Sat 11 Jul: NRL: Brisbane Broncos v Canterbury Bulldogs KO 8.30am BST (Sky Sports)

[DoubleD]

On 12/07/2020 at 09:11, DavidM said:

Yes that tells a story . 8 runs for Luke Thompson , as destructive a ball runner one off the ruck as you can get . That’s the only stat that matters for him really . He’ll make metres and bend the line as a given . He’ll do well alright , an asset for any team 

And 3 of them were in the final couple of minutes

[DoubleD]

On 11/07/2020 at 20:57, DavidM said:

They can have all the backline quality they want , it will make no difference if they don’t have quality halves giving them quality service. All their halves are average , or in Foran past it , and aren’t grabbing a game at all or showing game winning skill . Some of the passing and execution there was abysmal

I agree their halves are average but I still rate Foran. He probably is past his best, but he's still class. He didn't have his best game and has been a little inconsistent. You could see the impact he made on the team when he returned from injury last year. The Dogs have so many problems, there are just too many to list. Fundamentally though, they are just a poor side. They need a decent rake (Marshall King is ordinary) and some outside backs (none of the current lot are much cop). They could also do with some decent forwards as well. Not helped by losing their best forward of last year in Harawira-Naera, sacked for off field matters. He'd be a good pick up for most sides.

It was a fairly poor game overall, brightened up by the duel between Thompson and Pangai Jr. Both had very good games, along with Nui for the Broncos.

Unfortunately Thompson will cop a ban for the shoulder charge, whilst Reimus Smith should face a lengthy ban for that callous tackle

[Dunbar]

6 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Unfortunately Thompson will cop a ban for the shoulder charge, whilst Reimus Smith should face a lengthy ban for that callous tackle

Thompson wasn't cited for the shoulder charge and so will escape any punishment.

Oh, and smith got 1 game as he entered an early plea.

[DoubleD]

3 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Thompson wasn't cited for the shoulder charge and so will escape any punishment.

Oh, and smith got 1 game as he entered an early plea.

Ok, surprised on both counts. Pleased on the first, not just cos it's Thompson, but because I don't like seeing those front on collisions being overly penalised.

Disgraceful about Smith though.............that should have been a 4 game ban at least. I thought they were trying to eliminate those type of tackles from the game? What sort of message does this send?

[Dunbar]

2 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Ok, surprised on both counts. Pleased on the first, not just cos it's Thompson, but because I don't like seeing those front on collisions being overly penalised.

Disgraceful about Smith though.............that should have been a 4 game ban at least. I thought they were trying to eliminate those type of tackles from the game? What sort of message does this send?

Agree on both.