Team Review: (6/10)
- Clinton Gutherson (8/10)
- A bit clunky in attack but only round 1. Based on last year, his attack is something not to worry about.
- Good Captains Knock. Covered field position in the back very well and made a couple of good try savers.
- Maika Sivo (6.5/10)
- His runs from out the back were quite impressive however he could do it more regularly.
- Defensively, work needs to be done. Whether this is Sivo’s poor defense or Brad Arthur’s defensive systems, there is a problem as he gets caught in field too regularly. As a result, cut out passes, double pumps, or kicks over the tops will cause problem, evidently shown and exploited by the Broncos tonight.
- Tom Opacic (7)
- His attack was pretty solid. He runs very good lines and cuts back inside very well. However, never seen him link up with Sivo at all. Combination in progress.
- His defensive was very solid. Looks that he will be able to emulate Jennings defensive skills.
- Waqa Blake (6)
- Provided some good runs from dummy half.
- Good try saver on Brodie Croft. Still has to work on his defense a lot. Him and Fergo look like they do not communicate with each other at all. Blake will come in and Fergo will slide, or vice versa.
- Blake Ferguson (6.5)
- More involved from the back in the field. Had a great finish. Was too ambitious when he got taken over the touch line.
- His defense is still poor. His communication with Blake is horrible as written above. A lot of work to do. The first try he not only made the wrong defensive decision, but he took out Blake who was in cover defense, and Mead went straight throw that gap.
- Dylan Brown (6.5)
- A horrible game in attack. Dropped the ball a lot an never provided much threat with the ball other than a couple runs.
- Great defense as usual. A couple try savers. However, as a five-eight he needs to get his attacking game better.
- Mitchell Moses (7.5)
- Both the halves were quite clunky tonight. He is running onto the ball faster but is still not straightening the attack. I thought his kicking game, especially at the end of the game was good. Needs to be consistent now, in his game managing role.
- Was pretty solid in defense. Expect a couple of missed tackles from a half.
- Regan Campbell – Gillard (7)
- Played less minutes than I thought he would. Perhaps due to Papali’I great performance in the middle. Some good carries but nothing spectacular
- Defended well.
- Reed Mahoney (9)
- His first half was quite poor. Decided to run the ball rather than pass to Moses when there was a massive overlap. However, in the second half he changed the game. Ran more from dummy half and also from offloads. Couple of good kicks as well. Now he just needs to do this consistently and finally show he provides the spark needed from dummy half
- Great effort in defense. Made 53 tackles and did not miss one.
- Junior Paulo (8.5)
- Has such good footwork. I don’t know how he got that line-break. Good powerful run to crash over for his try. He is well and truly a premier forward in our game. Probably only thing missing was his great offloading ability. Played big minutes as well.
- Missed a few tackles in defense but was still pretty good.
- Shaun Lane (4)
- Once he was benched, he never came back on. Dropped the ball too many times. Got a bit better as the game went on, but he put Eels under so much pressure early on. He will be fighting to keep his spot in the team with Papali’I form and the eventual return of Cartwright and Niukore.
- Defense was alrigth.
- Ryan Matterson (7)
- Alright in attack tonight. Not many damaging runs except the offload that led to Paulo’s try
- Pretty good in defense
- Nathan Brown (7)
- Good workhorse. I must say that he passed the ball much less than he did last year. Also, he runs from the back fence, but often gets buckled as he wrong foots himself and barely makes much post contact meters.
- Brought line speed and went for big hits. Great effort but needs to try actually hit and stick.
- Oregon Kaufusi (6.5)
- Pretty impressive. Slowly getting more minutes it looks like. Did nothing spectacular in attack or defense but did nothing wrong. Provided plenty of meters.
- Isaiah Papali’I (9)
- Provided so many meters from the defense, and good post contact meters. Looks to be a great signing. Will be pushing Lane for his starting role on the edge. The only thing that will stop that is how good he did in the middle.
- Good in defense.
- Keegan Hipgrave (5)
- Not a fan of him, but he did his job in his limited time.
- Will Smith (5)
- Not enough time to make a great deal of impact. Though pushed hard to force the line drop out near the end of the game.
Overall Peformance Review:
A horrible first half performance. We were completing at 56% at half time. This is not the coach’s fault. I don’t know if it was nerves or rustiness, but it cannot become a routine. We cannot afford a slow start next week against the Storm, because look what happened to the Bunnies. Defensively our edges our still bad. Opacic was solid however, Sivo is too compressed and gets caught in field to much. This would easily be exploited by Munster who is one of the best players of eyes up footy. However, their combination together defending looked better than Blake and Fergo despite them playing together for over a year. Communication between Blake and Fergo needs to rapidly improve, and they need to work together. Either slide together or come in together. Not Fergo coming in a few seconds after Blake or one of them sliding while the other comes in.
Our attack got better in the second half. Our halves still a lot to work on in attack. Our tries were sparked by our hooker who had a MOM performance and is finally producing some good spark for dummy half. He just needs to do it consistently now. Brown never had a good night in attack as he dropped the ball a lot, and he also never straightened the attack. Moses hit the ball at good speed but still never straightened up or produced anything special. A work in progress but a win in round one is all important.
Replies
Mostly fair opinions.
We play far too compressed in defence. Youre right, if we keep the line that tight on Thursday the Foxx is absolutely going to burn Fergy on the outside a few times. Can BA and Kidwell fix this between them? I highly doubt it as they didnt all of last season or over the off season. Fergy has been making horrible decisions for a while now.. he rarely did at Roosters. Its something the coaches shouldve fixed.
Yeah but what about the jerseys??
Yuck at best. Why also have they gone back to that deep gold colour? I think the first half being bland and poor is reflected in the jerseys.
Great analysis mate
He was good in his first season and we were all happy with him. He seems a reserve grade player now. He needs to pull his finger out and contribute.
Basically a continuation of everything good and bad from 2020.
I can't believe the edge Defense hasn't improved after a full off season. Blake and Sivo in particular. Waqa leaves Fergo posted every time by rushing in and Sivo needs a compass to help direct him to stay on the sideline.
I like Brad Arthur a lot as bloke and a coach, but those frailties are 100% on the coach after a full off season to fix it.
I think we will be in a position to keep the power forwards fresher this year with the reserves playing regularly and having more options. Papaali'i was incredible. Amazing to have a bench forward who can keep up the momentum the starting middles provide. Lane needs to go. Genuinely offers nothing. Materson also needs a rev up - both those blokes played in dinner suits last night. Not good enough.
Good analysis however I would say those numbers were for the 2nd half only, our edge defence was poor again, this broncos out was also missing Haas and Stags probably two of their best, I am so happy we fought back and won but geeeez, that first half was so so bad, bottom 4 behaviour even, but they snapped out of it and got the two points which adds up at the end of the season, game 1 last year was a slog against the dogs then we clicked so lets hope its the same this year! Also the jerseys and shorts are absolutely rubbish, not Parramatta style at all, the jersey change was a deadset thumbs down
I think everyone needs to stop saying we nearly lost to 'last year wooden spooners.' Stop living in the fricken past. We went from wooden spoons(2018) to 5th (2019). I am not saying Broncos are going to do that. I am just saying, its a new year so RESPECT the broncos and stop giving them a poor reputation. Looking at their squad last year, there was a lot of talent in the squad (top 8 worthy) but they just didn't have the right attitute. So this year, with similar talent and a better attitute they could do much better. So realistically we could of been versing a decent 2021 NRL side. I do understand that they had Staggs and Haas injured, and 1 bench player for some of the game, but just be happy we actually knew how to take advantage of it by kicking early to make their fowards continuosly run. It's only round.
Any analysis has to have two halves for it to be accurate. For brevity's sake let's write off the first half as an abherration .... for now.
So my 2nd half analysis
1) Gutho .... 9/10. Watching it live gives you an appreciation just how much ground he covers, how he backs off and waits for support when the opposition makes a break, how he is constantly communicating with the front line. His one weakness is his decision making on the sweep, he still looks a bit frenetic. I'd be watching footage of Darius Boyd at his best and how he ran the sweep.
2) Sivo ... 7/10 .. Definitely leaner & more explosive than last year. His runs out of the back field were degrees better than last year. Defensively he's a WIP.
3) Opacic ... 7/10 .. Nervous first half, but came into his own in the 2nd half, his effort to be there just in case to save the JakeTurpin try was outstanding. Looks like an incisive hole runner as well. Rock solid defensively.
4) Waqa Blake ... 6.5/10 ... Still waiting to see him in full flight in space, however it appears BA intends to use him largely as a lead running decoy more often then not. His gravity pulled in 3 defenders that gave Fergo the space to score his try. Still a little skittish in defence, but getting better.
5) Fergo ... 7.5/10 ... Back to close the best of Fergo, whether it be coming out of the back field or finishing a try movement. His ability to constantly get his shoulders through the defensive line when coming out of the back field is unparalelled, almost never getting turtled.
6) Dylan Brown ... 6.5/10 ... A couple of dropped balls soured an otherwise solid offensive performance, liked that he took on the line a bit more, his kicking game was solid, got a bit of luck for Gutho's try, but importantly was pushing up in support of Junior. Defensively, he might be the defensive half the league has seen since Joey. Flawless, and while ever that is the case his position is safe.
7) Mitch Moses ... 7.5/10 ... Got better & straighter as the game wore on. Still goes sideways too often, still fires his passes a little too hard for his runners, but will get better. His long kicking game was hampered by being on the left hand side with his kicking leg exposed to the kick pressure, but his tactical kicking got better and better. Will never be a defensive stud, but he puts his shoulder in now and doesn't shirk his work.
8) Junior Paulo ... 8.5/10 ... Obviously biased, but IMO he is the premier middle forward in the game now. In the 1st half he seemed to be thinking pass first, but in the 2nd half he just started kicking off the back fence and bending the line which in turn led to more, and better, offloading opportunites, including the absolute beauty that lead to Gutho's try. His effort to push up for the his own try after playing 60 minutes for the big fella was incredible.
BTW, the line break, was pure footwork, from such a big man was breathtaking. I happen to see it directly in my line of sight at the ground, he left the Broncos defender grasping at straws.
9) Reed Mahoney ... 9/10 ... He won't get the kind of space against the Storm like what he got last night, but it's clear that the game is slowing down for him now, he is confident in his skills and his command of his forwards, now he is playing with his eyes & hands much more than previously. His kicking game was outstanding.
10) RCG ... 7/10 ... Does what he does, eats metres, makes tackles.
11) Lane ... 6.5/10 ... 1st half criticisms very much deserved, but his 2nd half was better. He's a strange beast. When attacking the red zone, he is unquestionably a tremendous weapon to attack on the edges, but outside of that he appears better suited to the more simple role of middle forward battering ram.
12) Matterson ... 6.5/10 ... He seems to be the one guy who has geniunely benefited from the switch of sides, he looked more imposing either coming infield of the left foot or playing to his outside men. Deft kick down the very short side late in the game to pin the Broncos in the corner was a nice touch.
13) Nathan Brown ... 7/10 ... Not as spectacular as he often can be, but a bit more disciplined. Not sure if I like this calmer version of Brownie, I'll reserve judgement. Still got through a mountain of work as usual. An integral part of our power game.
14) Oregon Kaufusi ... 7.5/10 ... Was overshadowed by Papa, but based on that performance he appears to have taken a giant step forward this season. Looks stronger, particularly in the legs, regularly pulled through would be Broncos tacklers. Easy to forget that, like a lot of fringe players league wide, he basically hasn't played for about 18 months. Big year for him, but consistent playing time should be the key to unlock his potential.
15) Papa ... 9.5/10 ... What were the Warriors thinking ?
16) Hipgrave ... 6/10 ... Limited opportunities, but looks like he'll be able to do a job when called upon.
17) Will Smith ... 5/10 ... Played just 3 minutes, but came up with a huge tackle to pin Jamayne Isaako in the in goal off a pin point Mitch Moses kick. Will is going to have to take his chances with both hands this year, I get the impression that BA is going to shorten his rotation down to at least 16, if not 15 men.
Summary ... Tougher tests await, starting with the defending premiers this week, but I've seen enough to comfortably say that at worst we will be as good as last year. But then we pretty much knew that already, didn't we ?
What is clear is that we are built to play the power & offloading game, and when stick to what we are good at, we can beat anybody. Even our halves are best at running the ball, pulling through tackles and getting quick play the balls.
That is our template, for better or worse.
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