The Brisbane Broncos are looking to cement their premiership credentials against an out of sorts St George Illawarra Dragons. Join The Roar for live commentary from 7:50pm (AEST).
A successful trip to the Gold Coast last week gave the Broncos a 4-1 record to start the season, confirming them as one of the form teams of the comp.
They have been professional and impressive over the opening rounds, although the game they lost against the Panthers may hint at their weakness. They were undone by a touch of complacency, as well as plenty of second-phase play. The Panthers were all over them in the second half and didn’t let up.
The Dragons meanwhile get to spend another week in the Sunshine State after being embarrassed by the Cowboys last weekend. While they have had a couple of decent showings to start the season – namely against the Panthers and Rabbitohs – they just cannot score points.
While they don’t have the biggest strike weapons, Benji Marshall, Gareth Widdop, Josh Dugan, Jason Nightingale are all capable attacking players. It is the forwards letting them down though – they can defend, but their punch through the middle is lacking. The Red V’s backs had more metres than the forwards last week and it is counter-productive to their attack if that is going to remain the case.
In team news, the Dragons have little new talent to blood, as they remain unchanged in spite of their 36-0 loss.
The Broncos have named the same side too – why wouldn’t they?
Prediction
The Dragons will be better than last week, but it would be crazy to tip them. The Broncos, at home, in great form, should win easily.
Broncos by 18.
Join us for all the action on The Roar, live from 7:50pm (AEST), and be sure to give your thoughts below.
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Widdop has been charged for tripping. Hopefully they give him a month off, and The Dragons can rediscover some of the attacking flair that's been missing for numerous years.
John
Guest
This would cement Daley's place as QLD's best coach.
AndrewF
Guest
I think like with Benji at the Dragons Souths supporters expect more out of Inglis. They are probably right that his form is down but Keary mostly escapes criticism because no one expect him to be any good. This is how it with the Dragons. Just replace Inglis with Benji and Keary with Widdop. Having said that, as a Dragons supporter I'd much rather Keary play for the Dragons and Widdop for Souths.
steveng
Roar Rookie
lol well they have to blame someone??? yeah its like some Souths supporters blaming McInnes and Inglis for the Rabbits poor form.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Try Kurt Mann at centre, at least he knows how to pass.
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Daley will probably go with Kurt Mann
Agent11
Guest
i don't rate Dugan that highly either. Daley has rocks in his head if he selects him over Tedesco at fullback.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Didn't they play at Wollongong 2 weeks ago?
The Barry
Roar Guru
Couldn't agree more. The Dragons have no style, no strategy, no set plays, no direction, simple mistakes, a pointless kicking game, a lack of cohesion. Key players being forced to play away from their natural game. Players are not only not developing, they're actually getting worse. I'm sure it's hard to face as a Dragons fan as McGregor is a favourite son but all of these areas point to a coach out of his depth.
NQ Cowboy
Guest
Mcgregor has to go. He is a myth. The Dragons have no idea what they are doing out there. Surely that is a coaching issue.
MORDAC
Guest
It's not even Widdop's mistakes (of which there are many) that bother me. If Aitken or Duges or JDB or Marshall makes a mistake, so be it. They play hard and are heavily involved and it happens. The main problem I have with Widdop is that mistakes are the only thing of any note he ever does.... Ok, once or twice a season (literally) he kicks a goal from close to the sideline. He is just a very poor player. If he were offered back to Melbourne now with the Dragons offering to pay half his salary, we can be absolutely certain they would reject it. Ditto for that other "marquee signing", Kurt Mann. It's really not rocket science. Players who are average in very good teams like Widdop and Lafai are going to be poor in average teams. That's ok. No team, other than perhaps the Broncos, can afford to have a team full of stars and remain within the salary cap but Widdop has been made captain!!! He should be a depth player, most of the time plying his trade in the NSW Cup and fighting for a spot in first grade.
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Oops - forgot about that one.
Agent11
Guest
It was more than just dropped ball and incompletions. They look clueless and as if they are in slow motion when they have the ball.
Joe
Roar Rookie
I don't think Widdop was to blame for last night, he might be the only one who didn't drop a ball. The dragons handling and passing was terrible, in particular their outside backs. I think they might have focussed too much on defence and forgot how to pass. There were a couple of chances but the last pass to the winger was rubbish allowing the defence to get across or at other times the winger can't catch the ball as it was not in front of him. There was also that chance with Dugan wide open and Aitken runs it in instead of passing the ball. I count at least 3 tries that went begging that would have drastically changed the tone of the game not to mention the countless knock ons early in the tackle count when inside the attacking zone....those are game killers. Compare with the passing game of Brisbane and in particular Milford....1st try puts a looped cutout pass right in front of his winger for a stroll over the line. They need to work on their ball skills and run their plays a lot more fluently. Widdop was great at the Storm, fit in nicely with their structured plays but somehow he seems to have lost it at the Dragons, maybe trying too hard because of the captaincy and his kicking game last night was abysmal. That said the Broncos kicking game wasn't top notch either.
AndrewF
Guest
No. Still now among a certain section of Dragons supporters Widdop is better than sliced bread. Most of them are starting to come to the realization they have been deluding themselves. See above. The guy is blaming Benji for Widdop's lackluster ability/form/commitment when Benji didn't even play.
Sid
Guest
This was probably one of the most horrible game of league I have seen in a while. The Bronco hardly got out of first gear and the St George ball handling random kicks and uninspired runs was boring at best. Thursday night game are dull and player just are not in the mood.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Sorry, im against the draw - things its rubbish but we played Penrith in the gond during rd 4
nerval
Guest
We've seen some spectacular games this year, but this one was unspeakably dire. The Dragons are going nowhere fast. I don't even know if anyone's to blame. Widdop lacks any kind of authority, Lafai's career has ground to a halt, Mata'utia's skill levels are ordinary - and yet it hardly matters. At least Aitken gave it a good go - but, let's be honest, he's no Mark Gasnier is he? This is a team without any kind of playing philosophy, any shape, any purpose. It's a club, on and off the field, that doesn't seem to know if it's coming or going. I don't mind so much the losses, but can't we at least have a bit of fun along the way? Every player looks utterly grim and joyless. It's depressing.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Widdop was playing like a guy shouldering the blame for the entire club. The guy must be under intense pressure
steveng
Roar Rookie
Weeks ago Widdop was better than sliced bread and couldn't do anything wrong and all of a sudden all you Dragon supporters are turning on him, yeah he had a bad game but the opposition was way too good for the Dragons and the Broncos were relentless in attack which annulled Widdop's game. But the Dragons mistake rate (dropping the ball and not completing sets) was their demise last night and that was especially true in the last 20 minutes.