Brisbane’s saviour Jake Turpin agrees with Joey Johns’ criticism
Brisbane’s match-winner Jake Turpin admits his halves game needs plenty of work, backing the criticism of coach Anthony Seibold and NRL Immortal Andrew Johns.
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Broncos match-winner Jake Turpin admits he must provide more playmaking direction as NRL halfback Immortal Andrew Johns slammed Brisbane’s halves as clueless.
Hooker Turpin has done an admirable job filling in for injured halfback’s Tom Dearden and Sean O’Sullivan, underlining his competitive streak with a last-minute solo try which broke the Cowboys’ hearts 18-14 in Thursday’s derby thriller in Townsville.
But Turpin’s derby heroics could not mask Brisbane’s playmaking concerns for Johns, who delivered a stinging analysis of the Broncos’ scrumbase ahead of Friday night’s crucial clash with Penrith at Suncorp Stadium.
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As one of the greatest halfbacks in the code’s history, Johns was alarmed at the lack of cohesion provided by the Turpin-Darius Boyd alliance as the Broncos bumbled to victory against the lowly Cowboys.
“Their attack has no flow,” Johns said in his expert commentary role on Channel 9. “They don’t know what they are doing. Turpin, Boyd or Anthony Milford ... someone has to take control.”
Broncos coach Anthony Seibold later described his side’s attacking shapes as “frantic” and Turpin conceded he and Boyd need to take responsibility for Brisbane’s organisation.
“I 100 per cent agree (with Seibold), it felt frantic out there, too,” he said.
“It probably looked that way to the fans and I felt that.
“We definitely need be better in the halves. I’m glad to get the win but we definitely need to review that and be better against Penrith.
“We need to be more clinical. The halves are one of the main positions on the field so it’s important that I sit down and have a chat with ‘Darbs’ and see where we went wrong and what we can improve on.”
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On a scrappy night, Turpin was still among Brisbane’s shining lights.
The ultimate competitor, he almost scored with a first-half, Allan Langer-style grubber kick and got his just reward in the dying seconds when he picked up a loose pass and stunned the Cowboys by slicing through to score.
For Turpin, the best part was shrugging off one of his best mates, Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater, to steal victory.
“I don’t know how it happened to be honest,” he said.
“I just swooped on a ball and I saw my good mate Scotty back there.
“We were very close at the Melbourne Storm. We would pretty much hang out together every day because neither of us had families down there so we had each other really.
“It was a great feeling to get past him and put one over him.”
With 18-year-old halfback Tom Dearden returning from injury, Turpin says he is happy to play anywhere.
“All I care about is staying in the team,” he said. “If ‘Seibs’ wants me at halfback or hooker I really don’t care, I just want to play regular first-grade and put in for the team.”
Originally published as Brisbane’s saviour Jake Turpin agrees with Joey Johns’ criticism