BrisbaneRhino

Not commenting on other players, but Luke Thompson is a real mixed bag. He's pretty good going forward but his defence is well below par. Every game I watched he was way too slow to get into position in the defensive line after making a tackle, and some of his 'efforts' at tackling were powderpuff to say the least - all arms and no shoulders, and some horribly mistimed efforts again partly because he's not getting into the right place in the line. Phil Gould going to Canterbury is probably a good thing for someone like Thompson as he will lay it out for him in very simple terms. Next year will be make or break.

He looks pretty good with the ball but I think Thompson's defence is still poor generally.

I haven't seen a Dogs game for a while. Good to hear Thompson's improving.

There's talk of them signing Gagai which would enable Farnworth to move to fullback. Physically he looks more like a fullback than centre to me. If he can pass (which we haven't seen much of) he'll be a major boost to the Broncos. Isaako has been playing OK there but he's an out and out runner and couldn't set up a play to save his life. If anything just switching them round might work, as Isaako at his best is a great runner.. On Thompson, his defence just in't good enough yet. Sometimes he doesn't even seem to know where he's supposed to be in the line. He also looks pretty slow to get into position following a tackle - particularly ones where he was nearby but not actually in the tackle. I'd be surprised if opposition coaches weren't targeting him. The good news is that defensive issues should be easier to fix than lack of oomph carying the ball.

The patting on the head stuff is awful. I also thought the Panthers guy should have been sin-binned for grabbing the Raiders sub as well. Unwarranted show boating just aimed at taking the mick. Assuming nobody actually throws a punch following one of these melees started by someone being a git, why not penalise them rather than the third man in? The third man in "rule" worked in the days of punch ups, as it was generally them that escalated pushing and shoving into a full-on fight, but that just doesn't happen any more. I don't see why they should get penalised instead of the original instigator nowadays.

It certainly didn't help playing inside a winger who's also basically a rookie. I thought the Knights were a bit worried about sending the ball to the right because of the inexperience on that side, which made their attack lop-sided. I don't think Young got an early ball during the whole game.

A lot comes down to your own history. I'm always sort of interested in Parramatta due to Kenny, Sterling, Grothe and Laurie, but unlike SL where due to my history I still care who wins in say Cas v Hull (I want them both to lose which is a bit difficult), I couldn't care less who wins out of games like St George and Cronulla if both are mid-table. In fact most St George games have just been painfully dull full stop for several years. The televised Friday night NRL games are generally the biggest and best in each round. Sunday games on the other hand are generally poor entertainment between mid-table Sydney teams and I genuinely struggle to watch them. In terms of Brits my main interest this year will be watching Herbie Farnworth. He could be a star, but I'm still not entirely sold on him.

I've watched Ryan Hall's games for the Roosters and being frank this year he's looked like a reserve grade player. He does make some yards running the ball out of defence, but has never looked like making a break or even half break when doing that, is slower than most forwards, and his defensive positioning and decision-making has always been shaky. I do wish he'd scored a try though - for whatever reason, and despite playing on both wings, he just never got the ball to score except in his last game when he did only for a forward pass...Meanwhile on the other wing, often in the same game they were running in tries by the bucketload. Ryan just left it a couple of years too late to give the NRL a go, and then he chose a side with loads of wingers, which limited his chances. At his peak he could have done very well.

I'd say it was fairly obvious that Williams' game is better now than when he arrived. He is playing with a lot more control and also getting involved more. Like a lot of British halfbacks he has some basic skills, but is now executing them far more consistently. You can't afford flaky kicks in the NRL, or passes to nobody. Stuart was one of the smartest halfbacks of his era - I'd be amazed if any halfback who joined the Raiders and wanted to learn wouldn't get better working with him. Does anyone seriously not think he's a better player now?

To be fair to Thompson, coming over mid season would be harder than it was for Ellis/Morley who had an off season before playing. One thing was clear with both Morley and Ellis was that they absolutely loved the tough stuff. For forwards that seems to be the key - Mike Cooper did very well at a pretty average St George team as well. Had the Hardaker of 2015 come over and had a full off-season I genuinely think he would have been a very good NRL player. As it was he wasn't that fit and hadn't pushed himself all season at Leeds. The fact that he thought he went OK speaks volumes as well. One thing that stood out to commentators here was how skinny Hardaker was - in SL he was a powerful player but a number of commentators thought he should be anything up to 10 kg (stone and a half) heavier. Again, a pre-season would have helped there.

Williams will get better with more games. With forwards its just adjusting to plays and the greater weekly physical intensity. For a halfback its far harder, but Williams is doing better than I expected at this stage. Quite probably because his coach is a former halfback who also understands the need to work on a halfback's game.

Bull. The Broncos is a publicly listed company. Ikin's "CV" would be binned by any other public company without an interview. Most of those jobs you quote Ikin has got through RL links. What the Bronocs need is a serious businessman who can make sure the cash keeps flowing, not yet another former player with delusions of grandeur. The role of the CEO with respect to rugby is purely about appointing the right senior coaching staff and managing the cap.

Ben Ikin gallantly put his name forward to be CEO of the Broncos. Despite having zero experience as far as I can tell.

Some of Thompson's tackle misses one-on-one are terrible. Nothing to do with NRL supermen or the team he plays for and everything to do with his technique. I do think SL players aren't used to facing strong players in virtually every tackle though. Hardaker was similarly awful at times - Ben Barba ran over him once. Hopefully it will just take Thompson some time to adjust, and an off-season will help. But don't try to make out those misses aren't his fault.

Canberra as a team look really clunky in attack. They are really a step down from the better sides. Ryan Hall's defence isn't good enough IMO - he's all over the place at times in what is otherwise a superbly drilled Roosters team. He does make good metres running the ball back, and his lack of tries has been more to do with the Roosters seeming to favour the opposite side every time he plays. To be honest it suggests a lack of faith in him with the ball as well, as they are capable of setting up tries on either side. On the plus side for Brits, Herbie's doing OK in an awful Broncos side. Not sure what position he'll end up in long term, he looks to have a natural fullback build rather than a centre.