Milford criticism off the mark: Maranta

All right,but as far as the Broncos are concerned youre disagreeing with Wayne,too..reports are Vidots being shopped around(unsuccessfully it seems) you must know that,and if Wayne thought highly of Copley doubt he would've made him come back thru a feeder last week...perhaps only getting back in thru Hodges' injury..you're a fan so I'm just assuming you're camoflaging his famous defensive limitations.. Should be a good game,Broncos aren't going well..Titans as well as they can should get them at home if you're late mail turns out..

Well I think I've misread what you originally said, but nevertheless I disagree with you. Broncos only very recently have had a lack of depth in the outside backs department (due to some offloading before sudden horrible circumstances for guys like YowYeh and Kahu.) I wouldn't they're weak out there though. Hodges is an Australian rep, Copley is in the origin conversation and it would be a surprise if he didn't make origin this year or next, Vidot (while not playing this year) east metres for breakfast lunch and tea, Reed (while I don't like him at all) on his day is probably one of the best defensive centres in the game and is also an England rep (although he hasn't played for them in a couple years due to injuries), Maranta has his moments. I'd say it's our spine and late game jitters that've let us down in recent years with the revolving door policy at FB and 6, a hooker who probably needs to pace himself better in defence, and a 7 who only just started playing 7 in the NRL last year. I'd put the storms slide down to the fact that every year that all Australian spine (plus whoever wants the 6 that week) keeps getting a little older, a little slower, and in smiths case a little balder. The pack is ok but still gets dominated rather consistently. Koroibete was huge for them on Monday and didn't look too uncomfortable in defence. Toniumapea (sorry for the terrible spelling) is just not very good and I honestly can't believe he's the best winger they have atm. They should make a play for Vidot although I'm not sure how he'd go in Bellamys program. Kurt Mann looks pretty good to me as a roll player, and chambers is a QLD rep. If mediocre is measured by getting picked apart by JT I'd say there aren't too many good outside backs lining up in the game.

You've drifted right away from what I originally said William..that is Broncos and Storm in particular have weak outside backs which have and will cost them gains..neither of them have weak packs..both have majority of rep players in them..but are prone thru weak corridors out wide...

Dragons and manly have played 4 games each. Dragons are 2-2 manly 1-3. Dragons competed against the storm (sort of), raiders, and manly who all have soft packs (manly were guilty of going three whole rounds without a single forward cracking 100 metres). Manly were carved up against the Eels who haven't the strongest of packs but were making easy metres through a mountain of possession. They competed against the dogs in what could be described as the worst surface in the modern era of NRL history, something that contributed greatly to the result. They competed against storm (weak pack). And while they were competitive against the dragons they never looked like winning against their dynamic D. I'm not saying that the outside men don't contribute to the end results, all I'm saying is that if team A has a terrible pack but great outside backs and a decent spine, team B has a great pack, ok spine, but terrible outside backs, and team C has an ok pack great spine, and bad outside men. That I'd be tipping B and C to get the job done over team A a lot more often than not. Hell you look at the last 5 premiers and the only team to have a better group of outside backs than their pack has been Manly. Storms pack has always been better than their outside men (though they weren't all that bad mind you), the roosters are debatable though I'd say in 2013 their pack were stronger than their outside men, the rabbits had an absolute monstrous forward pack, and the dragons Bennett playbook was the classic forwards laying the platform, halves executing set plays with what at the time was a great team.

Today Kahu went down with a hammy strain and maranta will be at the back with Vidot on the wing. Now I'm a little worried.

Not saying theyre terrible,those players I mentioned havent been there for 10 years..just that that area of the field,over the last couple of years is their achilles,its no secret..Manly,rabbits,dogs for example all win there

you won the last 10 minutes with the forwards my friend..if dumb arses Young and Mann hadnt cost the storm earlier compounded with that unbelievable steal in the last 5..oh,and which forward kicked the conversion from the sideline and the 2 field goals ?...youd be where you should be 0 from 4..couldnt care less about the Storm but thats how it is..

If the Storm backs are so terrible why have they been competitive for the last 10 years? I understand that backs are important. Look at Origin. Qld forwards have been dominated for years, but the class of the spine and some of the outside backs has been the difference. Honestly though I don't think much of wingers. there are a million kids that can do a serviceable job. No way am I paying very much above minimum wage for wingers. I think with the attempts to speed up the game we might see centres come back into their own.

Storms outside backs of now and the recent past are renowned turnstiles Blair Fonua Young Mann Waqa ..we are talking game losers - not winners..same with the Rabbits(Goodwin,Reddy..Folau and Reece put 4 on them with simple backline plays)..and Broncos Reed,Copley,Maranta,Vidot)..get caught out too often.. Packs are of course significant..but closeness often nullifies them even Manly and now the Dragons have been able to compete successfully with average forwards playing optimally...and Sharks,as you alluded to,even with Carney,were the pits out wide even in 2013..come the 2nd 1/2,come the traffic outwide at those targets.. Spines,of course theyre key,never been part of the argument.. As for the Knights,you think this toughness in the forwards has only started this year ?You really think their wins have been based on those 2 tackles by Scott ?You arent watching,Stones free flowing get it wide quick and often is poles apart from Bennys playbook. Snowdens been tremendous this year absolutely,of course you cant win if your forwards are going backwards..but you cant hide your weaknesses outside and the smart sides will come for you there..thats all I'm talking about..

the Cowboys won that game in the forwards my friend. Once we got on top in the middle the backs came along for the ride. It has always been so.

Yeah exactly. Keep on doing what you're doing Milf. The points will come.

The Storm is an odd example. Their plan has always been forward based. Play hard up the middle and use the spine to attack the edges. They also turn over their outside back very regularly. I think Parra hammered the Rabbits out of that game up the middle as well. George is their go to metre eater and he was smashed out of the game. The Roosters are probably the team that has the most stacked outside backs. But they also have a stacked pack and bench so it doesn't really work with them. Bulldogs are all about the pack. You mention the Knights and yet Kade Snowden is the Dally M points leader at the moment....

Penrith have a great all round team that contributes to their wins (on the rare occasion they're all on the field) it's a mighty strength that they have in what is probably the best balanced RL team I've seen in a while, but most of their wins still come from their spine. Idris has so far this season proven to be more of a liability than a game changer while Whare has been good. DWZ has been doing job and Mansour has been making metres, but do you really think they're responsible for more wins than Soward, segey, Wallace and Moylan? The Knights best offensive weapons are Their outside backs in Gagai, BJ, Mata'utia, and Uate, but I'd credit their incredibly tough (some find it questionable) defensive tactics in the middle which has stifled the attack of teams. In fact the only place they look vulnerable in defence is on the edges. Again the spine has been huge with Mullen injury free (so far), Roberts chipping in when needed, Clydesdale has been good as well with Gidley finding some great form swapping with sione out the back. Souths. Plain and simple. If GI doesn't play FB against the Tigers they would've lost. No doubt in my mind whatsoever. No disrespect to the heroics from Dylan Walker who was massive for them on that day, but Inglis dominated that game (Tedesco especially) plain and simple. Not sure why you mentioned the storm. Koroibete has been a revelation for them and chambers has always been a good edition. Not sure how they've decided more games than the spine of slater smith and Cronk. Also might be worth noticing that the slide in the last year or two coincides with the sudden lack of depth and quality in the forward pack. Having good players in every position is important no doubt, but a good spine and/or forward pack is much more important than the outside backs. Look at manly. They had without a doubt one of, if not the best lineup of outside backs in the Comp last year. Boom Cherry-Evans is playing half the year on one leg, bang the small forward pack begins to struggle with the high workload, smack Foran struggles behind said forward pack, crash team needs to rely on the outside back who were less than underwhelming behind a beaten forward pack and struggling halves. All that talent with nothing to show for it. They kept them competitive but they weren't winning the Comp with that little baby forward pack. Titans have had a good forward pack and an above average assortment of outside backs the last 2 years. What've they got to show for it? Nothing because they're spine had a revolving door policy. Kelly injured every second week, sezer not much better, Zillman and Falloone aren't nrl standard, Mead wasn't a fullback, Srama was on and mostly off since his debut. Poor coach with poor plans. The Sharks are something of an exception. Their outside backs were so poor when carney was there that they were the deciding factor in many losses, didn't stop them having a good (maybe too strong a word. Decent perhaps) 2013 campaign. Raiders are just poor everywhere. Dragons had B Moz and nightingale on the wings with Beale (not great but a solid option) and whichever second rower wasn't good enough to play in the second row that week. By the logic you're showing me this means they should've won much more than they lost. Not so. Tigers. Another team with a baby forward pack (although this year they've been pretty good especially woods. Not sure how deep their pack is though.) have a future superstar prospect at 7. Key words being future and prospect. Great 9. The man of glass at the back (lame superhero). Not sold on Moses. Pretty good in the outside backs as well. Give them another couple years. Hopefully Farah will be around when (if) the team starts carving up. Broncos have hodges. Over the last two years I'd say he's been the most important member of the team, but mostly because he plays as a fullback in attack usually and is one of those guys capable of putting a team on his shoulders. (For a centre that's pretty amazing) however our pack has been small and our spine inconsistent and immature contributing to a fairly long (by a Brisbane Broncos fans standard) rebuild. We'll see how they go in a year or two when Bennett finishes the rebuild. All in all pretty common theme arising in this. Strong spine + pack= strong team. Strong outside backs = a nice luxury.

ditto Penrith and finally the best example of outside backs ripping up wins..the undefeated Knights..

'Outside backs rarely decide the outcome..' ..too many exceptions,tell the storm that outside backs dont decide the outcome of the game,then take that theory over to last weeks Rabbits and ask them for a comment..

There's a reason they play the game each week. Besides outside backs rarely decide the outcome of a game. Forwards lay the platform, the spine create the opportunities. Forwards looks like a good battle but hunt and Milford are a class above Sezer and LG. Kahu is a safer bet at fullback atm than having 30,000 at Suncorp and it'll be interesting to see how he takes on the playmaking aspect of a 1 compared to William how-am-I-still-in-the-NRL Zillman and Josh wouldnt-pass-on-a-10-man-overlap Hoffman. McCoullough and Nikorima vs Falloon and Moseley. Nuff said. Having said all this though there is no such thing as an easy win in the NRL. Both teams start at nil all and fun things are known to happen on Easter Friday.

Most (if not all) of the criticism I've seen are coming from people who either wanted Milford to stay at Canberra or want him to move to fullback. Milfords job right now is to develop his game as a 6 and take pressure off of Hunt. After four rounds and a WCS match I'd say he is improving each week at 6 (check 1) and has taken a load of pressure off hunt (check 2).

Pretty sure he has a line break, he made one against the cowboys before he got smashed by Moga, He also has a line break assist, throwing the last pass to Glenn in Corey Parker try against the Cows.

I hope you are wrong about Thaiday and Scott. Gagai I can live with. Would be a sad day if Thaiday leaves

I don't think any of the criticism is coming from Broncos supporters. I don't know anyone who isn't super excited about having Milf at the club. Broncos supporters don't eat their own, we just expect success. I know that is a foreign concept for a lot of the lesser clubs...