Broncos still hamstrung by Staggs injury
THE Broncos have been dealt a crushing blow with strike centre Kotoni Staggs ruled out of tonight’s clash against the Bulldogs.
In another injury setback, Staggs’ hamstring injury has flared again after a week of training, prompting coach Anthony Seibold to scratch his star centre for the must-win Suncorp Stadium showdown.
Staggs is Brisbane’s most lethal three-quarter, having scored five tries from four games, and Seibold was sweating on his return to provide some punch to the backline.
Staggs had trained well during the week, but he pulled up sore on Friday morning and team medicos resisted the urge to risk him in a major blow to the Broncos’ hopes of snapping a six-match losing streak.
Herbie Farnworth will replace Staggs at right centre, opening the door for Jamayne Isaako to play on the wing.
Seibold will finalise his interchange today, with Jamil Hopoate expected to oust Rhys Kennedy for the final spot on the bench alongside Cory Paix, Tom Flegler and Ben Te’o.
Seibold has carried two backs on his bench in some games but captain Alex Glenn said having a three-forward interchange would give some bulk against a hard-nosed Canterbury pack led by Dylan Napa and Aiden Tolman.
“The coach has been trialling a few different interchanges on the bench,” Glenn said.
“We have taken a long time to adapt and understand what’s the best style to play with the new rule changes.
“Through the middle we have been gassing out a bit, so having another interchange (forward) will add some value to our boys.
“It gives them a way where they can go out for a 25-minute stint and work their hardest.
“Sometimes when you have two utility players on the bench, it puts pressure on the forwards to bust out big minutes.”
In Staggs’ absence, more attacking pressure will fall to misfiring halves Anthony Milford and Brodie Croft, who have struggled for cohesion and direction during the crash to 14th spot.
Milford is at his best when he straightens the attack, and Glenn said the maligned fiveeighth had been given a brief to take on the Bulldogs with his speed and footwork.
“Millys’ strength is when his hands are on the ball and we want him to play the way he wants to play, and get the love for the game back,” Glenn said.
“Everyone has seen the potential ‘Milf’ has, and what he can produce when you let him do his thing.
“I know what brings out the best in ‘Milf’, and it’s to let the leash off him and that’s what we want to do this week.
“If things don’t go right this week against the Bulldogs, we only have ourselves to blame.”
CHANGES are afoot at the North Queensland Cowboys as coach Paul Green lamented his side’s “brittle” confidence.
A dire two weeks has resulted in 84 points being leaked, with the Eels and Roosters scoring points on the left, right and through the middle with seeming ease.
Frequently they were their own worst enemy, as errors close to the line plagued any chance to capitalising on early territory.
Twice five-eighth Scott Drinkwater made an unforced knock-on close to the line and, when Valentine Holmes was taken from the field in the second half after hurting the ankle he injured against the Warriors, poor communication in defence on the left edge led to five tries from Roosters winger Matt Ikuvalu.
Green admitted that based on the 42-16 loss to the backto-back champions on Thursday night there were “plenty of reasons” to make changes to the team, however building confidence in the group was priority number one.
When something went against his side, he said too many were failing to put the setback behind them and dwelling on mistakes was costing his team throughout the 80 minutes.
“When something goes against us as a team we just need to be a little bit tougher mentally to be able to cope with that and get back into the game,” Green said.
“One try is quickly becoming two, becoming three. At halftime it was a good contest, but the start of that second half made it very difficult.
“We got busted everywhere, in periods too many of us are clocking off there so it’s hard to pin it on any one particular area because across the board there’s quite a few of us that are clocking off at that time – particularly when we get under pressure.
“The edges have had their challenges the last couple of weeks as well, so it’s just a bit of confidence, trust in each other and trust in the system, and you only build that through experience and grinding out a couple of wins or defending well for a longer period.”
Among those downfalls was a missed Kyle Feldt penalty goal from a relatively easy position that would have put the home side up by eight.
However after his attempt hit the posts, the Roosters rallied to charge down the other end and level the scores.
Ultimately they went into halftime down 12-6 – down but not out – only to concede off the opening set of the second term. From there the floodgates well and truly opened.
“That was pretty costly, and when you’re trying to find confidence as a group – and a young group – it’s things like that where if you’ve got a few more experienced heads out there they get on with it, defend the next set and put themselves back in the game,” Green said.
“But it wasn’t long after that they scored and instead of leading 8-nil it was 6-all. That was a big momentum shift, but we needed to be more resilient in that period to get back in the game.”