Round 5 vs. Melbourne Storm Discussion

[Big Pete]

Melbourne Storm vs. Brisbane Broncos
AAMI Park, Thursday 4 April 2024
Kick Off: 7:00pm (AEST)

1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. William Warbrick 3. Reimis Smith 4. Nick Meaney 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Tui Kamikamica 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Trent Loiero

14. Tyran Wishart 15. Christian Welch 16. Tepai Moeroa 17. Alec MacDonald

18. Chris Lewis 19. Jack Howarth 20. Marion Seve 21. Jonah Pezet 22. Aaron Pene

1. Tristan Sailor 2. Jesse Arthars 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Selwyn Cobbo 5. Deine Mariner 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Corey Jensen 9. Billy Walters 10. Fletcher Baker 11. Jaiyden Hunt 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Benjamin Te Kura 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Corey Oates

18. Martin Taupau 19. Jock Madden 20. Delouise Hoeter 21. Jordan Pereira 22. Blake Mozer​

 

[Big Pete]

205cm giant Ben Te Kura will make his NRL debut against Melbourne Storm this Thursday. Te Kura comes in for Willison who suffered a head-knock at training that will likely keep him out off the Dolphins clash. Te Kura had a break-out season for the Magpies last year, scoring 7 tries and was a real weapon for Souths close to the line. If Brisbane get an opportunity, don't be surprised to see them play short to Ben close to the line.

Te Kura is still very green but the club has huge raps on him and he's at that stage where he needs some reps in the NRL. It'll be a trial by fire against Melbourne, but he'll be a player to keep an eye on.

I expect Melbourne will make in roads through the edges, then try to cut through the middle to try and create numbers out-wide. The backrows, particularly Hunt will need to work over-time in defence. Walters will need to be creative with his interchange as the only recognised replacement is Hetherington and he's a loose forward. I'd not be shocked to see Smoothy and Walters on the field at the same time, Smoothy will need to muscle up and make some tough carries if that's the case.

Brisbane may fancy their chances one on one with Cobbo on Meaney. Meaney defends with plenty of enthusiasm but does lack size so Brisbane will want to provide some good early ball. I expect the Storm will cotton onto this, so hopefully Hunt has been working on his line-running and be an option on the fringe.

Otherwise I expect Brisbane to try and replicate what they did against the Cowboys and play direct. They'll want to try and target Grant and force Munster to make decisions. Brisbane will need to pace themselves as very few teams can punish you like Melbourne do.

 

[Showtime]

Fletcher Baker is trash

 

[ALX25]

The Arthars knock on and the Staggs poor error were very costly.

 

[MRN]

Proud of the effort but, cmon, taking the 2 when only up by 2. Asking for it to come back and bite us in the arse. The two bombed tries? First one just need patience. Ezra was very rightly pissed off.
Second? Catch the ball Arthurs!
Why not go for the Te Kura burrow on either of those opportunities?
Still not convinced Coates grounded his try. He's still fighting to get it down when Reynolds arrives.
Wishart scoring on a hit up? What a joke.
Fletcher Baker has done one good thing in 5 games, his pass last week to Arthurs. He isn't a front rowers arse hole. Absolutely no ticker. No motor.
What we can take from this? It doesn't help miss out on the 2 points but we were down on troops and had to reshuffle, while they had to roll out their superstar spine for the first time since 2022 and only 'just' get home.
Hopefully Reynolds is only short term. If we can get the troops back we can still bounce back with 4/5s of the season to go.

 

[Showtime]

Proud of the effort but, cmon, taking the 2 when only up by 2. Asking for it to come back and bite us in the arse. The two bombed tries? First one just need patience. Ezra was very rightly pissed off.
Second? Catch the ball Arthurs!
Why not go for the Te Kura burrow on either of those opportunities?
Still not convinced Coates grounded his try. He's still fighting to get it down when Reynolds arrives.
Wishart scoring on a hit up? What a joke.
Fletcher Baker has done one good thing in 5 games, his pass last week to Arthurs. He isn't a front rowers arse hole. Absolutely no ticker. No motor.
What we can take from this? It doesn't help miss out on the 2 points but we were down on troops and had to reshuffle, while they had to roll out their superstar spine for the first time since 2022 and only 'just' get home.
Hopefully Reynolds is only short term. If we can get the troops back we can still bounce back with 4/5s of the season to go.

Hopefully Te Kuras debut means we never have to watch Baker play again. Our lack of physicality especially from the starting pack is a worry. If Reynolds is out for an extended period, I’d rather them play Mam at 7 if they view him as the future, I’m not sure I can handle watch Madden play, he’s a park footballer.

 

[gUt]

Problem is Mam is not a 7. I'd rather Walters play there than him and give Mozer a shot at 9.

 

[Big Pete]

Melbourne Storm 34 def. Brisbane Broncos 32 (Ezra Mam 2, Deine Mariner, Jesse Arthars, Ben Te Kura tries; Adam Reynolds 3/3, Kotoni Staggs 3/3 goals)

2-3

One of those games where Melbourne dominated every facet yet Brisbane kept finding ways to score against the run of play. However when it mattered most they didn't have the composure and fell short. That just seems like the Broncos lot in life at the moment and with a mounting injury toll it's difficult to see how they're going to turn it around in 2024.

On the plus side, I thought Mam played his best game of the season and while you're right gUt he isn't a 7, at least he looked to get involved and caused the defence plenty of concern. Sailor filled in nicely and laid on a lovely pass to Arthars to set up the first Mam try and showed good composure at the back. Outside of the bombed try, I thought Arthars played well too and had a few nice runs in the first half to get the Broncos on the front foot.

Unfortunately as Showtime pointed out, the Broncos lost the physical contest and to concede 34 points is an indictment on their defence. The left side in particular was picked apart by ease and the try to Wishart was incredibly soft given the circumstances. That was primarily on Baker who was bowled over but Riki also failed to lock the ball up.

It's evident that Jaiyden Hunt doesn't belong on that left edge and the Broncos desperately need to find an edge backrow. There was talk of the Broncos signing Gosiewski on a short term deal, there hasn't been any updates since the Good Friday clash.

If there was one silver lining it was Ben Te Kura who happened to have his best game of 2024 off the bench. I'm sure that will earn him a recall for the Dolphins game and he showed just how effective he can be close to the line with a try on debut. The Broncos will have to be careful with how they manage him, but they can build off of that performance - I just want him and Howarth to commit to the Maroons.

Reynolds went off after half-time after a good start to the game. The Broncos claimed it was a hamstring issue but the way he was clutching his knee and his emotions in the sheds suggests it maybe something more serious. We will be awaiting more scans. Mariner had a quiet game but it turns out the back injury he suffered when Coates collected him with the knee turned out to be more serious and he'll likely miss the next four weeks.

 

[ALX25]

Howarth is a myth.

 

[League guru]

Howarth is a myth.

There are several overpaid, overrated myths at the Broncos without worrying about Howarth. Staggs and Cobbo for a start.

 

[Big Pete]

Howarth is a myth.

Is there any inside word on why his development has taken so long? Watching him come through the juniors I expected him to be the next Hoffman in waiting but it just hasn't transpired for him.

It seems like he maybe lacking confidence. Both Billy and Cam were quick to point out his contribution in the Wishart try so I'd imagine Bellamy would be making a point of it during the review to build him up.

I think Nanai's 2022 may have spoiled our expectations on the next wave of edge forwards. Piakura only just started to make waves last year and still has plenty to work on. The same can be said of Josh Schuster and Ben Trbojevic who are of a similar age.

I'm keeping the faith and given how many injuries there are in the modern game, I'd like to have every available option for Queensland.

 

[gUt]

I never really rated Kurt Capewell that highly because I rate stats but it's clear we are missing him.

 

[MRN]

I never really rated Kurt Capewell that highly because I rate stats but it's clear we are missing him.

We miss his organization in defence. Yes he gave away some 6 agains and penalties but he definitely tightened it up.
We miss Flegler for obvious punch up the middle that Fletcher Baker is in no way capable of providing.
We miss Herbie's hard carries out of our own territory and his defence. (Trust me that is hard for me to admit that because I put most of the blame on him for the GF loss after he made the two most influential mistakes of the game imo)
Palasia is who I think we generally miss the least but even his work off the bench out does Baker at starting 13.

 

[MRN]

We also miss Capewell's versatility when required to reshuffle.

 

[Showtime]

We also miss Capewell's versatility when required to reshuffle.

I think once Piakura gets an extended run without getting injured we’ll quickly forget Capewell, he’s still so inexperienced. I’m interested to see what they do with Staggs, he has flashes of brilliance but he’s probably not worth what he’s currently getting paid.