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For the second game running the Parramatta Eels rattled the cages of their highly touted opposition. Brad Arthur and his troops had the Broncos well and truly on the backfoot with an aggressive game plan that picked apart Brisbane’s edges. Alas, as with the loss to Manly…a string of individual lapses proved costly as the Broncos ran out 30-14 victors.
Sixties and Forty20 put on the snorkels and dive into the breakdown of a thoroughly entertaining, if frustrating, result that saw plenty of players deliver positive performances. Dylan Brown, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and J’maine Hopgood stood up among the senior players while all eyes were glued on rookie sensation Blaize Talagi as he put an early error behind him to electrify the crowd.
I appreciate the team turned up last night, and the effort was there. There were certainly good signs, desptie the fumbled passes on previously good looking attacking sets which gave up 2 tries, and also missed a couple for us.
However, Broncos never really got out of 2nd gear and still managed to beat us by 14 points.
Objectively for mine, as much as I would like to think we have the potential, this demonstrates we are just not in the mix this year, despite how excited I was on this before the Round 1 kick off.
I reckon this is pretty much spot on.
Appreciate the optimism in the pod. I’m not sure I feel it though. If as a club we were coming out of a period of dominance and a title or 2, and sitting in a limbo period with players heading into twilight and new guns only starting to show some potential, I could get on board with “effort” being an acceptable benchmark. But that’s not where we are.
2024 is a write off. So I’d be in favour of playing the squad into some 2025 form. That may mean Talagi at 1 for the rest of the season, and an extended rest for Gutho with a return into the centres in due course. Ditto maybe for Morretti, Guymer and Matt Arthur. Let them come in, make mistakes, learn and be good to go for 2025.
Your point for next week re leaving Russell at centre is an interesting one. I kinda get that, but surely with Lomax coming in next year, he has to shift back to wing? Particularly if 1 is going to be occupied by Gutho or Talagi.
Similarly off the field the sole objective should be to move some players on who are not cutting it, or are too similar (ie big slow and ageing) and recruiting aggressively. The realist in me thinks 2025 will be a bit of a rebuild, with 2026 the next earliest opportunity to genuinely compete. Plus, employ the bloke from the Rugby League Eye Test to guide them with some quality stats and run scenario analysis.
the attack was woeful
Agree Sivo should be dropped. He contributes zero to workload and his defensive reads are an abomination.
Im an advocate for Zac Cini to be given an opportunity. Playing both Centre and Fullback this season he has averaged 137 meters and 50 pcm’s each week. Sure his D is suspect but it cant be worse than Sivo. Cini also has speed. Give the guy a chance Brad.
I totally agree with you about cini and he also brings enthusiasm which can be contagious
Bottom line we lost by 16 points.
Someone said if Moses played we win this game. But what about Reynolds?
Broncos showed pace wins – we are too slow.
We had an extra week to prepare for this game. I think that helped.
Tulagi not playing fullback in cup is an indictment on the club. Everyone knew Gutho was injured. Just really really poor management from the club.
Keep Tulagi at 1 and Gutho to 4. 220m and 20 carries is what we should get from our fullback. Gutho probably cannot do that.
Lane better stats but he’s not an 80min player! Need to sign an dynamic edge back rower asap. If anything I can understand Matto 80 minutes but Not Lane. Is Lane better in middle? I doubt it.
Sivo let’s in as many tries. Out of position on set plays and in defence?? How? Put Russell on wing and Harper in 4 slim pickings
Paulo – what’s happening here? Injured?
Re-sign Simmonson now he’s best we have as a winger that can cover centre.
Sanders was good – Raiders will thank Parra. It proves BA was wrong for not selecting him at the outset. Just stubbornness and short sighted.
Last time we played Storm in magic round it was putrid.
Good review as usual and not as damning as some given the team overall were better than the opposition in a lot of areas.
Certainly you picked out some players that are lucky on our depth situation, but Lussick was ordinary again, and apart from his first 40 minutes of tackling, his distribution is not that good and he should have been hauled off after his kicking from inside the 30 on 2 occasions which gave possession back to the Broncos which they took advantage of given where they started.
The fear before the game was pace and speed, and boy didn’t that come to haunt us, 2 intercept 60/70 metres tries and a special elite speed down our left edge where we couldn’t foot it with Mariner.
The elephant in the room remains recruitment. Simmonson still unsigned , Talagi should have had his contract extended prior to the one of too many options expiring that we have in the club. That wouldn’t happen at our peers, that would have been sorted prior to expiration.
We can’t go into 2025 without more recruits, not journeyman, but actual close to elite players.with speed . For instance we took advantage of drops and just couldn’t go more than 30 metres before being run down where the Broncos went and scored from inside their own half. That’s happening far too often and hasn’t been addressed over the past 2 seasons.
Until we get our recruitment at the same level as other teams, we will continue to battle in and around the bottom of the 8, not good enough for a club our size. Action is needed in our administration, coaching and it’s time to realise being stable isn’t working.
Tks guys. What are the rules with the Mam/Simmonsen thing? Mam changed course and slowed down in front of Simmonsen who faltered for one or two strides. If Mam had made it look like he was accelerating to support Walsh to his left then no probs but he slowed down right behind Walsh’s back, which made it look more like obstruction. Not whingeing, just curious. Simmonsen didn’t object much but he was probably gassed.
I meant to also mention the Broncs kicking game. Really measured. Allows them to harass the catcher and compete for the ball. Rikki and Mam are the most consistent chasers in NRL(both young blokes).They switched to going for distance in last 5-10 minutes.
Fine line of running in support vs obstructing. I remember Neville Glover being penalised for that by Hartley at Leichhardt Oval (a lifetime ago).
The result is conflicting. We tried hard and dominated the middle but also had some real dumb moments. The concerning thing is that we continue to 1) leak points from field positions that we should not and 2) struggle to score (that left side was putrid). The rugby league eye test makes the point re our pathetic edge defence point quite plain but some of the things i continue to see are so frustrating (eg Maika and russel being 20 metres in field for mariner try and no one inside sliding – spacing is so off at times).
Some bright moments but trying hard isn’t good enough – in fact against the good teams it shows how off we are.
Part of our struggles in attack are a direct result of Lussick – poor service and no engaging of markers. Easy for opposition to number up when hooker is no threat. I think Arthur has to be debuted very soon as we need something from dummy half. We can’t keep playing with a net negative at hooker and resorting to predictable sweep plays. I’ve said elsewhere that this has to be it for sivo and lane. Bring Morgan to left centre, Russell to left wing, matto to left backrow, Bryce to right backrow, makatoa out
Agree mate my main hope is giving Arthur his debut at hooker at least it gives us time to find another if he doesn’t shape up.but from all reports he’s a goer just hope Brad isn’t afraid to use him because of backlash
From what I’ve watched of Matt – he is the real deal. He is killing nsw cup and has killed juniors. We need to protect him in grade when he debuts as it might take him half a season to really get used to the big boys when he is defending but that’s part of being a young hooker in grade
He is the real deal. From the training track to match days. No matter what grade he plays. I think back to a moment I saw in a 14s development squad game. He was the youngest and smallest on the field in a game against Wests at Liverpool. He barely came up to the chest of this big forward, but he chopped him in half on his own in the tackle. He isn’t just skilful, he’s ridiculously tough. I spoke to him after a Matts game a couple of years ago. I think it was a match against the Steelers at Kellyville. He was the target of their aggressive play but didn’t take a backward step, in fact he was getting back in their faces, which fired up his team. I commented to him about the game firing up big time. He just said “loved it!”
Thanks for your efforts boys, I appreciate the longer episode.
Certainly a very upbeat but measured episode considering our season is on life support and we lost.
The effort was there so why am I guttered.
I guess our defifiances are showcased more so when poor performances cannot be used as an excuse for a loss.
Blaize, his performance was bitter sweet, if he wasn’t on display in a front window under lights before, well he certainly is now. He didn’t miraculously appear at the club yesterday, he’s been recognised as an elite talent for a number of years and remains unsigned. We’ve tabled a three year offer, why would he sign now, he’s got the next month to impress Politis, Crowe and Fletcher. If we do sign Blaize it will be because the kid is loyal, not because the club is clever.
Sivo, he’s still our weakest link, and Simonnson is all heart but lacks polish as Forties pointed out. We need two first flight wingers but looking at available talent coming off contract, well there is none so baring a miracle, expect our 2025 squad to again lack NRL quality and speed on the flanks.
B&G mentioned Cini, why the hell not? For the same reasons B&G pointed out.
Cleary’s injury, just what we needed. I am selfish, I don’t want Moses to play Origin, we need him.
Munster, any Parra fans in Melbourne willing to slip him.a bad 🦐?
“When poor performances cannot be used as an excuse for a loss”. A sobering observation Joseph.
I really enjoyed this podcast as I didn’t know what to expect after the grades were posted. I wasn’t upset about the loss and the score didn’t reflect the game overall. The majority of the team played for 80 minutes, and it was great to see the confidence Blaize and Ethan had when they ran the ball.
Sivo should be dropped to Ron Massey and Lane to reserve grade!!
I noticed Eels #846 and #847 on the field for warm up too and I would love Guymer be added on the bench against Melbourne next week. MA needs to make his debut when either Gutho or Mitch are back (Round 13?). He would also be a great addition alongside Sanders during SOO as it is becoming more likely that Mitch will be selected afterall.
I know this is crazy, but I would have been happy if they threw Ethyn Martin on the wing on Friday. He is a smart defender on the edge and wouldn’t have made the same defensive errors as Sivo. He would have also got more PCM in one run than Sivo had for the entire game. Not to mention that it would have added some speed on the field which is something we desperately lack. I don’t understand why we have been playing him as a fullback in RM, I’m looking forward to watching him play in Cup back on the wing against the Bears.
Fingers crossed that Carty is back to full fitness next week as we are desperate for some spark from our edge forwards.
Finally, Dylan needs to keep playing the same style of footy when Mitch is back. We are finally starting to see the real Dyl play, the player we know he can be. Everyone can criticise him for not playing a traditional halfback role, but did we really want him to switch to that? He has been our best player every week and our points differential would look much worse without him.
Cheers Riverside. It’s important to strike a balance of never being happy about a loss, whilst also acknowledging some positives. I reckon Dylan has added significantly to his game in Mitch’s absence – not that every supporter sees it that way.
Thanks for the production well into the night fellas. I appreciate your efforts.
A few points from your discussion:
Agree with your comments on Hopgood. I’ve been a bit disappointed in his games this year compared to 2023. Although to me he always seems to have a crack. Enjoyed his multiple dummies on Friday instead of the usual offloads. Mixing it up might make a few teams second guess what he is going to do. Your thoughts?
I enjoyed watching Blaize, yes he is very much a work in progress, but the good seemed to outweigh the bad and I thought this was his best game in firsts. Don’t get me started on the need to use the long studs in the wet. Unfortunately not many players seem to use the old screw ins these days to change studs but surely even the new moulded boots come with different length studs no? I’m also disappointed we haven’t already locked him away on a longer contract. Then again his manager seems to be using a very well worn, and tiresome, playbook. I have little respect for his methods and wonder if players best interests are always at play.
Not sure I 100% agree with your comments on RCG. Yes, his play was an improved on the last little while but still short of his best. Jokingly I told my son a few weeks back the worst thing Reg could have done was shave off the moustache. I reckon his form has faltered since. Is it a coincidence that it is on the improve as he grows it back?
Interesting your comments on the young blokes in the warm up. We are almost at that point where we are looking to next season, as you alluded to, so it will be fascinating to see how many, if any, more young blokes get a debut. I hope BA hasn’t been burnt to badly when he thinks about the next son off the rank.
While I found some positives out of Friday it still remains that the Broncos were not at their best yet still were good enough to capitalise on our mistakes and improve their for/against by 14 on a wet miserable night. Unfortunately The Courier Mail and assorted Broncos supporters have been carrying on a treat since here in Brisbane. It is unbearable.
Thanks again for the podcast. It was an entertaining listen as I prepared the Mother’s Day lunch for the family.
Sorry, that should be a 16 point improvement for the Broncos for and against. There is a reason I studied humanities 🙄.
Hey Namrebo. Really appreciate the detailed response and sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you – it’s been a hectic week. On Hopgood, I think he is impacted by that defensive load, but on reflection, I don’t mind him taking the run option rather than ball playing. After all, there are instances where we need to lighten the errors.
Don’t start me on the player agent. Addressing that is a priority.