North Queensland Cowboys vs Brisbane Broncos: NRL live scores, blog

Sadly, GGM has speed but that's about it.

I wish I had your optimism. I think Fifita will be gone next year and we will go back to top finals and developing players for cashed up Sydney teams.

They had a flyier for a few years now and he is now in the QRL only. Some of that is on GGM, some of it is on Green who has form in not developing players.

Born in Wellington NSW He’s Tongan and indigenous descent and has played for Tonga but is very much a proud blue :stoked:

I thought Staggs was a Kiwi?

The Cowboys first try was really well put together and Drinkwater was involved. There were five decoys all running different lines and all looked like they could get the ball. It looked classy as hell

I agree. Croft was excellent. Cronk style even. Never overplayed his hand. You can see that not only the coach is fully committed to him, but his players are as well. He adds composure which they have sadly missed. Milf looks good too, shaved off 20kgs and played with a freedom that has been missing for some time. Broncos fans should be very excited. Cowboys fans can be excited about the new stadium they won’t be allowed in. Drinkwater reminds me of a budding Keary the way he plays. Worth persevering with. For me Clifford to half, need his kicking game, Morgo to centre. He hasn’t got the talent for playmaker that the other two do. Green to go. Bennett will finish his days at the Cowboys from next year, he is probably what they need right now.

No doubt but as this causes so much division simply make the rule if you arnt stripping don’t touch that way if you attempt a strip and loose control in process it’s a penalty to the carrier of the ball , no grey

You can have your hand on the ball, you can't rake it out.

That was a brilliant tackle. When do you see JT13 get treated like that? When I saw it I thought it must have been TPJ but Staggs got up grinning

Massive. I thought he steered the team around beautifully and while he didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, all of a sudden Milford was playing like Milford looking for broken play opportunities instead of trying to do a role he’s just not suited for. Turpin is a cracker. His try was smarts but he has great service from dummy half and good vision Once they clear a couple of spots in the roster: Boyd, (hate to say it) McCullough, Bird (either gone or on vastly reduced money) they can look at a quality fullback - rather than a fill in - and maybe a centre. Then lock all these young blokes down as quick as they can. Siebold should be looking at every fullback candidate available. That’s not a knock on Isaako. He was ok. But he’s not a natural one. That pack is phenomenal. For players with the size, strength and aggression to do what Haas and Fifita do. TPJ is a lose cannon. His hit on O’Neill was unnecessary and dangerous - if he can channel that a bit he’d be the better for it In any other team we’d be raving about the emergence of quality young forwards like Flagler and Carrigan, but they’re almost getting lost in the mix here I thought Hopoate looked likely off the bench too Staggs is unreal. I’d be ready to pick him for Origin if Wighton or Trbojevic go down as the first string centres and consider him for the 14 role Obviously they’re a young side, they’ll likely lose games this year because of that. But when they’re all a year older and wiser and they’ve plugged some of those holes in the roster they’ll start blowing teams away

Forwards were immense and Croft looked pretty composed. Others to come back, maybe Bird one day... Big fan of Kotoni Staggs. Not only knows how to score tries but he folded JT in half with a one on one tackle.

Croft appears to be a huge piece. They are a different team with him there.

I was talking about another time when the ball went wide and he was bundled over the sideline. The commentators were saying a try looked certain but if wingers are flat footed they butcher tries in those situations. It happens on a regular basis but i hardly ever hear anyone comment on it. It also leads to forward passes and makes it hard for ball players to time their pass. An overlap is often a myth without depth.

Good question Stormy. I enjoy 'jousting' with the big fella and have missed his many posts. Hope he's well!

problem elvis again it’s to grey to debate, if your not stripping and your hand is on the ball why are you being rewarded?

Hampton came in off his wing to cover the potential spilled ball/tap back from the high kick. If he doesn't and the ball goes to ground, the Broncos pick up the crumbs and go 90m. All anyone saw though was him not standing out wide to score the try, feel sorry for him, he'll be blamed despite doing the right thing

Green's got to be moved on. Without Thurston's ingenuity, the game plan looks stale. Attack remains lame, defense weak. Drinkwater came out of the Nine's over-cocky; maybe this first defeat with everything in the Cowboys' favour will bring him back to earth. You just can't keep going high on forwards like the Broncos have, as just about every member of the Cowboys team does. Fafita's try showed that the Cowboys still lack pace. The sooner they get the 18-year-old on the pitch the better. Disappointing start to the season yet again.

I’ll expand on this another time but I really think the Broncos are on the verge of a dominant era. Won’t be this year but I reckon there’s so many pieces falling into place

He holds it the whole time, and then just at the end takes his hand off the ball for 1/2 a second for no reason. Weird, but still a loose carry.