Season 2011 In Review

[Big Pete]

Best Player?

Worst Player?

Most Improved Player?

Best Game?

Worst Game?

Any other memories?

Go Go Go

 

[Big Pete]

Best Player: Corey Parker - He's just been so good for us these past two seasons. Gets through a ton of work in defence and still does a wonderful job supporting the forwards through the middle. Earned a recall into Origin and didn't let anybody down, playing a hand in the set that ultimately won us the game in Game 1 and having a strong game off the bench in Game 3. Consistently great and a terrific club man.

Worst Player? Nick Kenny. Was actually pretty tough to consider one but Kenny has just degenerated into such a weak player it almost makes you wonder how he was considered an Australian squad member 2 years ago. Copley will likely receive a few noms but I thought he produced some positives despite clearly playing out of position. Kenny only had the one good game I thought.

Most Improved: Jharal Yow Yeh - Take your pick really! But Jharal gets my vote. Went from potential liability to one of our best attacking weapons and a proven Origin and test player. Great season and hopefully he can build on it. Reminds me so much of Matt Sing.

Best Game: St. George Illawarra Dragons SF - Is there any other? Just a wonderful performance from us capped off with Lockyer's last ever play in a Broncos jersey. Magical.

Worst Game: vs. Penrith @ Penrith Park - Yuck. We were abysmal this night, weak as piss defence, poor attack and we were absolutely belted against a Penrith side that had been pretty ordinary leading up to the game.

Other memories
- Jack Reed. Okay, I've garnered a reputation for underating him but at the start of the season I was telling everybody I knew to keep an eye out for him and he really didn't disappoint. If anything, I think he sums up our season. Not the flashiest player, but damn smart and not afraid to come up with the big plays.

- Justin Hodges' return match winner. Couldn't have written a better script.

- Gerard Beale's try saver. Brilliant, I think Cooper and Lyon have stolen the spotlight, but that was such a great tackle given the context of that game and his career.

- The second half scoreless record. That was sort of freaky how we kept doing that for awhile.

- Golden point victory over Raiders. Was so pissed when we clocked off for 10mins but was just so glad to see Wallace win it for us in the dying stages.

- Our effort against Melbourne at Suncorp. Bloody brave and anybody who thinks we're no hope without Locky should go back and watch this game. We matched it with the minor premiers and we were missing a host of talent.

- Water polo vs. Rabbits. We were thoroughly outplayed which sucked but that game won't be forgotten for awhile.

- 21-20 over NZ. Just such a good game, thanks mostly to the Warriors. Was so glad to hold on and win though.

- Walking onto Suncorp. Just a surreal moment.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Best Player

Corey Parker - Consistently gave his all to the team week in ...week out. Also added another dimension to his game. His emerging hit & spin > offload skills, hit the heights of the best ball playing forwards of all time.

Worst Player

Dale Copely - Either out of his position or out of his depth. I think we persisted with him far too long. Made me nervous/cringe any time the ball went near him

Most Improved Player

Jahral Yow Yeh - Showed a lot of maturity throughout the year. A potent strike weapon now in his own right. Rep honours have been deserved and have improved his game and given him the confidence for him to believe in himself.

Special mentions to Andrew McCullough and Josh McGuire. Both were copping plenty of shit early in the season but hung in there to provide invaluable performances in the back half of the season

Best Game

Semi final win over the Dragons....although I really enjoyed putting the Warriors to the sword in the 1st semi

Worst Game

V Rabbitohs in Perth. Not sure if it was just the atrocious state of the playing field or what, but that game pissed me off.

Any other memories

- Locky's last game and that field goal. Tears in my eyes. Never been more proud of the bloke

- Our early season defence. Awesome

- The emergence of Jack Reed, Gerad Beale, Josh Hoffman. The class of Matt Gillett

- Alex Glenn. Fantastic season.

 

[AuDragon]

- Water polo vs. Rabbits. We were thoroughly outplayed which sucked but that game won't be forgotten for awhile.

Are you for real? Outplayed? Really?

They score two lucky tries in that pool in the first 10 or 15 mins, and then hang on for dear life, while we bomb tries left, right and centre, and you call that being outplayed? :shock::crazy:

 

[Goddy]

Best Player?

Jharal Yow Yeh; Simply superb year. Only person that came close was Jack Reed. These two blokes have to be the priority for the Broncos to hang onto.

Worst Player?

Dale Copley; I don't think I need to say much. The match against Manly was the final straw. The incident with Reed is right up there with Ashton Sims and that knockon.

Most Improved Player?

Andrew McCollough; I was willing to let him go after last year, but he's really proven me wrong as of late. It seems he's finally woken up.

Best Game?

The Semi Final against the Dragons, if only for the field goal by Locky but otherwise it was just a classic game.

Worst Game?

The Preliminary against Manly, which I know is probably not gonna be the most popular opinion, but some of the mistakes the guys made were just unreal, the two biggest both from Copley.

Any other memories?

Lockyer's field goal will stay in my memory for a very long time. A classic moment in Australian Sport, and it proved to be his final act of greatness for the Yellow and Burgandy.

 

[Snappy]

Worst game IMO was the round 10 loss to Penrith 33 - 10. We sucked hard in that game.

 

[Big Pete]

Are you for real? Outplayed? Really?

They score two lucky tries in that pool in the first 10 or 15 mins, and then hang on for dear life, while we bomb tries left, right and centre, and you call that being outplayed? :shock::crazy:

I know you have an agenda against Souths but physically they dominated us all game and we never looked like scoring.

Had the game been played in better conditions I would've been quite confident of our chances but to their credit the Rabbits just played to the conditions better than what we did.

 

[IBA]

Best Player?

Jack Reed. Extra points for it being his rookie year and the pressure he must have felt early on to retain the spot. He shut down so many excellent centers so often. I remember the talk of Idris running riot over him in round 8 and you didn't hear a peep from him all game. He did the same to many other quality centers.

Worst Player?

Hard to call this. I think I'm going to have to agree with Pete on Nick Kenny. He's just so soft for a big bloke. I can't count how many times I screamed at the TV for him to just do something.

Most Improved?

Andrew McCullough. By far for me. I was calling for his head for the first 15 rounds, then someone told him to do what Cameron Smith does and I can see him being an integral part of the Broncos for years to come. Starting to think that'd I'd like ot see him at half-back with Wal at 6... Baptiste in the 9.

Best Game?

Semi vs the Dragons. The Dragons were fantastic on the night. Their defence was superb. I would have loved to see what we could have done fully firing against a lesser team. The single greats game of RL i've ever attended. Got a little emotional...

Worst Game?

Hardest game to watch - Rabbits at Perth. Just so, so hard to watch. I usually wait for the replay to come to NRL.com and watch the game again. Not this time. So frustrating. That penrith game was pretty bad too...

Any other memories?

The field goal obviously. I was directly inline with Locky on the side when he kicked it, and the way the crowd behind the posts just exploded... Wow...

Jack Reeds try against Melbourne.

Watching McGuire come back from an awful eye injury to dominate the back end of the season.

Not a good one, but the shot of Darren Lockyer on the fulltime hooter last week was one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen...

Halas first try. God I hope he becomes the super impact prop he could be...

This one is kinda weird... My housemate waking me up on the morning of Round 1 with a pack of NRL playing cards saying 'Merry Christmas'... We had been refering to the start of the season as christmas. That afternoon I went and bought a projector and a massive screen to hang under the house to watch games on. The season did not dissapoint.

Shit I need a hobby until March...

 

[hellteam]

Best Player?
Corey Parker. Can't say I'm the biggest fan of Parker but I had to give this to him. Other players had their moments (Thaiday, Lockyer, Reed), but Parker was just so consistent all year. Wouldn't surprise me to see him get a place on the Kangaroo tour this year, deserves it.

Worst Player?
- Ben Hunt. Probably being a bit tough here, I know he's only young and doesn't get on the field too much, but I am dead set annoyed at how he played on the bench all year. You only have to look at Manly to see how they have developed our halves, and here we are putting our supposedly number one halves talent on the bench in first grade playing a different position every week. He could have been a good chance to play in the halves next year, but I just can't see it happening now. Made especially annoying seeing as Baptiste was playing 20's all year, who is a better hooker anyway.

Most Improved Player?
- Alex Glenn. Seriously, where did he come from? He was decent last year but this year he has been one of the NRL's best second rowers. Seems like he came from pre-season training much bigger and stronger, and he's only going to get better. Would have been a serious consideration to be captain next year, which says a lot considering his young age.

Best Game?
- I think we played our best game against the Warriors a few weeks ago. But, my favourite game would definitely be the Dragons. Goes close to beating any other game I've ever been at, Origin included.

Worst Game?
- Panthers vs Broncos. Just never showed up, painful to watch. Don't even really want to talk about it actually.

Any other memories?
- Darren Lockyer. Still can't believe we've seen the last of him, I was about 6 when he started his career, so all my proper memories of the Broncos involve him. Bit sad really, there's no one left in the NRL who comes close to his 'legend' status at the moment.
- Youngsters. Something about the team this year was really likeable. Even some people from my work, who usually hate the Broncos, were cheering for us because of the youthful enthusiasm players like Beale, Reed, Hoffman showed. Can't wait to see what they can do next year.
- Early Season wins. Some of my favourite wins this year were from early in the season when we weren't really favoured at all. Example vs Roosters in Gosford and vs Tigers in Sydney. Showed so much control and maturity in those matches.

It's going to be really tough for us to keep the young players we have at the moment. Can definitely see us losing one or two of Hoffman, Yow Yeh and Beale. Could all probably be good fullbacks at other clubs. Let's hope not though. I would give Beale a shot at five eight, reminds me a lot of Widdop.

All in all, a good year.. might even put it in the 'what could have been' barrel with 2008.

Some people are a bit pessimistic about next year, me included. BUT I had a look at a squad list someone on here put up the other day, and we really do have an awesome all round team. I'm backing that one of Capewell, Norman, Hunt or Beale will step up as the new five eight. My money is on Capewell at the moment, liked the look of him in Q Cup.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Best Player? Consistently? I'd have to go with Parker. Tackled his arse off all year, and was always looking to offload in a tackle. Excellent support play. His only minus was that his goalkicking radar went a little out late in the season.

Worst Player? Consistently? Scott Anderson. I've criticised him before, but the man has lifted for one, maybe two games. He has to be the softest forward on the planet. Kenny was bad, but at least they didn't persist with him. Anderson's performances this year were almost Clinton-like, just without the concussions. You could just about set your watch to him running on from the bench and either getting smashed in his first hit up, or dropping a sitter.

Most Improved Player?Andrew Mac. At the start of the season you could just about set your watch to this guy throwing dummy passes and making silly decisions in attack. Towards the business end, he really stepped it up, to the point where he could almost be considered a potent attack weapon. If he can kick on and form a combination with one of the halves, we're set for next year.


Best Game? Dragons SF. You just about couldn't flaw the team performance in this game. It truly was our GF. All the components were there - Broncos looking tight and strong in attack, Dragons defending their arses off. A shaky lead at half time, followed by a late comeback, and then the fate sealing kick from the battle wounded General.

Worst Game? vs Penrith. No one wanted to be there.

Any other memories?

- The ups and downs. Hoffman was fit and carving up, then he was injured, then Beale started carving up in his place, then Hoffman came back and carved up some more, then he got injured, then Beale carved up a little more. Teo coming off a strong 2010 under an injury cloud, then really starting to shine in his last few games

- The revelation of Josh McGuire.

- The confusion of Sam being picked for Captain over Corey

- The frustration of the way they let other teams dominate them in the wrestle and play the ball, but don't return the favour.

- Sam Thaiday continually getting in Locky's way.

- Petero deciding to come in from the cold.

 

[The Crane]

Best - Parker. Always willing to do anything to help the team. He also didn't switch off after the 2012 captain announcement. Hon mention to McGuire.

Worst - Have to agree with the names already thrown out in Copley and Kenny. Tronc might be up there too, but feel sorry about the injury.

Improved? - McGuire, McCullough or even Beale at the back. All were impressive towards the back end of this year.

Best - Dragons semi.

Worst - Canberra game. A few people have said they loved it, but I hated this game. We were well in front and just switched off. Terrible to see.

Other memories - GLenn and Reed. I love these two! That Glenn try where he srpinted about 30m and scored just before the deadball line was awesome, and Reed was great to watch every time the ball was chipped in his direction. I also liked his one-hander around the corner to Beale.

 

[user_nat]

Best Player? Parker. Most consistently consistent.

Worst Player? No real standouts. So I'm going to say Corey Norman. Only because I really disliked when we were using him off the bench to replace Beale at fullback. Even though that isn't his fault, I just don't like him.

Most Improved Player? McGuire. Went from someone who I quite disliked to a real star player.

Best Game?
Best game we won - SF Vs Dragons
Best game despite losing - Vs Storm at Suncorp

Worst Game?
1. Vs Penrith - All round terrible
2. Vs Souths - Incredibly frustrating

 

[AuDragon]

I know you have an agenda against Souths but physically they dominated us all game and we never looked like scoring.

Had the game been played in better conditions I would've been quite confident of our chances but to their credit the Rabbits just played to the conditions better than what we did.

Has nothing to do with my 50uff$ agenda.
Maybe you need to watch that game again... :roll:

The only game we were dominated from start to end was at Penrith, and we were schooled in Melbourne.

 

[Big Pete]

If it isn't apart of your Souths agenda then why did you just act like I shat in your breakfast? It was barely an offhand comment.

I didn't say they dominated us from start to end, just physically and when I say that I refer to their defence. They rarely looked in trouble all night and the likes of Ross and Taylor just rolled through us in the middle.

I stay by my outplayed comment.

 

[IBA]

I agree. In the first 20, their pretty shitty attack outplayed our even worse defence. Then for the rest of the game, their solid defence outplayed our below average attack. We didn't really give up, we just couldn't match them in those conditions...

 

[GoTheBroncs]

Yeah Souths outplayed us that game. They just wanted it more that's all.

Best Player? Corey Parker. Imo our best and most consistent 'prop' all year. The only criticism I have is that he needs to improve his kicking percentage.

Worst Player? Scott Anderson. Of the regular players he was our weakest. Not that he was THAT bad really.

Most Improved Player? How could the most improved player not be Jack Reed? He came from absolute obscurity to an important cog in our team. The try against Melbourne....

Best Game? The best game the Broncos played was vs the Warriors in the Prelim Final.

Worst Game? vs Penrith. We had a shocker.

Any other memories?

- The one and only Darren Lockyer. Everything went his away up and until the fractured cheekbone brought it all to an end. Who will ever forget that field goal.

- People thinking that Beale was better than Hoffman at fullback until Hoffman came back from injury and OWNED

- Alex Glenn and Andrew McCullough really stepping up.

- Josh McGuire announcing himself to the world as a force to be reckoned with.

- Peter Wallace being a great field goal kicker but struggling with general play kicking. Who will ever forget the game against Canberra? Having 4 tries put on us in 9 minutes was not fun. Then Wallace slotting the field goal to save us from embarrassment.

- Thaiday being announced as new captain. And feeling bad for Corey about it.

 

[Mr Saab]

Best - Parker
Worst - Copely. He is Scott Minto ver 2. He is scary to watch....heart in your mouth type stuff. I hope to never see him in a Broncos jersey ever again
Improved - Reed. From a labourer to playing every game - he had a very good year
Best Game -Dragons semi
Worst -Panfers - we suck at Penriff

 

[hellteam]

Also interesting to think that we nearly had Inglis this year... Wonder how our year would have went then

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Worst - Canberra game. A few people have said they loved it, but I hated this game. We were well in front and just switched off. Terrible to see.

Was nearly going to go this way for worst game, as that switch off was disgusting, but the result saved it for me. That, and the fact that the team didn't even show up for the Penrith match.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Also interesting to think that we nearly had Inglis this year... Wonder how our year would have went then

Considering he spent more time off the field/unfit than on it.......I doubt it would have changed our year that much.