Round 1 - Bulldogs vs Broncos - Post Match Discussion

[Big Pete]

I will say, Wallace's omission didn't phase me. Defensively he can be a major liability and we were so behind the eight ball I don't think his inclusion would have helped. Similar deal with bringing either Granny or Nikorima in. Interested to see what the go with Kennedy + Hannant was. It didn't seem like either received a lot of game-time.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

^^ Which was odd because they both were really solid when they were on. Hannant had some good hitups and Kennedy was fired up after Ennis got in his face.

 

[Dee]

Our defence obviously won us the game tonight, our attack still looks slow but it looked more crisp and fluent than last season. We just look predictable at times but it wasn't THAT bad.

It is only round 1, but happy with the win. Hopefully we can progress and keep getting better and better. Hoffman doesn't look the goods at 5/8 but I'm willing to keep open minded and give him a shot, it will take time, let's put our faith in the entire squad.

Go you mighty Broncos!

 

[Ari Gold]

Some stats:
Matt Gillett 30 tackles including 8 one on one - 2 missed tackles.
Corey Parker 19 runs for 188 metres. 3 offloads.
Andrew Macca 57 tackles - no misses.
Alex Glenn 19 runs for 157 metres.

Here's an interesting stat. Josh Hoffman touched the ball 23 times and had 10 runs on the night. That's actually more passes than I remember seeing to be honest, but it compares horribly with his counterparts.

Someone made a comparison with Josh Reynolds in that they are both good runners. Reynolds had 30 touches and 5 runs tonight. Dylan Walker, another outside back from last year playing in 6 had 44 touches and 8 runs. Maloney 36 touches and 4 runs.

 

[RedHillGuy]

Great effort and a big ticker win. Still some definite areas that require addressing... especially in attack. Ben Hunt shows promise and looks to have some decent vision in attack but his execution at times (especially kicking game) is still very inconsistent and he has a long way to go in terms of steering the side around.

There was quite a few sets of 6 where we had 1 and sometimes 2 tackles that were absolute nothing plays due to lack of organization from Hunt when we were well in the attacking zone. This also impacted his kicking game as they seemed to get into poor positions for putting a kick in on the 5th tackle. In the short term Hunt needs Macca to help him out steering the ship. I think Macca could also jump out to first or second receiver on occasion and do some of the kicking like Robbie Farah does.

Hoffman looked ok running the ball, but he was caught in possession a fair bit. If they are getting a roll on then he really needs get early ball out to Barba. Also note to Hoffman... please only use your feet for running... your kicking game currently only resembles u/10s quality...

But a win is a win... and after their trial form I don't think anyone would be disappointed to see them grind out such a big ticker victory!!

 

[Ari Gold]

Game time was as follows:

Wallace 0
Lowrie 9
Kennedy 19
Hannant 42
McGuire 46
Thaiday 62
Gillett 71
Parker 71
McCullough 80
Glenn 80

Honestly, that's a bit of a concern. I can swallow the justifcation for not using Wallace, but I didn't realise Lowrie played so little before going off injured. And then Kennedy only got 19 too. Surely a guy who was 18th man last year in Origin can get more than 20mins.

I think we need more impact off the bench, and as much as I was against this in times gone by, I think Gillett off the bench is what's needed. Bring him on after 20 and give him 60mins of game time. Reduce Thaiday's mins down to 50ish and start Kennedy is what I would be inclined to do.

I'm frankly a bit worried about what game time Oates will get if he returns to the bench. He's been our brightest spot in the past year and I would hate for his development to be hindered my odd bench usage.

 

[Unbreakable]

Odd minutes rotation tbh.. I think I would've liked to see roughly -

McCullough - 80
Parker - 80
Glenn - 70
Gillett - 60
McGuire - 60
Thaiday - 50
Hannant - 40
Kennedy - 40
Lowrie - 20
J.Wallace - 15

(I haven't done the Maths, I could easily have more minutes than there is available)

McGuire deserves more than 46, Kennedy deserves more than 19.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Odd minutes rotation tbh.. I think I would've liked to see roughly -

McCullough - 80
Parker - 80
Glenn - 70
Gillett - 60
McGuire - 60
Thaiday - 50
Hannant - 40
Kennedy - 40
Lowrie - 20
J.Wallace - 15

(I haven't done the Maths, I could easily have more minutes than there is available)

McGuire deserves more than 46, Kennedy deserves more than 19.

Yeah you're over by 35 minutes. It's not that easy to find minutes for Lowrie and Wallace when you have much better big-minute players ahead of them.

I didn't see the second half because of work, so I'm guessing Hunt was pretty bad in the second forty because in the first half I actually thought he looked pretty decent (not spectacular, but far from terrible).

 

[rnabokov]

A few of us posted in the pre-match thread that the most important thing to see tonight was the game plan. Well, I really couldn't see one, and for mine there are 4 reasons for that.

(The first half showed some reasonable control of the middle and structured plays, which is why we scored those tries.)

1 - Hoffman hasn't got a clue how to organize play. He had absolutely no impact as a thinking, creative play maker. For mine, he played exactly the same game as he did when he was full back, but starting in the middle of the field, not from the back. He can't kick to save his life and he just doesn't even look to pass, or set up a play.

He just gets the ball and, well, runs. I don't think he can really do much else. He should be on the wing, or out of the team.

2 - We really didn't control the middle. Like in any war game, control of the middle is critical. The reason we didn't control the middle was that there was too rarely, any organization and direction from Hunt and none from Hoffman. Even Macca looked lost, and predictable too often.

3 - Hook doesn't have a clue about how to structure an organized attack. Part of that problem is poor positional selections - like Hoffman at 6. But then, even when Hunt had a few good games last year, it was more just an individual effort, opportunism, than as a player who knows how to organize and direct plays AND has a role drilled into him based on playmaking not opportunism, or simple catch run a few metres, and pass.

4. The kicking game. What kicking game (except for Barba's too few efforts.)

IMO, we won this game on the back of excellent defence, particular in our red zone, but mainly on the back of some terrific individual performances: Barba (but not enough involvement), Vidot, Copley (just excellent), Hannant, Gillett and Glenn, Kennedy in small patches, Thaiday who has a new lease of life, even Maranta, who seriously surprised me.

But my point is that we won on the back of good individual performances. We were mostly playing as a team of individuals, rather than as an organized, well oiled machine, which then also gives every player the chance to shine, but as part of a team, not just great individual play.

At the same time, the tries we scored and nearly scored were well set up, but for mine, it was the exception and not the rule, or we would have won by 20+

We made the Dogs look so much better than they were, especially letting their halves have so much space to create plays.

And man, do I DETEST Ennis.

Damn I hope we get a new 6 next game and Hunt pulls out his fingers, and Hook puts in some creativity in the middle.

PS

I thought Hannant was easily our best prop, posters here have largely underrated Gillett's strong running game and great defence - although he is still being wasted in this so called "game plan". Last year, he was excellent on the edges and out wide which is where he should be more than he was tonight.

Copley was a revelation. I think Reed has got problems when Hodges returns, unless Hodges plays 6 which perhaps unfortunately, is unlikely.

 

[Unbreakable]

Yeah you're over by 35 minutes. It's not that easy to find minutes for Lowrie and Wallace when you have much better big-minute players ahead of them.

I didn't see the second half because of work, so I'm guessing Hunt was pretty bad in the second forty because in the first half I actually thought he looked pretty decent (not spectacular, but far from terrible).

In that case..

McCullough - 80
Parker - 80
Glenn - 60
Gillett - 60
McGuire - 50
Thaiday - 50
Hannant - 40
Kennedy - 30
Lowrie - 20
J.Wallace - 10

Maybe something close to that.

 

[Ari Gold]

Given how hard a time everyone seems to have finding minutes for both Lowrie and Wallace, and given Griffin obviously does too, I think we are missing a trick by playing both. Take a book at of some Origins gone by and put on a super impact player like Chris Walker or Matt Bowen etc. It will give us something to attack tiring defences with and can be useful if we are chasing the game. It could be Nikorima or Strasser or maybe some other attacking young talent we have somewhere (I'm not really too up on who we have in NYC). Regardless of who it is, surely it's a better combination than splitting bench forward game time (35mins) between two bench forwards.

 

[Jeba]

Glenn - bdidn't notice him much

WTF were you watching then?

 

[Allo]

Glenn had a huge game. It seems like he took every second hit up. He was always the player charging at the Dogs try line and being pulled short or held up (that was a total bomb moment btw. Should have iced the game there)

 

[Super Freak]

Glenn had a huge game. It seems like he took every second hit up. He was always the player charging at the Dogs try line and being pulled short or held up (that was a total bomb moment btw. Should have iced the game there)

I thought Glenn would have done enough homework on Perrett to know that he is an average defender. He should have ran over the top of him instead of stepping back in which allowed Reynolds to help Perrett out.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Glenn was brilliant. It did seem a lot like last year. Giving Kennedy 19 minutes is an absolute joke by the way.

 

[Super Freak]

In case anyone missed the interview, here it is.

 

[88to2006Glorydays]

Good gutsy win.

Although Hunt confirmed what we all already knew. What ever Parra want us to pay for Sandow, we must do it. Sandow has half a clue at least. I didn't see one good kick from Hunt.

Vidot was awesome.

Maranta left me speechless

Defence was solid. Looked like they were playing for each other.

Kennedy bent the line a bit but needed to get more involved

When we are fully fit we need

1.Barba
2. Hoffman
3. Oates
4. Hodges
5. Reed/Maranta (if he can replicate his performance consistently)
6. Kahu
7. Sandow

That back line actually looks dangerous

 

[ningnangnong]

The Hoffman bagging is a bit tiresome TBH. I feel like a lot of folk are still a bit bitter about the whole off-season thing.

No, I don't think he's going to develop into a magical, wondrous five-eighth, but this was his first match in the role. If you've played the game, you'll know how different it is being thrown into a new position, especially when you're used to playing at fullback or on the wing.

Also, people must understand he is not going to be used as a traditional, ball-playing five-eighth, so stop judging him on that. It's been made clear by Hook that that isn't his job.

He'll improve with time and probably end up being a fairly solid, safe player there. I reckon it's only a temporary move anyway, so no point getting your knickers in a knot, let's just be patient.

If he's having no impact whatsoever in another three or four weeks, then by all means rip in.