Broncos’ finals chances hurt by Wayne Bennett’s tactics more than Darius Boyd’s absence, says Gorden Tallis
YOU can never account for losing your best player — but it was Brisbane’s tactics that hurt them against the Roosters, writes GORDEN TALLIS.
IT was Brisbane’s tactics that hurt them on Friday night against the Roosters. I know you can never plan on your best player being out. But with no Darius Boyd, the Broncos were undermanned and tactically, they made a couple of mistakes, particularly around that fullback position.
They said all week Kodi Nikorima would be fullback, but started with David Mead and 20 minutes later replaced him with Nikorima off the bench.
But here’s the thing — everybody knows that Anthony Milford is not the best defender and that he has a bad shoulder. He missed seven tackles on Friday. Brisbane bought him when he was a fullback. They had a chance to put him at the back and get the best out of him, but they didn’t.
Watching him now in his fifth year, I don’t think he’ll ever get the hang of making every single tackle and being a great defender. The only way to stop him from being targeted is to put him at fullback. Brisbane missed that opportunity.
BLOW: Boyd remains in doubt
DESPITE the loss for the Broncos, it was a great game of footy to watch. Yes, Brisbane had their chances to win. But I also thought the Roosters had a few missed opportunities themselves and could have put the Broncos to the sword on a number of occasions. Overall, it was a great way to start this year’s finals series and was played at a good intensity. I like where our game is at.
SPEAKING of taking your chances, that will be the big task for the Cowboys when they meet the Sharks. I know they are viewed as the ultimate underdogs, but for North Queensland it is just about creating those moments and making the most of them.
Every man just has to play to their ability and to take every opportunity they get. The Roosters didn’t make the most of every moment and as a result, the game went right down to the wire. If you take every opportunity, you win the game. It’s as simple as that.
AS much as Queensland hates Paul Gallen, he knows how to give our teams plenty of motivation for big games such as Sunday’s finals clash. He is comfortable living with that hate, as he showed this week when he accused the Cowboys of “crying poor”.
In today’s day and age, no one wants to give their opponents any extra motivation. But Gal always seems to do it and you have to like him for that. You do have to question though whether he’s doing it on purpose and it’s a ploy or whether he’s just not all that smart. We could find out.
IF you could pick one person to win a game of rugby league for you, who would it be? Who would deliver the best under pressure? It’s a hard question to answer. But Cam Smith, who last night made history by playing his 356th match, is one you could definitely say is good under pressure.
When it comes to rugby league, you can’t compare eras. But I wish it were possible to have all of our great players — your Smiths and Lockyers and Lewis’ — in one big glory game to see who would be man of the match. In my opinion, if you had money on Cam, it would be a pretty fair bet.
A LOT of people think this year’s premiership has already been decided. People seem to think it is Melbourne’s to lose. But favourites get beaten all the time. Parramatta in 2001 were the red hot favourites. There was Manly in 1997, Balmain in 1989 and the Roosters in 2003. Just because you’re a favourite, it doesn’t mean you’re an instant winner.
Originally published as Broncos’ finals chances hurt by Wayne Bennett’s tactics more than Darius Boyd’s absence, says Gorden Tallis