Round 5 | Broncos 17-6 Knights @ Suncorp | Monday 11th April 2011

[Joker's Wild]

Do you actually think that Mullos poor game last night was due to a lack of competition for his spot? Wild

As for the fwd pass, well I'll watch the replay tonight when I get home and see what Pika is saying but I can tell you live at the game it looked forward for all money. If it had been the Broncos throwing that pass and it was let go by the refs there would be a massive out cry on here

 

[Pika]

I called it forward live as well.

Gids moving sideways then backwrads and Fuss hitting it so flat certainly made it look that way.

Cant blame the ref I guess.

 

[K-Man]

I didn't realise how much work Taia gets through.

Take him away and all of a sudden blokes like Kaufusi, Houston, Tui and Faas look decidedly second rate. Pato and Eddie were the only two who cracked a sweat last night.

If he is out for a long time, or god forbid, it's all over for him, we are royally f**ked for this season.

Tinks, forget Idris and Boyd. Buy us some f***ing forwards.

Taia is (hope I don't have to start saying 'was') my favourite player in the NRL. I think he is incredibly underrated as both a ball-player and workaholic forward. He gets through the tough stuff but still has the energy to run great lines and pose a genuine passing/off-loading threat on the edges.

A lot of the times that we have injuries I look down our team list for the week and feel a huge sense of relief/belief when I see that Zeb is still in the back-row.

In my opinion losing him is just about on a par with losing Gidley, Mullen, or De Gois.

Injuries are crippling our season already. It's not just that we're getting them, it's that they are long term ones.

 

[aqua_duck]

Where's Coastbloke gone? Thought we were supposed to win a premiership with Gidley and Mullen in the halves

 

[K-Man]

He can reinforce these things all week. He can train for it all week. At the end of the day, its up to the players to execute it on the night.

To an extent I agree with you, but not entirely.

Yes there's an onus on the players to go out there and play to a plan as the coach has instructed them to, but there is also an onus (in the end, this IS the job) on the coach to be able to get that response from the players on the field, based on the training, preparation, planning, and group and individual discussions before a game.

If Wayne Bennett sides consistently turn up ready to play, get the basics right, and have an intense attention to detail for 80 minutes then is it not fair to say that his coaching is capable of achieving that? Is it not therefore fair to say that if a coach (such as Stone) is repeatedly unable to make this happen that it's an area he is lacking in?

I'm not suggesting that a coach can catch the passes and make the kicks for his players, but when the 80 minutes is full of a variety of mental lapses such as forward passes getting out off our own goal line, penalties in the ruck right at the start of a match, silly penalties in general, hospital passes in slippery conditions that don't need to be thrown, failure to kick long and chase hard, failure to use the grubber in an attempt to force repeat sets (especially in the wet!) etc etc then yes, I do apportion blame to the coach for this.

If he can't stress how important a solid game plan is to his players then he is only doing half the job of a coach. I'm sure he's not teaching them passing and kicking techniques, so the area he is mostly going to be judged on is on-field structure, discipline, and game plan.

Another thing that bothers me a lot is that the small period in the second half against Dragons where we fired up and brought serious intensity to try and get back in the game is not something we ever manage to do against lesser sides when that sort of attitude would get us the 2 points.

 

[Spot On]

I can't start to bag Mullo. He is again working without a halves partner and behind a stale pack. No go forward. Then he has bugger all options to hit when he has ball in hand. Please start to develop an attacking structure with multiple runners, decoys and second man plays to at least force the opposition defences to have to make a few decisions when defending against us. Otherwise every week we lose we are all going to hear and read about how great the other teams defence was. In reality, the defence is not having to do much other than watch the halves run sideways and throw flat (at best) passes to other blokes who are running sideways or standing still. Even on a wet night in poor conditions that Broncos outfit should have had 20 points put on them if our attack was half decent.

On the positive side, Patto was outstanding last night and I thought Joel Edwards showed something as well. If he can improve each week (assuming he will be given a start) he looks as though he could be a fair player. I'm suprised more supporters haven't praised these two. As for the rest of the pack, if the front row could lift there workrate around 150 to 200% and really rip in when they're on the park then we will go alright.

 

[Pika]

I can't start to bag Mullo. He is again working without a halves partner and behind a stale pack. No go forward. Then he has bugger all options to hit when he has ball in hand. Please start to develop an attacking structure with multiple runners, decoys and second man plays to at least force the opposition defences to have to make a few decisions when defending against us. Otherwise every week we lose we are all going to hear and read about how great the other teams defence was. In reality, the defence is not having to do much other than watch the halves run sideways and throw flat (at best) passes to other blokes who are running sideways or standing still. Even on a wet night in poor conditions that broncos outfit should have had 20 points put on them if our attack was half decent.

On the positive side, Patto was outstanding last night and I thought Joel Edwards showed something as well. If he can improve each week (assuming he will be given a start) he looks as though he could be a fair player. I'm suprised more supporters haven't praised these two. As for the rest of the pack, if the front row could lift there workrate around 150 to 200% and really rip in when they're on the park then we will go alright.

We had this with Henry out there.

Gidley is making it up as he goes.

If you get a chance to see 'Eagle Cam', we have great shape in offence. We have plays set and a lot of guys in motion. Gids gets the ball he just plays whatever, goes the other way, pushes sideways so the runners cant hit lines and it all goes to crap.

 

[Adsy]

We had this with Henry out there.

Gidley is making it up as he goes.

If you get a chance to see 'Eagle Cam', we have great shape in offence. We have plays set and a lot of guys in motion. Gids gets the ball he just plays whatever, goes the other way, pushes sideways so the runners cant hit lines and it all goes to crap.

Does one R. Stone know this? I'll assume he does. So next question - why does he pick Gids in the halves?

 

[Pika]

To an extent I agree with you, but not entirely.

Yes there's an onus on the players to go out there and play to a plan as the coach has instructed them to, but there is also an onus (in the end, this IS the job) on the coach to be able to get that response from the players on the field, based on the training, preparation, planning, and group and individual discussions before a game.

If Wayne Bennett sides consistently turn up ready to play, get the basics right, and have an intense attention to detail for 80 minutes then is it not fair to say that his coaching is capable of achieving that? Is it not therefore fair to say that if a coach (such as Stone) is repeatedly unable to make this happen that it's an area he is lacking in?

I'm not suggesting that a coach can catch the passes and make the kicks for his players, but when the 80 minutes is full of a variety of mental lapses such as forward passes getting out off our own goal line, penalties in the ruck right at the start of a match, silly penalties in general, hospital passes in slippery conditions that don't need to be thrown, failure to kick long and chase hard, failure to use the grubber in an attempt to force repeat sets (especially in the wet!) etc etc then yes, I do apportion blame to the coach for this.

If he can't stress how important a solid game plan is to his players then he is only doing half the job of a coach. I'm sure he's not teaching them passing and kicking techniques, so the area he is mostly going to be judged on is on-field structure, discipline, and game plan.

Another thing that bothers me a lot is that the small period in the second half against Dragons where we fired up and brought serious intensity to try and get back in the game is not something we ever manage to do against lesser sides when that sort of attitude would get us the 2 points.

I agree with you for the most part mate.

In regards to wes forward pass on the line by Wes, seriously, how can you blame a Coach for that? That is an individual who knows the difference between forward and back making a blunder. To lie that at the feet of the Coach is ridiculous.

Its fair you use the Wayne Bennett as the benchmark, but considering we went down by 2 against his well disciplined well drilled team, I think it is fair to say Stone is in the ball park with the boys.

Playing Brisbane up there in the rain is a tough gig. We were far from perfect but I thought we actually did ourselves proud.

Plenty of other teams will be rolled up there this year.

There is plenty of room for improvement in several aspects of our game. But from an attitude point of view, I think we are as good as any. Close losses to two of the best teams in the comp is a testament to that in my opinion.

 

[Pika]

Does one R. Stone know this? I'll assume he does. So next question - why does he pick Gids in the halves?

Who is his alternative?

 

[Adsy]

An actual half - Roberts or Stig.

There are still probably 4 or 5 more games until Henry is back. He can't keep running around like headless chooks, mate.

 

[Alex28]

Does one R. Stone know this? I'll assume he does. So next question - why does he pick Gids in the halves?

I would have thought it was pretty obvious why he is picking him in the halves - a lack of alternatives?

 

[Jobdog]

Pika, I love your passion, but the pass from Gidley to Fa'aoso was forward

 

[Jobdog]

An actual half - Roberts or Stig.

There are still probably 4 or 5 more games until Henry is back. He can't keep running around like headless chooks, mate.

Roberts or Stig aren't quite ready for first grade yet I'd say ...

 

[Serc]

Stig would be the only possibility I'd say...but even then I'm pretty sure we'll have Gidley as our stopgap in the halves for another 6 weeks or so until Henry is fit again.

I was considering telling everyone to put away the razors after last night, but I would've spent the entire night replying to silly posts (drop Mullen? lol)

Name me a team that would have been competitive so far this season while experiencing injuries (of more than 1 week) to 4 of their top 5 players? Can you imagine the Storm playing without Smith, Cronk, Slater and Blair for much of the first 5 rounds? Cowboys without Scott, Thurston, Bowen, Tonga etc?

It will be tough against the Sharks forward pack next week, but they are certainly beatable! Chin up guys

Edit: Broncos without Lockyer, Hannant, Hodges, Thaiday?

 

[Apey]

Its fair you use the Wayne Bennett as the benchmark, but considering we went down by 2 against his well disciplined well drilled team, I think it is fair to say Stone is in the ball park with the boys.

Playing Brisbane up there in the rain is a tough gig. We were far from perfect but I thought we actually did ourselves proud.

Plenty of other teams will be rolled up there this year.

There is plenty of room for improvement in several aspects of our game. But from an attitude point of view, I think we are as good as any. Close losses to two of the best teams in the comp is a testament to that in my opinion.

I do agree with what you're saying Pika.

However the 'moral' victories seem to rarely result in 2 points for us. I agree that all things considering, the team will more often than not do us proud (maybe not so much last night, definitely in general though)... but unless they build on that to the point where they start actually winning the games that are there for the taking, the moral victories mean nothing and help nobody.

 

[Burwood]

Did anyone else think that the Broncos were unlucky not to have the try awarded where Naiqama fumbled the grubber on his goal-line? Thought there was enough video evidence to at least give a BOTD try.

 

[sneaky_is_here]

Did anyone else think that the Broncos were unlucky not to have the try awarded where Naiqama fumbled the grubber on his goal-line? Thought there was enough video evidence to at least give a BOTD try.

Nope it was not clear cut enough, if he did ground it, it was not on the line.

Regardless we were lucky to be in the game to the point that we were. If Cory Parker could kick it may have been over earlier. Our old ways off ill-discipline, and some unlucky ref calls IMO made us never look like we deserved to win that one. our 20m gain per set to their 50m was ridiculous

 

[Jobdog]

Just saw on FSN Pato's been charged with dangerous contact and is facing a one-match ban ...

 

[perverse]

wow, that's a lot of backrowers we have out this week if true... and against the Sharks, too. looks like another week of getting dominated up the middle and crossing our fingers that our backs can pull the game out of their arseholes.