2017 Brisbane Broncos Thread - we hate them for their freedom

ryno_ wrote:

Do you think TPJ and Ofa would be as good starting as opposed to coming in at 20min when the sting is out of the opposition starters? I think Blair is fine where he is - few less brain snaps would be good though. For somebody who is meant to be in the leadership circle, fuck me he does some stupid things.

MilfordTheMagician wrote:
TPJ and Ofa are only getting better. If Blair stays next year he should be playing from the bench.

Oh, they are totally getting better and I think Ofa has started a handful of games in the past - he's going to be a weapon up front. I feel TPJ is more suited to an impact role, even with another preseason under his belt.

Yeah, I got no time for Blair anymore really either... He's just too much of a liability. Don't get me wrong, I'm no hater like Pieman (but then he's just a Broncs hater in general) but what worries me is if something like the Macca incident or his sin binning offences (laying on the player too long etc) happen in an elimination final or the likes. That can make or break a teams chances.

He's an aggressive player that walks a very fine line between the wrong and right and has been that way for a looooong time, I just feel nowadays he tries a little bit too hard and that means that he's putting himself into a position where it can hurt us more than I'd like to see. I'd be more than happy to let him go and sign someone else to play alongside Korbin for those first 20-25mins and take the sting out. Just a no nonsense meter eater, without the kinda niggle streak that attracts the attention of refs.

Mearcats wrote:Yeah, I got no time for Blair anymore really either... He's just too much of a liability. Don't get me wrong, I'm no hater like Pieman (but then he's just a Broncs hater in general) but what worries me is if something like the Macca incident or his sin binning offences (laying on the player too long etc) happen in an elimination final or the likes. That can make or break a teams chances.

He's an aggressive player that walks a very fine line between the wrong and right and has been that way for a looooong time, I just feel nowadays he tries a little bit too hard and that means that he's putting himself into a position where it can hurt us more than I'd like to see. I'd be more than happy to let him go and sign someone else to play alongside Korbin for those first 20-25mins and take the sting out. Just a no nonsense meter eater, without the kinda niggle streak that attracts the attention of refs.

Where did I say I hate him? All I said, and quite correctly, is that he is a dirty player. I dont like the way he plays, I dont think he does any of the hard hit-up work that a decent front rower does, and I think that - as you accurately put it - he walks that fine line and IMO crosses it too much. He hasnt been a good player since his days at Melbourne IMO. That is far from hating a player. Eg, I fucking hate Mcguire (part of it is because he is a very very good player).

Where have I ever said I hate the broncos?

I actually quite like watching them (Milford, Gillet, Marshall and Roberts in particular), its just funny when certain fans cant handle criticism of their side or players in their side even when its warranted.

It's also fun stirring up one or 2 of the belter supporters that frequent the forum.

Pieman wrote:

Where did I say I hate him? All I said, and quite correctly, is that he is a dirty player. I dont like the way he plays, I dont think he does any of the hard hit-up work that a decent front rower does, and I think that - as you accurately put it - he walks that fine line and IMO crosses it too much. He hasnt been a good player since his days at Melbourne IMO.

Where have I ever said I hate the broncos?

I actually quite like watching them (Milford, Gillet, Marshall and Roberts in particular), its just funny when certain fans cant handle criticism of their side or players in their side even when its warranted.

It's also fun stirring up one or 2 of the belter supporters that frequent the forum.

Hahaha, generally not having anything good to say about a team or a player insinuates a dislike for them at bare minimum mate, so excuse my misconceptions an/or assumptions, just haven't ever seen anything positive said about em by you so figured that you were a hater.

I'd care less if you are or not TBH, I'm not that type of guy. Love my Broncs of course but have kinda moved past that one eyed passionate support like some people and am more interested/concerned about our game as a whole now days.

As for Blair, as I've already stated, he definitely walks that fine line and I'd agree, crosses it more often than I'd like to see as well but I can't agree with your analysis of being a dirty player. This doesn't mean I entirely disagree either tho. I think there is a difference between dirty players and competitors. People who genuinely got at 100mph into every little contest and this draws the ire of officials and spectators alike. Does he go after kickers? Yup, all the time. Is that part of our game and everyone does it. Yup, like it or not. Does that make him dirty? I don't think so. It certainly doesn't keep his nose clean either tho.

I'll give ya points for the fishing tho, by the responses one could assume your angling level is expert. I'm a bit of a bantz fan so that doesn't stress me.

Mearcats wrote:I'll give ya points for the fishing tho, by the responses one could assume your angling level is expert. I'm a bit of a bantz fan so that doesn't stress me.

Pieman is an expert at being the living embodiment of this picture:

surmo13 wrote:

Pieman is an expert at being the living embodiment of this picture:

Bahahaha, did you make this yourself Surmo? Cos if so I am nominating it in my end of year awards for sheer commitment to the cause!

Mearcats wrote:

Bahahaha, did you make this yourself Surmo? Cos if so I am nominating it in my end of year awards for sheer commitment to the cause!

unfortunately not, its a picture i've had saved on my computer for a while, knew i'd get good mileage out of it when i saw it because every forum has one.

Still gold, I too shall add it to my storage for keepsake and later date usage!

You guys are off your head. Look at the Broncos record without Adam Blair and then decide if he's not that valuable to the team.

I actually got a bit of a lol out of that pic myself. Pretty irrelevant to me considering everything I post in this thread is 100% accurate. It's far far too difficult to troll the intellectual powerhouses that are ozy and ryney tho, so why would I bother

Dip wrote: You guys are off your head. Look at the Broncos record without Adam Blair and then decide if he's not that valuable to the team.

I love him. Bennett basically came out last year and said that was the role he had been given. He obviously walks a fine line, and gets penalized a fair bit. Now, if he wasn't being asked to do that, can anyone honestly say Bennett is that blind that he wouldn't notice it, and hook him back to reserve grade???

Dip wrote: You guys are off your head. Look at the Broncos record without Adam Blair and then decide if he's not that valuable to the team.

Brisbane since 2015 - 47-25 (.653)
Blair since 2015 - 44-22 (.666)
Brisbane without Blair - 3-3 (.500)

Very small sample size but at 3-3, their record without him is only 1 game away from exactly matching their record with him. Not enough games to draw a real conclusion but still - they dont exactly turn into a walkover.

ryno_ wrote:

Brisbane since 2015 - 47-25 (.653)
Blair since 2015 - 44-22 (.666)
Brisbane without Blair - 3-3 (.500)

Very small sample size but at 3-3, their record without him is only 1 game away from exactly matching their record with him. Not enough games to draw a real conclusion but still - they dont exactly turn into a walkover.

They won their first two without Blair when he'd only had 4 games with him and he was still fitting in. Since then they're 1-3, including losing by 30 to 13th place Manly. Losing to a Bulldogs team who were really struggling at the time, and letting Cronulla from memory put 30 on us in the first half. We've been shocking without him.

Sorry Ryno, Roberts has been playing great this year.

Pieman wrote:Sorry Ryno, Roberts has been playing great this year. :)

Um duh.

What's this in reference to?

Dip wrote:
They won their first two without Blair when he'd only had 4 games with him and he was still fitting in. Since then they're 1-3, including losing by 30 to 13th place Manly. Losing to a Bulldogs team who were really struggling at the time, and letting Cronulla from memory put 30 on us in the first half. We've been shocking without him.

6 games is already a small sample size - reducing it to 4 is unproductive.

Im not saying he's a bad player or anything (and the fact that you need to go to May 2016 to find the last game he missed is a testament to his ticker), but at the rate Ofa is progressing the time to have him starting is coming sooner rather then later and Blair should be the one to make way for that. He'll be 31 by the time the next season starts, with a lot of kms on the legs.

ED: I agree, for the moment, Blair is the choice to have starting. He's the much better player now, I'm just projecting Ofa's improvement forward into future seasons.

ryno_ wrote:

6 games is already a small sample size - reducing it to 4 is unproductive.

Im not saying he's a bad player or anything (and the fact that you need to go to May 2016 to find the last game he missed is a testament to his ticker), but at the rate Ofa is progressing the time to have him starting is coming sooner rather then later and Blair should be the one to make way for that. He'll be 31 by the time the next season starts, with a lot of kms on the legs.

ED: I agree, for the moment, Blair is the choice to have starting. He's the much better player now, I'm just projecting Ofa's improvement forward into future seasons.

Yeah Ese Ese and Ofa have been fantastic this year after not really showing that much in the past IMO, as has Sims. At the start of the year with McGuire moving to lock, a prop rotation of Blair, Sims, Ese Ese, Ofa and sometimes Thaiday, you'd have said that's a one of the worse prop rotations out of the finals contenders, but they've all stood up really well this year and are going well enough to match it with anyone (until last Friday against the Eels).

I think the game is starting to trend to more mobile props rather than the giants of 2-4 years ago, and will do so even further if the interchange reduces to 6, so that should help guys like Ofa even more. Wouldn't be surprised if McGuire is moved back to prop if that happens as well.

I like the idea of Sims coming off the bench so would have no problems starting with Blair and Ofa. I like the impact Sims gives off the bench, and if we're leading by 2, I sure as hell don't want his hands anywhere near the ball in the last 5 minutes, so am more than happy for him to play 15-25 minutes each side of half time.

McSquinty didn't see him there, was just stomping around blindly cause he can't see out of his left eye.

Now if true I'm a cunt for laughing at someone's disability, but in this case I'm willing to take the chance.

No Worries wrote:McSquinty didn't see him there, was just stomping around blindly cause he can't see out of his left eye.

Now if true I'm a cunt for laughing at someone's disability, but in this case I'm willing to take the chance.

whether or not he's telling the truth in this case, it's been pretty widely reported for a long time that he's got a cataract in his left eye stemming from a detached retina injury he suffered in 2011

Even McGuire's mum would believe it's intentional. And she'd be right.

Like I said, he might be a grub, but he's our grub.