seems like the most logical pairing but if Milford continues to struggle which seems likely we could see some real experimentation in the halves.

Kelly will become available in the mid-season when train and trial players are allowed to be selected, while Tyson Gamble could be a solid short term option who would at least strengthen that side of the field defensively. Brisbane still have two roster spots to fill as well, so there's every chance we may see some movement in free agency.

 

[THE CHAMP]

Can Karmichael hunt be selected now from souths Logan?
If so then bring him in for Milford now.
Wtf did Corey Oates do to be behind David mead?
Mead is bluddy woeful I would almost prefer Lachlan maranta

 

[Mr Spock!]

Can Karmichael hunt be selected now from souths Logan?
If so then bring him in for Milford now.
Wtf did Corey Oates do to be behind David mead?
Mead is bluddy woeful I would almost prefer Lachlan maranta

Yeah where is corey oates?

 

[Nerd]

Even though that was expected it still sucked. Mead was channelling his inner Titan tonight and has probably just played himself out of the team. We just don't even look like scoring in attack and surely Kevvie has to do something drastic with Milford. 150+ games and he gets caught multiple times with the ball on the 5th tackle, his defence is just poor and his only attacking move is a bomb that is essentially a kick and hope option. I don't know what the options are but when Croft came on he looked as clueless as ever and while Dearden got confused on a few of the plays he can defend and actually takes the line on unlike the Myth. Possibly Dearden and Asiata? Asiata probably wouldn't be up to speed on our plays (if we have any) but at least he can tackle and has a bit of natural ball playing in him.

Carrigan had another poor defensive game and Pangai is ineffectual as a prop and needs to be put back on the right side in the second row. Drop Carrigan, push Riki to lock and have a Haas, Lodge, Flegler, Teo prop rotation.

I don't know what is going on with Milford. I can't stand Cronk as a commentator but he said something during the game that rang true. Milford just continually takes the wrong option. If after the amount of games he's played he hasn't worked it out by now he never will. The Broncos management just have to suck it up and drop Milford back to the Intrust Cup and cop it on the chin that they have blown a million dollars this year. Long term maybe Dearden and Staggs are the answer? Whatever the answer is it is not A. Milford at 6.

 

[renouf]

Yeah Milford is done.. won't ever be better then what he is.. the club needs to move on. We still have too many young/inexperienced players, although other clubs seem to handle it.. gonna be many years before the club is competitive again.

 

[Nerd]

The only positive out of that game was the return of Haas who was easily our best player on the field.

 

[League guru]

The only positive out of that game was the return of Haas who was easily our best player on the field.

There were no positives. Same old overrated underperforming squad. New season, new coach, and no Darius to blame it on.

 

[Nerd]

There were no positives. Same old overrated underperforming squad. New season, new coach, and no Darius to blame it on.

Haas had a good game with 154 run metres and some good carries and was easily our best forward. It may take a few years but eventually we will become an ok team again and you and the other Broncos haters can go back to blaming the ref every time we have a win.

 

[League guru]

Haas had a good game with 154 run metres and some good carries and was easily our best forward. It may take a few years but eventually we will become an ok team again and you and the other Broncos haters can go back to blaming the ref every time we have a win.

Actually I,m not a Bronks hater at all. Far from it. But I do appreciate a football team that actually has a dig, something they aren't doing.

 

[lynx000]

Actually I,m not a Bronks hater at all. Far from it. But I do appreciate a football team that actually has a dig, something they aren't doing.

Fair comment, the truth hurts sometimes.

 

[wain]

I know we got smashed last night, but I still dont feel like it's as bad as the media is making out. It was more that the Storm turned it on last night, not that we were terrible. Before last night, we were above storm on the ladder.

I dunno, maybe I have blinkers on, ha ha.

I thought Milf played ok, especially in the first half when our forwards built a platform. For a little guy, he has a great long kicking game. It fell apart a few times becuase I think the Storm just knew he would be kicking it, so theyd rush up on him. He got a few breaks because of it, but then if he got caught and tackled on the fourth, it meant Dearden had to kick and that was underwhelming.

If Hass likes big minutes, Id love to see him start on the bench, then come on at the 20min mark and stay on for the rest of the game...similar to James Graham at Doggies. And definitely get TPJ running wider, not playing prop.

I like Isaako but he's too rocks and diamonds to be a fullback. To me, you need a consistent performer back there running the show. I know the talk is Staggs to 5/8, but I wonder how he'd go at FB? He's a solid defender and it would be awesome to give him the chance to run the ball back at a broken line?

 

[Showtime]

Even though that was expected it still sucked. Mead was channelling his inner Titan tonight and has probably just played himself out of the team. We just don't even look like scoring in attack and surely Kevvie has to do something drastic with Milford. 150+ games and he gets caught multiple times with the ball on the 5th tackle, his defence is just poor and his only attacking move is a bomb that is essentially a kick and hope option. I don't know what the options are but when Croft came on he looked as clueless as ever and while Dearden got confused on a few of the plays he can defend and actually takes the line on unlike the Myth. Possibly Dearden and Asiata? Asiata probably wouldn't be up to speed on our plays (if we have any) but at least he can tackle and has a bit of natural ball playing in him.

Carrigan had another poor defensive game and Pangai is ineffectual as a prop and needs to be put back on the right side in the second row. Drop Carrigan, push Riki to lock and have a Haas, Lodge, Flegler, Teo prop rotation.

I don't know what is going on with Milford. I can't stand Cronk as a commentator but he said something during the game that rang true. Milford just continually takes the wrong option. If after the amount of games he's played he hasn't worked it out by now he never will. The Broncos management just have to suck it up and drop Milford back to the Intrust Cup and cop it on the chin that they have blown a million dollars this year. Long term maybe Dearden and Staggs are the answer? Whatever the answer is it is not A. Milford at 6.

When I watch Milford play, I think I see someone who doesn’t enjoy playing rugby league but has to because he’s getting 1m. He seems to regress every year and I thought this year being a contract year he’d return to 2015 but no, still that same plodder.