POST GAME 2023 NRL Grand Final - Penrith vs Brisbane

[Ejbroncos]

We are far from done..

Most ppl said we would need to be perfect to be in with a chance,
We were anything but that..
11-1 errors
Completing at near 50% in the first 30 minutes..

Despite all that we got out to a 18 point lead... against what's now being called the greatest team of the modern era..

Herbie n flegler are decent losses but they are far from irreplaceable,
The core group walsh carrigan hass staggs cobbo riki mamm are all still all improving in leaps n bounds..

Reynolds didn't have his greatest game but overall he still looks like he will easily be a top 5 HB next year..

This isn't a team about to plateau its a side that's just getting started.

This time next year we will be at a lvl we'll above what we showed tonight.

Good season. Hard loss to take but we move on.

Could say the same about 2015. Had two young halves in Milford and Hunt coming through and we folded for 8 years after that loss

 

[Ejbroncos]

This is my biggest concern.
I want to know what the club's plan is post Reynolds?
Do they have an eye on an up and coming talent to transition into the No.7 jersey?

We almost won a GF last night with Reynolds doing absolutely nothing that he was brought in to do so I think we’ll be ok.

 

[Mick_Hancock]

It’s incredible. How can one feel so much joy (for the way we carried ourselves this year) and so emptiness (the last 5 minutes of the GF)….
CAN’T WAIT FOR 2024!!!

 

[Bronx48]

We almost won a GF last night with Reynolds doing absolutely nothing that he was brought in to do so I think we’ll be ok.

Just an odd game from Reynolds. He looked the most nervous out of all the boys. I knew the younger boys would be overwhelmed by the GF so I said Reynolds really needs to use his experience and leadership to help steer them and he did the exact opposite. He had an absolute shocker that really put so much pressure on the boys

 

[Mick_Hancock]

EVERYONE!!!
Just saw this.

As above
Please remember, nothing changes! Except The Broncos are back bigger and stronger next year!

 

[Dolphin]

I didn't sleep a wink last night after that. I'm immensely proud of our team but at the end of the day, we were just another also ran who tried to break the Panther's dynasty in 2023. No one remembers who came second.
My mantra is always that you HAVE to win a premiership in a year when the football gods are kind and give you a (relatively) injury free season and when everything else clicks.
There are no guarantees next year that we can climb the mountain again so I'm just devastated that we let a premiership slip last night.
It really hurts too that Herbie and Flegler are gone. I sat through every Under 20s game and watched those 2 young men develop. I haven't always been their biggest fan but it riles me to think that another team is going to get them just as they hit their prime. I'm not confident we can be a stronger team next year without them.
A lot of negative thoughts this morning but I'll pay my money for season tickets and be there again next year.

You can defect to our side and still follow Herbie and Flegler.

Was one of the great all time chokes for sure. Even in the first half when it looked like Penrith were controlling field position so well, I thought your blokes looked the better team.

I wonder how they'll come back next year. One thing for certain, the Dolphins are going to be much stronger.

 

[Nerd]

I won't be calling this a young inexperienced side anymore. A lot of the young players have now played in a GF and are around the 50 game or more mark. Hopefully with this level of experience the coach killing errors start to disappear from our game.

On Herbie, Flegs and Palasia leaving. We have Jensen to replace Palasia, I was more pissed at Herbie leaving than Flegs but now that Flegs seem to have got the silly penalties and mistakes out of his game I fear that we have just trained up a good prop for Redcliffe to exploit.

On Herbie my opinion is that he is a winger playing in the centres. He won't or can't pass and while he will go on to score many more individual tries he blows nearly as many by being unable to set up his winger. Mariner probably will never have the line breaking ability of Herbie but in the small amount of games I've seen him play he can position his outside men for a try.

Saying that my biggest concern is Reynolds. Unlike Penrith who had some young halves come through which has and will carry them for a few seasons yet we have an ageing half who has got us to where we are from the spoon years but a player father time is catching up with very quickly. I hope I'm wrong and Reyno can go until 2025 but I think we should start sharing the kicking of Reyno around. The only way to learn a kicking game in the NRL is to do some of the kicking and I think Ezra needs to start taking some of the last tackle kicks and gain some experience in case Reyno goes down.

Anyway heads up. We still got to break the hoodoo and belt the Storm and even though this hurts the glow I got from smashing the Storm will stay with me through the off season.

 

[Mitchell_Broncos]

felt like dejavu last night from 8 years ago, really thought we had it 24 -8 up how just how. So broken today and makes me even more broken seeing some of the boys cry like Ezra… hopefully we come back bigger and stronger. Who’s going to be our half back when Reynolds leaves?? Or are we going to have to wait for ages to find another good halfback that can steer us to another GF.

 

[Volvo Driver]

I knew we weren’t safe when we hit 24, we had a period there where we looked good but it was only brief, Penrith we’re all over us, every set we had to start was on our own line. When they scored their first try of the second half I knew we were gonna lose, could feel the collapse coming. All those dumb errors and lack of leadership, no kicking game, retarded dropouts all came back to bite them. Even if we held out I think Penrith were the better side for the night, scoreline flattered us.

I knew not to count our chickens before they hatch after they came back against the Storm in '20(they still lost though) but we had their measure until that fateful pass that went to ground. Even then we seemed in control until that horrible missed tackle from Capewell on Cleary. How did they have a front row forward running in support and we had no one?

After that it was a comedy of errors and some Cleary brilliance. Carrigan got hit high and dropped the ball. Heard the ref say "accidental" but Carrigan was visibly shook and though it should have been a penalty.

What I'm most disappointed with is Reynold's performance. He didn't miss the tackles that counted but his decisions put us under immense pressure, resulting in points. Those line dropouts. Jesus. Still the best signing we've had and he's a big part of why we made it to the GF but last night wasn't his best.

 

[mrslong]

I think it was just the fatigue from defending the errors in the first half. I actually thought they all played well mostly.

They were fatigued from the first half BECAUSE they were monstered convincingly. JFH and Moses completely destroyed us.

 

[Sproj]

Ivan Cleary was glowing about us in the presser, says it is scary where we will be next year. He said they were having nightmares trying to contain us even in the first half. He said we were an absolute handful and had his side gassed more than he can remember.

This sort of stuff needs to be shown to the boys because while we probably overachieved this year, next year we very much have the cattle to go one game further.

My biggest concern is how much this stupid Vegas trip will take out of us with all that travel.

 

[Nerd]

Critter is a big loss for them and will definitely bring them back to the field a bit next year.

 

[mrslong]

It’s the hope that really kills you

 

[Culhwch]

It’s the hope that really kills you

But it's what keeps us coming back.

 

[Ejbroncos]

Critter is a big loss for them and will definitely bring them back to the field a bit next year.

lol Korisau and Kikau were more influential than Critta and they won without them. As long Cleary’s there, they aint losing

 

[winslow_wong]

My 6 yr old woke up this morning and asked if we had won. I said we didn’t but got close. He then said it’s ok, we’ll go for it again next year. I didn’t have this in 2015 so everything is going to be great.

 

[ChewThePhatt]

Waking up today can get fucked.

I'll try again tomorrow.


.

 

[Culhwch]

My 6 yr old woke up this morning and asked if we had won. I said we didn’t but got close. He then said it’s ok, we’ll go for it again next year. I didn’t have this in 2015 so everything is going to be great.