2025 NRL Season

Haas form really hasn't fluctuated that badly. Never have I as a Broncos supporter questioned his effort, or ever thought he was not one of the best middles on the field.

If Hynes didn't cop a week, Willison should be fine.

On consistency, I assumed all 3 were going to get binned. I thought Martin alone should have been binned for the 3rd man in charge. If it's consistent, I'm happy for no bins in a situation like that.

 

I think you have a case of the Mendela effect or something.

Yes, Broncos pulled the win vs Canberra out of their arse, but I'll reiterate; they pretty much dominated the Raiders in every facet but the scoreboard up until Reece came back on. Brisbane bombed 3 tries the first half, and conceded 2 tries while down to 11 men. Though once they stopped blowing their chances and pulled thier finger out, they got the job done, and it looked easy. And they did it with Haas on 1 leg.

Vs Storm, Broncos didn't have Reynolds or Mamm (which is comparable to no Harry). As for Hughes, he was there, and started. However, he got rolled and was injured. Broncos also had blokes like Billy filling in at 6 and still got the win, looking far better than the Storm.

And in the Prelim, I wouldn't necessarily say the Panthers switched off, they did their standard front-loaded game. Had alnost 100% completions and all the ball intbhe first half. They were simply held out by good D, lost the momentum in the second half and were run down by a side who ran faster and tackled harder, for longer. Sure they fatigued more than what we're used to seeing, but that's why the week off is so huge.

No way is this going to be lopsided. It's probably going to be an arm wrestle for 60-70 mins until a key player liek Munster, Walsh, Grant or Staggs take the game away.

If a team blows this game out, it's more likely to be the Broncos IMO.

 

Yeah, I have some bias. I'm a Broncos fan, but it's been a love-hate thing for a while. I travelled to watch 2015 and 2023 GFs live, endured prank squads where I struggle to enjoy watching about half them play every weekend, and then there's the spoon... I grew up with an expectation of success with my footy team, yet have been let down over, and over. It was rough when it dawned on me that Broncos have been somewhat of a failure on the field, considering the advantages they've had, and still have. I'm not ignorant to their issues.
I pay close attention to the Broncos. And I'm realistic about what they produce on the field. I know that they have all the raw talent right there, but they've had a soft underbelly, and next to no resilience for some time.
However over the past 6 or so weeks of footy, since that Storm game where 3 players went down; and even though they lost by 20, they showed something I haven't seen, and they've clearly been a completely different side since.
You claim to have clarity, being a neutral observer. I acknowledge that, but I dare-say there could be some Inverse bias.

Anyway. The Broncos did dominate the Raiders. While having 11 players on the field for a bit and bombing 2-3 first half tries. Which is why it wasn't showing on the scoreboard.

Possession: Raiders 43% | Broncos 57%

Completion Rate: Raiders 72% | Broncos 81%

All Run Metres: Raiders 1,817 | Broncos 2,997

Post Contact Metres: Raiders 285 | Broncos 638

Line Breaks: Raiders 4 | Broncos 7

Tackle Breaks: Raiders 15 | Broncos 47

Average Play-the-Ball Speed: Raiders 3.94s | Broncos 3.44s

Offloads: Raiders 9 | Broncos 15

Kicking Metres: Raiders 592 | Broncos 683

Forced Drop Outs: Raiders 0 | Broncos 3

40/20s: Raiders 0 | Broncos 2

Missed Tackles: Raiders 57 | Broncos 35

Sin Bins: Raiders 0 | Broncos 2

As for the Panthers game. Most people, me included, would have expected the Panthers to score close to 30pts against most sides in that first half. Having a huge advantage in territory, ball control, and possession. Just as they did v the Dogs. Yet Broncos had the defensive mettle to hold them to 14 pts. Then they produced a second half shut-out. Panthers had their chances, but couldn't crack them. Yes, there was plenty of luck with Wilison's try. However Mariner's wasn't a complete fluke. Walsh would've known he'd be swarmed, and he knew his winger was there. Deane was too strong in the end.

I'm probably overselling the Broncos, and I've seen the them produce some incredible things attack wise over the past few years when things are going perfectly or them. However, I haven't seen anything like the past month or so attitude wise. Overall, I think you are undervaluing them.

 

I thought so too, honestly. I think everyone underestimated the losses of Herbie and Flegler, but the squad was still crazy. Yet in the end they were flat track bullies, over-exposed, sniffed their own farts and Kevvie allowed that culture.