Broncos and Maroons Squad News

Pic courtesy of http://www.news.com.au

There's been a few interesting tidbits relating to selections for the Brisbane Broncos and the QLD Maroons. The Maroons named 2 changes, one forced by injury and one based on form:

1. Billy Slater - Melbourne Storm
2. Darius Boyd - St George Illawarra Dragons
3. Dane Nielsen - Melbourne Storm
4. Greg Inglis - South Sydney Rabbitohs
5. Jharal Yow Yeh - Brisbane Broncos
6. Darren Lockyer (c) - Brisbane Broncos
7. Johnathan Thurston - North QLD Cowboys
8. Matthew Scott - North QLD Cowboys
9. Cameron Smith - Melbourne Storm
10. Petero Civoniceva - Penrith Panthers
11. Nate Myles - Sydney Roosters
12. Sam Thaiday - Brisbane Broncos
13. Ashley Harrison - Gold Coast Titans

14. Cooper Cronk - Melbourne Storm
15. Corey Parker - Brisbane Broncos
16. David Taylor - South Sydney Rabbitohs
17. Ben Hannant - Brisbane Broncos
18. Jacob Lillyman - NZ Warriors


So in a nutshell, GI returns after his lengthy stint on the sidelines due to off-season surgery and DT has been brought in for Lillyman. Admittedly I wasn't that impressed with his selection in Game One however after a rocky start, he went on to have a solid game. This means that DT's form has pretty much demanded that he gets a dig for Game 2. The only question mark I have is about the size of our pack compared to theirs - we've got some very big units in Scott, Petero, DT and Hannant while NSW went for a much more mobile pack. What will decide this game is simple possession football - the more we run it up the middle, the more the Blues will get tired. If they start getting a bigger share of the possession, the defending will start to wear our lads out and their mobility will tear us to pieces. 


One last point about Origin, how Uate got out of a weeks suspension is beyond me. The fact that is was only Grade 1 is underrating the charge as far as I'm concerned and then the early guilty plea system means he ends up 7 points under the 100 point threshold for a week off. This does come back to the fact that historically players selected for Origin tend to get off rather easy if they get pinged in the weekend prior. I wouldn't go as far as to say that there is a conspiracy but it does seem to undermine the whole system.


Now as I hinted in my last blog post, the Broncos are a tad undermanned heading into this weekends game. The side is as follows:


1. Hoffman
2. Gagai
3. Copley
4. Beale
5. Moylan
6. Norman
7. Wallace
8. Kenny
9. McCullough
10. Anderson
11. Glenn (c)
12. Carlaw
13. Reed

14. Baptiste
15. Lui
16. Dodds
17. Hala


It's great to see Hoffman in the line-up, we are a better side with him in it. The Wingers and Centres are a concern though - 42 games between them and Moylan on debut. I haven't heard much about Moylan to be honest, even with research I've only manage to find some older stats which says he had played 71 QLD Cup games and scored 32 tries. Not a bad conversion rate but the NRL is a step up. The only other real talking point is the selection of Jack Reed at Lock. He has the size (6ft, 98kg) and the ranga passion but I'm not sure how he'll go. My gut says he'll do okay without starring. Quite frankly I think the Broncos need that from all 17 for us to get a win this weekend.


A big congratulations for Alex Glenn on being handed the captaincy for the first time, hopefully it brings out the best in the young bloke. Join me on Friday for a preview of the game!