Round 6 vs. Penrith Panthers Discussion

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos vs. Penrith Panthers
Suncorp Stadium, Thursday 15 April 2021
Kick Off: 8:05pm

1. Jamayne Isaako 2. Xavier Coates 3. Richard Kennar 4. Jesse Arthars 5. David Mead 6. Brodie Croft 7. Tom Dearden 8. Matthew Lodge 9. Jake Turpin 10. Payne Haas 11. Alex Glenn 12. Tevita Pangai Junior 13. Patrick Carrigan

Interchange: 14. John Asiata 15. Thomas Flegler 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Jordan Riki

Reserves: 18. Rhys Kennedy 19. Cory Paix 20. Keenan Palasia 21. Corey Oates

1. Stephen Crichton 2. Charlie Staines 3. Paul Momirovski 4. Matt Burton 5. Brian To'o 6. Jarome Luai 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Moses Leota 9. Mitch Kenny 10. James Fisher-Harris 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Kurt Capewell 13. Isaah Yeo

Interchange: 14. Tyrone May 15. Spencer Leniu 16. Matthew Eisenhuth 17. Liam Martin

Reserves: 18. Scott Sorensen 19. Robert Jennings 20. J'maine Hopgood 21. Jaeman Salmon

 

[Big Pete]

The big story coming out of Brisbane is that Anthony Milford has been dropped with Brodie Croft taking his place at 6. No word on whether Milford will come off the bench but something had to give and that was the result.

It also appears that Jesse Arthars will come in for Tesi Niu, Pangai Jr will slot into the second row with Carrigan at lock and Riki on the bench. No word on who will replace Ben Te'o but Ethan Bullemor had a stand-out performance for the Devils on the weekend so he's the most likely option.

No word on Herbie Farnworth and whether he'll be right after suffering an elbow injury.

 

[DeeJ]

I don't see how Croft is an improvement over Milf in any way. Also, I think it's time Niu had a rest. His defence on that side has been poor, possibly due to his size, but he is too much of a risk taking and occasionally a selfish player. It hasn't harmed the team too much so far but you can see it happening.

 

[renouf]

Imo if McCollough was still in the side we'd be more competitive, why did the club not just resign him? Really don't understand how they can justify it given how poorly the side is going.

 

[blaza88z]

Imo if McCollough was still in the side we'd be more competitive, why did the club not just resign him? Really don't understand how they can justify it given how poorly the side is going.

That's all well and good in hindsight but McCullough doesn't offer any attacking threat, when Turpin came onto the scene in his first season he was quite damaging with his runs out of dummy half.

McCullough will make 50 tackles a game, provide good service to the forwards.. and that's where it ends.

 

[renouf]

That's all well and good in hindsight but McCullough doesn't offer any attacking threat, when Turpin came onto the scene in his first season he was quite damaging with his runs out of dummy half.

McCullough will make 50 tackles a game, provide good service to the forwards.. and that's where it ends.

It's not in hindsight, last year should have been a good reason to keep him around, he added experience and a calm head, something they don't have.

 

[Big Pete]

The teamlists are in.

Milford, Niu and Te'o are out with Riki being demoted to the bench.

Arthars, Carrigan and Bullemor come in with Croft coming into the starting side.

 

[Big Pete]

Something had to give with Milford.

Walters gave him five opportunities to lead the team around and by the fifth things had only gotten worse. Even at the best of times he's a liability in defence and his work off the football just leaves too much to be desired. When he has the football, he tends to over-play his hand to the extent that his team mates are often put out of position because of the angles he runs.

The key is to see how the players respond. If they step up then it's mission accomplished. However if they stay the same or heaven forbid get worse it's difficult picturing Brisbane doing much of anything for the next few seasons.

It's been a long time coming for Milford. He's been in the firing line ever since Seibs moved him to fullback to get him out of the defensive line. They then specifically head-hunted Croft from Melbourne to allow Milford to become a ball-running 6 but they just didn't gel. Then this year Kev has tried Milford with other halves and it's just gotten worse.

 

[Big Pete]

Imo if McCollough was still in the side we'd be more competitive, why did the club not just resign him? Really don't understand how they can justify it given how poorly the side is going.

Because he wanted a three year commitment when the Broncos were undergoing a roster overhaul. Macca really hit the jackpot, there is no other coach in the history of the game who would have offered him that deal in that situation except for Griffin.

It's certainly hurt the Broncos in the short term. He was going to be the starting 9 and captain. However, I still think they go 1-4 and the exact same criticisms would be made.

The only thing fans have grown wise to now is that in no shape or form is he the worst 9 in the competition. I don't think he panned out to be as great as expected, but after 300 games in first grade you couldn't call him a flop either.

 

[blaza88z]

Happy with the decisions Kev has made, Riki to the bench has been overlooked but I think it's a good call.

That defensive effort by Riki late in the first half last week really ruined what I thought was a really good fightback after starting poorly

 

[Big Pete]

It looks like Oates will replace Jesse Arthars who is struggling with illness. Channel 7 just aired footage of Oates scoring underneath the posts at training which is reserved for players receiving their first game of the year. Walters said that they will give Arthars until Thursday afternoon but that appears to be a smokescreen.

Kennedy is also on stand by for Flegler who has also come down with an illness.

The backline will swap around drastically.

 

[gUt]

imo Turpin is a fine defensive hooker. Let him get comfortable doing 50-60 tackles per game and then begin to show us his dummy half kicks and runs.

 

[Showtime]

I thought it was a great effort tonight and they probably deserved to come away with the win. Lodge, Haas, TPJ, Carrigan and Turpin were great up front.

Personally I think Glenn is a bit of a plodder and is probably only captain because he’s one of the few experienced players we have.

Need to keep Oates in the side, his work out of our own half is worth putting up with the mistake he’ll make.

Hopefully the return of Staggs and Farnworth will help in attack.

 

[blaza88z]

I thought it was a great effort tonight and they probably deserved to come away with the win. Lodge, Haas, TPJ, Carrigan and Turpin were great up front.

Personally I think Glenn is a bit of a plodder and is probably only captain because he’s one of the few experienced players we have.

Need to keep Oates in the side, his work out of our own half is worth putting up with the mistake he’ll make.

Hopefully the return of Staggs and Farnworth will help in attack.

Kev said in the press conference that Glenn has been battling an illness but to be fair he hasn't really been a stand out for a long time, just we need his experience more than ever

Oates was huge, when they made that break and he made 2 scrambling tackles, that was proof to me he cares about the jersey and I hope Kev sees it that way too. Tonight we were great, just didn't have the halves to get the win, if Cleary was on our side we probably win that game easily to be perfectly honest

 

[Nerd]

A loss but how good was that. Our forwards aimed up and actually took it to the Panthers pack and the halves played ok. Great games by Haas, TPJ, Lodge and Croft. With a bit more experience we could have won that but that cold drop on the line by Glenn and the Isaako kick on the first really hurt us.

Our defence was hitting hard tonight and the Panthers were kept in it by some judicious kicking from Cleary. The first two Penrith tries were past our fill in centres who are actually wingers so when Herbie and Staggs come back things are looking good. I though Oates played his heart out and looked absolutely knackered at the end but surely he will retain his spot for next week on that performance.

 

[blaza88z]

A loss but how good was that. Our forwards aimed up and actually took it to the Panthers pack and the halves played ok. Great games by Haas, TPJ, Lodge and Croft. With a bit more experience we could have won that but that cold drop on the line by Glenn and the Isaako kick on the first really hurt us.

Our defence was hitting hard tonight and the Panthers were kept in it by some judicious kicking from Cleary. The first two Penrith tries were past our fill in centres who are actually wingers so when Herbie and Staggs come back things are looking good. I though Oates played his heart out and looked absolutely knackered at the end but surely he will retain his spot for next week on that performance.

Oates is a lock in for next week against Parramatta who have a couple of hulking wingers

 

[Showtime]

Oates is a lock in for next week against Parramatta who have a couple of hulking wingers

Hopefully at some point this season, we could see Isaako, Oates, Farnworth, Staggs, Croft, Dearden for an extended period. I think it’s time for Kevvie to leave Dearden at 7 for the rest of the season.

With Milford gone next season do we target Reynolds to partner Dearden or is Staggs the future at 6?

 

[blaza88z]

Hopefully at some point this season, we could see Isaako, Oates, Farnworth, Staggs, Croft, Dearden for an extended period. I think it’s time for Kevvie to leave Dearden at 7 for the rest of the season.

With Milford gone next season do we target Reynolds to partner Dearden or is Staggs the future at 6?

I don't think Reynolds is the option, we need an eye on the future. Staggs will depend how he comes back from his injury, Croft was okay tonight I thought.

Dearden wasn't great tonight but Asiata wasn't giving him the best ball either

 

[Big Pete]

It was easily the Broncos best performance since the Round 2 2020 clash. It wasn't the most polished performance but they played with so much more energy and intent in defence that they gave themselves a real crack. With the ball they kept it extremely simple and Penrith were reeling. Brisbane had more than enough opportunities to ice the game but they just took some poor options and they looked lost close to the line.

I thought Isaako's performance encapsulated the overall team's effort. That was even better than his performance against the Bulldogs but he just never put himself in a position to trouble the Panthers defensive line.

The playmakers left something to be desired with the ball, but their defence was very impressive. The stats won't do it justice but both Croft and Dearden came up with good tackles that actually won the ruck for their team, which is something we've rarely seen in the past six years.

A disappointing result especially when they had the chance to win it, but finally they put together an 80 minute performance.

 

[Nerd]

Considering that was the first game this year for Croft and Dearden together in the halves surely Kevvy has to leave them there for the rest of the year to try and build a combination.