I've never seen Gillett single handedly lose us a game with his defence, whilst Parker lost us the cowboys game by letting in 2 tries..Missing two big hits doesn't make him a bad defender. Costing tries does.
The metres aren't everything, our other forwards get us to the try line anyway, but Gillett adds way more to our attack and gets us tries. If Parker doesn't play, we see that other forwards just get more ball, and they can make just as many metres as Parker can if they get the ball enough times..don't get me wrong, I love Parker, but he stifles our attack and it frustrates the heck out of me at times. I do wish Josh Mcguire got more ball as well. His hitups are more effective than Parker's.
Keep in mind Parkers' ligament in his thumb was completely detached in that Cowboys game 5 minutes in, which could go some way to explaining the defensive lapses.
Look, I agree with a lot of what you're saying. We're in such a tough position, if you can call it that at the Broncos, with a backrow that reads: Thaiday, Glenn, Parker, Gillett, Teo - 2 guys have to miss out each week. How fortunate we are as a football side to be able to bring the likes of Matt Gillett on from the bench.
In any other team, Gillett is a starting second rower without question. And, to add to that, I would say half our QLD cup forwards (Frei, Anderson et al) would get a start at many NRL clubs also.
Gillett needs to refine his game. No question he's got a heap of skill - he's big, fast, has good footwork and has good ball skills too: He's kind of like a lean and nimble version of Dave Taylor. But, he's not consistent. I read an interview with Anthony Griffin earlier in the week saying the same thing.
It's pretty unlikely he'll take Parker or Glenns' spot, but he's a great impact player off the bench, and should do a lot of damage to teams this season.
Also, agree on McGuire. Personally I would play him at starting prop over Petero, and bring Petero in off the bench. But you can't very well do that to the highest paid prop in your side as it makes no sense.
Could be worse... I think.
Wallace, in the form he's been in will be a huge loss. I've never really rated Ben Hunt at all personally, so he's going to have to show me something special, or at the very least do a job on steering the forwards around, kick well and defend well. Norman is going to have to step up big time and I think this will be a big test for him against Campese and some of the big Raiders forwards. Baptiste will be a good addition if he can establish his running game straight away, and I'm sure Lui will do a job off the bench.
