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★★★★★
Whilst I agree this year has been a little tough with all the things you mention, I will say the top teams always find a way of winning. Melbourne and Panthers find away even if key players are out. It's built on a win at all cost mentality and culture. Something I'm afraid we've never had.
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This is the issue and the entire club is guilty of it. Not every individual but across the group, management, players and coaches have all dropped the ball this year. And when you add up all those poor decisions and missed opportunities you get this disastrous 2023 result. I just hope that in the post season analysis we don't hear that our problems were just bad luck with injuries and bounce of the ball etc. That would be even more disastrous.
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Good blog, Pops. Some great points & a good read.
Agree with EAM & Mutts.
Season from hell, yes, but hope that doesnt make it excuseable across the club. Demand perfection.
Been some positives for sure, our attack has improved a lot & hopefully that now gives this team an opportunity to spend the entire off-season learning a new defensive system & making it thier prime focus to become a top 2 defense in 2024.
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We took a massive punt with Hodgson replacing Mahoney. Admittedly I don't think he'd done his knee at the time we signed him but we badly needed some experience and inspiration from our hooker.
Hands has done a great job and will get better but in Arthur's own words he was never meant to be a starting 80 min hooker this year.
The importance of a quality hooker- particularly in defence can't be underestimated. Mitch Kenny has been brilliant for Penrith this year and they looked a very different defensive unit on Thursday without him. Wade Egan has been great for the Warriors and Billy Walters has improved out of sight. Meanwhile Roosters poor form throughout the year has been heavily linked to Brandon Smith's performances in the 9.
Can Hands and Lussick work-who knows. Lussick tried his arse off on Friday night but he's not an 80 minute hooker and missed 7 tackles.
You cannot have one weak link/player in defence as you're guaranteed with the amount of analysis and video sessions being done that the opposition will work it out. It took Cronulla most of the year to work out Moylan was that weak link. Hodgson was our weak link in the early games and then it's been a turnstile down Sivo's side ever since he got suspended.Youre right re the edge defence improving. The weak middle was an unmatch-fit Hodgson which was exacerbated by the loss of Reg then having to play Hands for 80.
A full pre season as our main 9 for Hands combined with an opportunity for Matt Arthur at some stage next year will hopefully provide some more line speed and better defence in the middle next year
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Alfred, I think you summed it up pretty well. Yes Hodgson was a disaster, but an experiment worth trying, I agree that Lussick is has struggled but he was actually on the bench for his english team and I imagine he has no where near the residual fitness if he had been playing the season in Australia.
I also agree how Moran was the weak link at Cronulla and we have shown we can out do that with Asi, if BA doesn't realise that and picks him to play 5/8 outside Brown this week, then he has against demonstrated his greatest weakness i.e. stubborness. I thought he must have seen something in Davey we hadn't but that has proved as bad a move in hindsight as Hodgson. Lets hope that with the return of RCG this week that he moves Matto to 5/8, he will still play like a forward but more importantly he will defend like one, Asi is a waste of space and you cannot train a heart to get better, he won't make it, IMO.
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It makes me think Alfred and Poppa, had Hodgson not had surgery on his ACL last year would the result of been different? Or would he of still declined ?
I agree in the notion that I understood why they signed Hodgson, it didn't work those happen, but I understand as it was sort of slim pickings, yeah we could have went for Koroisau but also depends on what BA wanted in a hooker.
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You know LB it doesn't matter now, Hodgson is behind us and hopefully he will contribute to the coaching ranks.
We have to be careful about driving through the rearview mirror, we will make mistakes, but best to move on, Asi shapes as one, another season in Reserve Grade is all we can hope for or maybe another club picking him up. How many on here were clamouring to sign him after his first few games?, Cowboys were interested, he came from the Warriors, he is a card I would deal with when discussing options with managers over players they may have available.
There a quiet a few of these players I would happily throw into the pool, I am a trader by nature, I would be starting now and identifing the top 10 reserve grade players for this season and the ranks of Titans and Dolphins as some good players will be squeezed. Of course not leaving out the players that Bronco's just can't keep!
Nokoluma must be sick of the shit being kicked out of him at Wests, he would be handy anywhere.
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Alfred, every hooker misses tackles when they are isolated, and the Broncos are so quick through the middle that they isolate players better than anyone. Here's the missed tackle counts from hookers vs Brisbane this year:
R1 (Kenny+Luke): 6 missed tackles
R2 (Robson): 3
R3 (Mbye+Liddle): 5
R4 (Teague+Stone): 7
R5 (Koroisau+Simpkin): 2
R6 (Woolford+Starling): 3
R7 (Randall+Leeming): 3
R8 (Hodgson+Hands): 7
R9 (Cook): 6
R10 (Croker+Lawton): 5
R11 (Grant): 5
R12 (Kenny+Luke): 9
R13 (Lussick+Sironen): 5
R14 (Brailey): 5
R15 (Crossland): 8
R17 (Verrills): 4
R18 (Marshall-King): 5
R20 (Mahoney): 2
R21 (Cook+Havili): 3
R22 (Smith+Turpin): 4
R23 (Robson): 11
R24 (Lussick): 7
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Can I just make 2 points.
Roosters roster and they struggled all year.
Canberra got flogged on weekend and they had top 4 to play for.
We aren't the only team with this same problem.
We still have not improved and envoled our game at all. Our defence has not improved and still we play same system.
The last month we have been cooked and have looked very fatigued and lacked intensity.
Our team looked disinterested when we had everything to play for.
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The examples you site are very true Barraboy, but this competition is much more even, after the first two sides, i.e. Brisbane and Penrith.....Melbourne have come back on the scene but I would not back them to beat either of the two ahead of them.
What has become interesting is that up untill the last couple of weeks no team could have been certain of beating any other....take away the first two.
i.e. Saints,Dolphins, even Wests could pull off surprises and of course we have seen the Knights come through....the dissappoinments are Easts, Parra, Souths and now Canberra (who I always thought were overated). Dogs fit in there somewhere?
There is no reason to think any of those teams will not be contenders for the 8 next year. Its not a giant fall from the top to the bottom, look where Brisbane were last year as a comparison......admittadly, they have the cattle......the Cattle will be Parra's problem going forward......that's why the review and the board are imperative requirements to get us moving.
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More stuff to read
"Yes. I'm happy with Ctrl + Alt + Del at this stage."
"Yes and if they have those clauses F. them off to and the dip shit who aloud such a clause should be sent packing to."
"Analyst you're the one making the claim about clauses. You know this how?"
"hearing you loud and clear too P.T the blue and gold never leave the viens, especially after those days. "
It seems we are again right at the point of criticising the side at every level.
Everyone wants to blame the coach R&R and nobody wants to accept we have just had the season from hell, culminating with Moses injury.
You could not write worse scenarios in the total scheme of things. We showed we had remarkable forward backups during the mid season renaissance but we could not anticipate the derogation of Dunster, Waka, and Sivo in our backline. The players we lost last year we knew for 12 months ago they were going and Papallili and Mahoney have hardly set anything on fire and Nikore was always going home. Origin Kafusi went backwards at the Sharks and Ray Stone who went to Dolphins took an opportunity.
So losing players is not a rationale for our season from hell, the unforeseen injuries, suspensions and disiplinary actions were the real problem by the end of the season. The draw, the origin process and the the bye structures made it nigh impossible when all put together.
Our for and against record was shaping better than it had been for years and our attack was better, Barrett seemingly responsible was a big improvement and I am loving the new reference to our defence systems!
Until BA mentioned it the other day that ASI was more familiar with our systems and thus kept his place over AMS.....I dont think anyone talked about systems until then it was more of just disappointingly bad.
My view is that we had improved our edge defence but for some reason we became very unstable in the middle and on our line.....note for next season....big watch.
The other aspect is we need to buy a definitive attacking winger i.e. Corey Oates style, a centre with speed and or an experienced defensive centre i.e. Gilgai type experience. Maybe even an offer to a Wade Graham style of player with lower levels of expectation of playing every week. i.e. he is the type to cover 5/8 and centre and add a steel of experienced, I know he just retired but with the right role he is the type of experience we dont have when say Moses or Brown are out....maybe he is not a good example but there are older experienced players out there that could work with a lower workload and adjust if necessary. Foran does it for the Gold Coast and hardly trains during the week.
We should be raiding the minor grade's looking for a couple of strong utilties and pay overs for them, picking the eyes on a bargain basement ain't gunna work.....there are some more Hopgood style of players in the Penrith and Broncos backups, both Gold Coast and Dolphins picked up outstanding players that had gone through those systems and benefited greatly by them.
Talent scouting is an art form and we need to look differently at this process, if O'Neill is to blame for this I honestly don't know and I dont believe anyone else here knows what happens there! The review again is the answer to that. I have the impression that BA and O'Neill work closely and cooperatively as well.
I think our board needs a spokesperson to keep a higher level of comunication with all media and fans as appears that is not one of the strengths of the incumbent CEO, who know 's what his strengths actually are as again we just would not know. Gurr most certainly kept a higher profile.
Lastly and importantly we need the board to go to another level in moving towards innovation and understanding we are not competitive enough in the market place, retention and recruitment, the incumbents in that process are definitely budget driven and we have to be smarter in this area. The review process needs to address this to give the board an understanding and their responsibilties are not just attending monthly meetings and that total quality management goes from the top down to the ground level.. i.e. Muttman's comment of " Quality" through out the system. We probably have all had to deal with TQM in our respective careers and nothing should be different in that perspective in the whole club, including the juniors and pathways.
Now none of my comments have mentioned the coach, he could not have done much more this year, so blaming him for events over the past two months has no application in turning the place upside down. Lets focus on getting the process and roster right.
Realism is that 4 more wins which were achievable would have us in the 4, the other thing we need to manage to is that teams like Broncos will only be stronger next year as will the dogs and some of the others that for some reason or another didn't have a great year.
This is not a case for maintaining but going to another level.