After the drama and excitement of Old Trafford, the Ashes have moved to Nottingham and Trent Bridge for the 4th instalment of what has been one amazing series so far.
England go in to the test match 1-1 in the series but you can’t help thinking we’ve blown our chances of winning back that famous urn. That last day in Manchester should’ve been England’s and how it wasn’t I will never know. I guess it shows how tough the Australian team is. Even when the Auzzies play badly they still seem to get something out of it. Credit to Ricky Ponting for his marvellous ton, it saved them from certain defeat.
England no doubt have it in them to secure the Ashes but of course will have to do it the hard way as a drawn series means the Australians retain the Ashes. This makes the slip up last week seem even more important. Going in to the 4th test knowing that you had the upper hand would be a huge psychological advantage. However, now I feel the Australians (even if they have made two changes) are now in the ascendancy. By their own admission they haven’t performed in the series as of yet. There only win coming when they beat a lack lustre England performance at Lords. The 10 days rest could be crucial, they aren’t the worlds best for nothing. You can guarantee the likes of Warne, Lee, Ponting and Gilchrist won’t stay quiet for long.
Player for player I think you have to say the away side are the better but over the past 2 years England have shown that they are a force to reckoned with as a 11 man unit. For the fourth time in this series they have kept the same team. The team is so solid I feel you can no longer tell the likes of Ian Bell and Kevin Peiterson are novices on the test arena. The Australians I feel don’t have this unity especially when they are forced to drop their leading seam bowler in Glen McGrath through injury. Youth is on England’s side but experience necessarily isn’t. The ‘youth’ shone through in the 3rd test match as England managed to handle the back to back test matches with ease, where as Australia limped across the finish line. However; now we’re in to the prime of the series, experience will play a role. This is something that could be very crucial, and perhaps this was lacking on that last day in Manchester. To know how to wrap a test match is something no coaching manual can tell you, only by playing over and over again can you. I am going to stick my neck out and say that if the Australians were in the position England were in last week you would put your money on them getting 10 wickets.
Don’t get me wrong, England have done superbly well in the past couple of years, winning 7 out of 7 on home soil and then in South Africa. I would love it for the team to go one step further and beat the Australians. It’s always nice winning but when it’s against the number one in the world it’s even sweeter. However, I feel this could be a step too far. England seems to lack penetration and power at crucial points.
The point I am trying to make is that whilst Steve Harmison is a great bowler, if you give him a bowl you can’t guarantee he will get a wicket where as with the likes of McGrath or Warne I feel you can.
Changing the subject slightly to more of what the series is doing for cricket. The scenes outside Old Trafford last Monday were extraordinary. 40,000 people turned up for 20,000 seats. This kind of scenario has never been an issue with cricket, but it is obviously a good scenario to have. It’s got such an extent even the nations top sport football is taking a back seat as the sport pages are full of cricket news.
With in the introduction of Twenty20 and the obvious improvement in the national team cricket has been the sport to watch this summer. I don’t think I have ever seen the country as excited about cricket in my lifetime. There is a feeling something special might happen. Granted it’s going to be a long hard slog and if England do it then they would have done it the hard way. However, I for one will have my eyes peeled on the next two test matches.
24 August 2009
Broncos Bucks No More (27.07.05)
Tuesday 26th July 2005 a day that will go down in history! A day that the future of the London Broncos changed forever. A day that saw two arch enemies in previous years unite under one umbrella. A day that will never be forgotten.
Above are just some reasons why today is pretty special, but of course the fundamental reason that makes the day so special is because of the ‘unique’ partnership between the two codes of rugby. It will see play-off hopefuls London Broncos completely re-brand themselves so much so that from 2006 they will be known as Harlequins rugby league. We cannot also forget that they will be playing in the newly named Twickenham Stoop. In this article I will assess the good and bad points to such a move and whether the Broncos or should I say Quins can lay some foundations that will last a lot longer than the current ones.
Come 2006, the word London won’t automatically be associated with the Broncos, the only Super League team south of Sheffield. However, does that really matter? Yes the fans chant it, preach by it and follow it, but what’s stopping them from doing the same with Quins? At the end of the day, who cares what the team name is, providing there is a team. The same people will still be there- Rea, Marty, Hughesie and of course the new Chairman Ian Lenagan. They will make Quins RL as magical as they’ve made the Broncos in previous years.
However, London have been through many numerous name changes already, Fulham, Crusaders and Broncos to name a few all of which were seen as the best thing for the club, the thing to put rugby league in London on the map, yet at Griffin Park this season the Broncos attendances have been around 3,500 (Note: Only a ballpark figure), which surely doesn’t seem magical especially when you compare it to the likes of Wigan, Bradford and Leeds. Also you don’t need to know much about business to realise marketing and branding is the key to success. Through the development work done by the Super League club, when you say London Broncos to someone in the street they don’t go; ‘are they American?’ Peoples exact knowledge of the Broncos may not be at the same level of say football or even Union, but it was still building nonetheless. Now the name is being changed this will have to be done all over again, however maybe it’s not as easy as last time. The name Harlequins is renowned the world over, having the likes of Will Carling, Jason Leonard, Keith Wood and more recently Andrew Merthans don the famous four quarters shirt. The big issue being, it’s known for rugby union and not rugby league. The immediate thing that must come in to anyone’s head is it’s all good and well promoting the name Harlequins RL but even with those two additional letters will people still associate the Twickenham based club with union? Obviously a rhetorical question and luckily I am not the marketing genius that needs to work that out, I’ll leave it to Nick Melton and Chris Warren.
Of course a name such as Harlequins can be an added bonus, but it depends on peoples thinking, if it’s just rugby then the marketing job is a made easier because selling rugby all year round is easy to do.
The other benefit of forming the partnership is being able to use the Stoop. The Stoop must be one of the nicest grounds I’ve ever been too and going there today and seeing all the re-developments makes me love it even more. Back when the Broncos were tenants they were pushed around, and even now the Broncos have to move away from their current ground at Brentford due to re-seeding. It doesn’t help the cause especially when you’re trying to convert the unconverted. This new partnership should mean the Broncos have somewhere to call ‘home’ and will mean that fans can see continuous rugby league throughout the summer and not just a bit at the end and a bit in the beginning. Transport wise, Twickenham is lot better catered for than Brentford and so on a Sunday you may find many a fan travelling on the train instead of by car.
Of course to put it bluntly it’s another ground move for the Broncos. The Broncos are no strangers to moving and this will be there third ground since the turn of the millennium. Again, the problems associated with this are similar to the branding but the main issue being how do you move your core supporters to a new ground. Here the solution seems easy. Relatively speaking Brentford to Twickenham is short, compared to Charlton to Brentford, the previous move by the Broncos. Also there’s the added bonus that people may still remember the team from when they last played at the Stoop in 1999. That will bring more people through the turnstiles.
Maximising crowds, is one of the obvious reasons for this partnership. After all it now means that rugby lovers can if they choose to do so watch rugby all year round. As Dean Richards put it today you can play on Saturday and watch on Sunday. This has never really been the case, well not under the same umbrella anyway. This method of increasing gate receipts is kind of artificial but in the business world it’s just repositioning your product and that is what has been done.
You will lose some fans, you always do when you move grounds or you go under a big transition like has happened today, but I firmly believe that the benefits significantly outweigh the costs.
The Broncos especially has never really seen crowds of 8-9 thousand since the days of 1996, maybe now it’s time for that to change.
The final thing that makes the Broncos who they are, or the thing that people can identify fellow supporters with is the playing kit. Now the kit has changed over the years in both design and colour, and plans are for the Broncos kit in 2006 to be like that of Quins. Here is where I firmly disagree. I believe there needs to be some part of the Broncos that people can still associate with, they’ve lost the London name and their badge, so here I feel a compromise should be reached. I am firmly in favour of the kits to be similar to the Quins but maybe not the same colour. The favourite here must be to go back to the 4 quarter style kit with the red, blue and yellow. The cynics view is that this must be the case for both parties to make more money but then again the counter argument is that if you’re going to do it, you do it properly and that means everything that was London becomes a Quin. Yes this makes sense but could it turn away the die hard fan out of principle? In theory yes, but in practice no, because if they’re die hard they will support the team through whatever they wear.
My final point that I’d like to assess is the financial situation. The Broncos financial worries are all but plain to see, look what happened earlier this year. Forming any kind of partnership, even if the companies will remain separate will help the Broncos no end and should secure them financially for the future. Perhaps we’ve seen already the impact of the Broncos becoming the Quins. Last week, the Broncos found a new chairman in Ian Lenagan, he told me today he would’ve invested even without this new deal, but you can’t tell me knowing the Broncos can use the power of the Quins brand didn’t persuade him just a little. My point being is that the name Harlequins is so strong that it will immediately attract more investors just because of the name. This can only be good.
At this point I identify what I can see as the only real advantage to Harlequins as a rugby union outfit… the financial addition. There is no secret Harlequins need money, they couldn’t have asked for a worse case scenario last year, by being relegated whilst carrying out major work on the Stoop. However small the Broncos are they will still eject much needed cash in to the club, whether it be from sponsors, merchandise or just bums on seats. Harlequins CEO Mark Evans has stated this wasn’t his only motivation and that it was too good an opportunity to miss out on. Apart from possibly swapping ideas on the field (although even today Richards highlighted there is still a big gap between the two sports) and marketing expertise I fail too see any other motivation bar money, cynical I know.
Arguably this must be the last change the Broncos make, if they are to survive. This year showed, that if people don’t use the product the Broncos can’t function and whilst on the outset there may be some issues and that it is high risk, the fundamental question must be would the broncos have been successful carrying on as they are? In short the answer is no and so this partnership seems the next best thing.
The Broncos are back in rugby union heartlands what lays ahead of them is going to a tricky but ultimately exciting challenge to convert those heartlands to accommodate ‘rugby’.
Above are just some reasons why today is pretty special, but of course the fundamental reason that makes the day so special is because of the ‘unique’ partnership between the two codes of rugby. It will see play-off hopefuls London Broncos completely re-brand themselves so much so that from 2006 they will be known as Harlequins rugby league. We cannot also forget that they will be playing in the newly named Twickenham Stoop. In this article I will assess the good and bad points to such a move and whether the Broncos or should I say Quins can lay some foundations that will last a lot longer than the current ones.
Come 2006, the word London won’t automatically be associated with the Broncos, the only Super League team south of Sheffield. However, does that really matter? Yes the fans chant it, preach by it and follow it, but what’s stopping them from doing the same with Quins? At the end of the day, who cares what the team name is, providing there is a team. The same people will still be there- Rea, Marty, Hughesie and of course the new Chairman Ian Lenagan. They will make Quins RL as magical as they’ve made the Broncos in previous years.
However, London have been through many numerous name changes already, Fulham, Crusaders and Broncos to name a few all of which were seen as the best thing for the club, the thing to put rugby league in London on the map, yet at Griffin Park this season the Broncos attendances have been around 3,500 (Note: Only a ballpark figure), which surely doesn’t seem magical especially when you compare it to the likes of Wigan, Bradford and Leeds. Also you don’t need to know much about business to realise marketing and branding is the key to success. Through the development work done by the Super League club, when you say London Broncos to someone in the street they don’t go; ‘are they American?’ Peoples exact knowledge of the Broncos may not be at the same level of say football or even Union, but it was still building nonetheless. Now the name is being changed this will have to be done all over again, however maybe it’s not as easy as last time. The name Harlequins is renowned the world over, having the likes of Will Carling, Jason Leonard, Keith Wood and more recently Andrew Merthans don the famous four quarters shirt. The big issue being, it’s known for rugby union and not rugby league. The immediate thing that must come in to anyone’s head is it’s all good and well promoting the name Harlequins RL but even with those two additional letters will people still associate the Twickenham based club with union? Obviously a rhetorical question and luckily I am not the marketing genius that needs to work that out, I’ll leave it to Nick Melton and Chris Warren.
Of course a name such as Harlequins can be an added bonus, but it depends on peoples thinking, if it’s just rugby then the marketing job is a made easier because selling rugby all year round is easy to do.
The other benefit of forming the partnership is being able to use the Stoop. The Stoop must be one of the nicest grounds I’ve ever been too and going there today and seeing all the re-developments makes me love it even more. Back when the Broncos were tenants they were pushed around, and even now the Broncos have to move away from their current ground at Brentford due to re-seeding. It doesn’t help the cause especially when you’re trying to convert the unconverted. This new partnership should mean the Broncos have somewhere to call ‘home’ and will mean that fans can see continuous rugby league throughout the summer and not just a bit at the end and a bit in the beginning. Transport wise, Twickenham is lot better catered for than Brentford and so on a Sunday you may find many a fan travelling on the train instead of by car.
Of course to put it bluntly it’s another ground move for the Broncos. The Broncos are no strangers to moving and this will be there third ground since the turn of the millennium. Again, the problems associated with this are similar to the branding but the main issue being how do you move your core supporters to a new ground. Here the solution seems easy. Relatively speaking Brentford to Twickenham is short, compared to Charlton to Brentford, the previous move by the Broncos. Also there’s the added bonus that people may still remember the team from when they last played at the Stoop in 1999. That will bring more people through the turnstiles.
Maximising crowds, is one of the obvious reasons for this partnership. After all it now means that rugby lovers can if they choose to do so watch rugby all year round. As Dean Richards put it today you can play on Saturday and watch on Sunday. This has never really been the case, well not under the same umbrella anyway. This method of increasing gate receipts is kind of artificial but in the business world it’s just repositioning your product and that is what has been done.
You will lose some fans, you always do when you move grounds or you go under a big transition like has happened today, but I firmly believe that the benefits significantly outweigh the costs.
The Broncos especially has never really seen crowds of 8-9 thousand since the days of 1996, maybe now it’s time for that to change.
The final thing that makes the Broncos who they are, or the thing that people can identify fellow supporters with is the playing kit. Now the kit has changed over the years in both design and colour, and plans are for the Broncos kit in 2006 to be like that of Quins. Here is where I firmly disagree. I believe there needs to be some part of the Broncos that people can still associate with, they’ve lost the London name and their badge, so here I feel a compromise should be reached. I am firmly in favour of the kits to be similar to the Quins but maybe not the same colour. The favourite here must be to go back to the 4 quarter style kit with the red, blue and yellow. The cynics view is that this must be the case for both parties to make more money but then again the counter argument is that if you’re going to do it, you do it properly and that means everything that was London becomes a Quin. Yes this makes sense but could it turn away the die hard fan out of principle? In theory yes, but in practice no, because if they’re die hard they will support the team through whatever they wear.
My final point that I’d like to assess is the financial situation. The Broncos financial worries are all but plain to see, look what happened earlier this year. Forming any kind of partnership, even if the companies will remain separate will help the Broncos no end and should secure them financially for the future. Perhaps we’ve seen already the impact of the Broncos becoming the Quins. Last week, the Broncos found a new chairman in Ian Lenagan, he told me today he would’ve invested even without this new deal, but you can’t tell me knowing the Broncos can use the power of the Quins brand didn’t persuade him just a little. My point being is that the name Harlequins is so strong that it will immediately attract more investors just because of the name. This can only be good.
At this point I identify what I can see as the only real advantage to Harlequins as a rugby union outfit… the financial addition. There is no secret Harlequins need money, they couldn’t have asked for a worse case scenario last year, by being relegated whilst carrying out major work on the Stoop. However small the Broncos are they will still eject much needed cash in to the club, whether it be from sponsors, merchandise or just bums on seats. Harlequins CEO Mark Evans has stated this wasn’t his only motivation and that it was too good an opportunity to miss out on. Apart from possibly swapping ideas on the field (although even today Richards highlighted there is still a big gap between the two sports) and marketing expertise I fail too see any other motivation bar money, cynical I know.
Arguably this must be the last change the Broncos make, if they are to survive. This year showed, that if people don’t use the product the Broncos can’t function and whilst on the outset there may be some issues and that it is high risk, the fundamental question must be would the broncos have been successful carrying on as they are? In short the answer is no and so this partnership seems the next best thing.
The Broncos are back in rugby union heartlands what lays ahead of them is going to a tricky but ultimately exciting challenge to convert those heartlands to accommodate ‘rugby’.
Broncos Flying Visit Secures The Two Points (Date Published: 27.07.05)
In a week in which the Broncos found themselves returning home since the end of May, a new owner revealed and with more news to follow everyone was hoping for a win to give the team a four point gap between play off chasing Wigan, however it wasn’t just the weather that was hoping to rain on our fantastic week.
London started the game without influential New Zealand scrum half Tommy Leuluai and at the start it really did tell. Indeed London started off the worse of the two sides with Huddersfield hooker Brad Drew sneaking over from all of 30 cm. It was a poor try to concede and the Broncos were punished further, as former Bronco Chris Thorman made it 6-0 with barely 2 minutes on the clock.
It went from bad to worse for the Broncos as they seemingly were content on playing running rugby football in conditions that were more like the local swimming pool. Throwing, fumbling and juggling the ball all over the place it looked like it could be a long afternoon for the returning Broncos. The potential was there and this was apparent when great interplay between Mbu and Trindall near the Giants line nearly set up a try but it all got far too complicated and extravagant, a scrum duly followed.
The important thing was that London were doing something and their play soon adjusted and before the 10 minute mark the points were level as a beautiful pass gave Sykes the opportunity to slide in at the corner, he followed this up by converting his own kick.
Our ever present utility back went from hero to villain in the space of about two minutes, but before he did Thorman weaved through the leaky London defence to cross the whitewash showing that missed tackles cost us dear. 12-6 down and Thorman himself looked like he could destroy the Broncos single handed. From the resulting kick Sykes booted the ball out on the fall AGAIN!!! Giving Hudds a penalty. Don’t get me wrong Paul is a great kicker his stats show it all, one of the Leagues top point’s scorers and the only player to score in every round so far, but his kicking off is somewhat dodgy and after Bradford I am surprised it is still happening. This has to be one of his weaknesses and will cost the Broncos games, not just two points.
In the following play Huddersfield extended their lead when Chris Thorman slotted over a penalty making it 14-6.
London by now looked lacklustre and were in great doubt of keeping up with a determined Huddersfield. It wouldn’t take much, they weren’t playing amazing just playing the conditions better. Special praise must be given to the likes of Chris Thorman and Wayne McDonald who particularly caused the Broncos problems sucking in lots of players in to the ruck area. What amazed me was Wayne’s ability to offload at ease, he just popped it over the Broncos head because he’s so big!
Half way through the first half and fans favourite Mark Tookey stepped on to the scene and not even his direct running could help the team as they just went sideways with no running from depth or go forward. However…. That very tactic gave the London boys a try, they went one side and were met by a white wall of Giants, booted in a cross field kick, NBQ picked up, fumbled it and somehow flicked it on to Rob Purdham who crossed for his tenth try this season. Sykes converted and so now the teams were just separated by the Chris Thorman penalty, with London in the ascendance.
It was on 26 minutes that the best moment of the game came. Thorman kicked off, it landed at Tooky’s feet he picked up bounced off a couple wearing white and then sprinted away leaving all in his wake until he was finally caught on the half way line. Not too sure if it’s a good thing to know that our props really can run considering there were no players in support. Nonetheless it was still good to see.
London soon took the lead for the first time in the game with NBQ going over for his trademark 4 pointer in the corner, Sykes couldn’t covert however. London now in the lead by two, and were playing well.
Huddersfield were soon showing the effects of the London pressure as Chris Thorman then did a Sykes and booted the ball out on the fall from the kick off.
Tookey then got in to the act barraging over in typical Tookey fashion. Sykes converted to make it 22-14. It was a purple patch for the Broncos as they had scored three tries in twelve minutes to turn the game on its head. It was this spell that ultimately meant the points were staying in London.
Huddersfield who had a couple of repeated sets just could not break the Broncos line. The defence looked sturdier, but it still didn’t stop us throwing the kitchen sink to it at times. At half time the Broncos went in 22-14 up.
The second half didn’t start too brightly as first Spakles left the field and went straight down to the changing rooms and then Lucky was involved in a serious looking accident with the advertising boards as he defended against a Giants kick. The game was delayed and concern was etched over every Broncos face, is he ok and more importantly it’s one more added to a lengthening injury list. The good news was that both appeared to be fine and were sitting in the dug out by the time the final hooter game, albeit with Lucky on crutches.
Huddersfield then closed the gap on the Broncos by 2 points as Thorman converted a penalty for an apparent spear tackle, although it did look a bit dubious. Summed up referee Klein’s game, at best inconsistent at worse missing Huddersfield’s constant abuse of the offside rule.
London then took the game by the scruff of the neck as Tyrone Smith, who had it must be said had a quiet game crossed over in the corner. The try was made by a beautiful pass from Luke Dorn which opened a huge gap for Joe Mbu to sail through, Joe himself was unlucky not to score and perhaps with support runners coming from left, right and centre perhaps London should’ve scored earlier in the set. Sykes converted, London now 28-16 up.
London were to get on the score sheet once more before Huddersfield would show any sign of possibly coming back in to the game. Jon Wells ran from dummy half, sucked in several defenders, off-loaded it to Luke Dorn who dinked past the full back to go in under the posts. At 34-16 up with 20 minutes to go the game looked safe surely.
Huddersfield and Chris Thorman had other ideas. First Crabtree had a try disallowed for a forward pass and then Tom Hemingway put in a massive 40-20. It was more like a 20-20. It gave Huddersfield a sense of urgency and not for the first time the Giants crossed the whitewash in a soft try, during which the Broncos missed several tackles. At 34-22 with 10 minutes to go, the Giants could have still dug themselves back for a point if not the victory.
However, mistakes were still apparent none more so than from the player London only two weeks ago released. Lee Greenwood spooned several try scoring chances but possibly more worrying for his new coach Jon Sharp, 3 arguably 4 tries were conceded down his wing, showing his defence frailties.
The game was made safe 5 minutes from time when Sykes sealed the one pointer meaning the Giants would need to score three times for victory, it seemed time would be their own worst enemy. They did however, cross just once more to make the final score 35-26.
The Giants were outplayed over 80 minutes and the Broncos deserved the win, but you have to feel slightly sorry for Chris Thorman, who was immense and didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.
It was a far from polished performance and granted the conditions were terrible but the likes of Leeds, Hull and St Helens would have torn us to pieces. Saying that a win is a win and it now means we have a slight cushion on our nearest rivals. Making the play-offs must be our top priority. We are in form and have the team to do it, my only worry is the players possibly getting burnt out, injuries are creeping in and this like in the past has proved to be our downfall.
London started the game without influential New Zealand scrum half Tommy Leuluai and at the start it really did tell. Indeed London started off the worse of the two sides with Huddersfield hooker Brad Drew sneaking over from all of 30 cm. It was a poor try to concede and the Broncos were punished further, as former Bronco Chris Thorman made it 6-0 with barely 2 minutes on the clock.
It went from bad to worse for the Broncos as they seemingly were content on playing running rugby football in conditions that were more like the local swimming pool. Throwing, fumbling and juggling the ball all over the place it looked like it could be a long afternoon for the returning Broncos. The potential was there and this was apparent when great interplay between Mbu and Trindall near the Giants line nearly set up a try but it all got far too complicated and extravagant, a scrum duly followed.
The important thing was that London were doing something and their play soon adjusted and before the 10 minute mark the points were level as a beautiful pass gave Sykes the opportunity to slide in at the corner, he followed this up by converting his own kick.
Our ever present utility back went from hero to villain in the space of about two minutes, but before he did Thorman weaved through the leaky London defence to cross the whitewash showing that missed tackles cost us dear. 12-6 down and Thorman himself looked like he could destroy the Broncos single handed. From the resulting kick Sykes booted the ball out on the fall AGAIN!!! Giving Hudds a penalty. Don’t get me wrong Paul is a great kicker his stats show it all, one of the Leagues top point’s scorers and the only player to score in every round so far, but his kicking off is somewhat dodgy and after Bradford I am surprised it is still happening. This has to be one of his weaknesses and will cost the Broncos games, not just two points.
In the following play Huddersfield extended their lead when Chris Thorman slotted over a penalty making it 14-6.
London by now looked lacklustre and were in great doubt of keeping up with a determined Huddersfield. It wouldn’t take much, they weren’t playing amazing just playing the conditions better. Special praise must be given to the likes of Chris Thorman and Wayne McDonald who particularly caused the Broncos problems sucking in lots of players in to the ruck area. What amazed me was Wayne’s ability to offload at ease, he just popped it over the Broncos head because he’s so big!
Half way through the first half and fans favourite Mark Tookey stepped on to the scene and not even his direct running could help the team as they just went sideways with no running from depth or go forward. However…. That very tactic gave the London boys a try, they went one side and were met by a white wall of Giants, booted in a cross field kick, NBQ picked up, fumbled it and somehow flicked it on to Rob Purdham who crossed for his tenth try this season. Sykes converted and so now the teams were just separated by the Chris Thorman penalty, with London in the ascendance.
It was on 26 minutes that the best moment of the game came. Thorman kicked off, it landed at Tooky’s feet he picked up bounced off a couple wearing white and then sprinted away leaving all in his wake until he was finally caught on the half way line. Not too sure if it’s a good thing to know that our props really can run considering there were no players in support. Nonetheless it was still good to see.
London soon took the lead for the first time in the game with NBQ going over for his trademark 4 pointer in the corner, Sykes couldn’t covert however. London now in the lead by two, and were playing well.
Huddersfield were soon showing the effects of the London pressure as Chris Thorman then did a Sykes and booted the ball out on the fall from the kick off.
Tookey then got in to the act barraging over in typical Tookey fashion. Sykes converted to make it 22-14. It was a purple patch for the Broncos as they had scored three tries in twelve minutes to turn the game on its head. It was this spell that ultimately meant the points were staying in London.
Huddersfield who had a couple of repeated sets just could not break the Broncos line. The defence looked sturdier, but it still didn’t stop us throwing the kitchen sink to it at times. At half time the Broncos went in 22-14 up.
The second half didn’t start too brightly as first Spakles left the field and went straight down to the changing rooms and then Lucky was involved in a serious looking accident with the advertising boards as he defended against a Giants kick. The game was delayed and concern was etched over every Broncos face, is he ok and more importantly it’s one more added to a lengthening injury list. The good news was that both appeared to be fine and were sitting in the dug out by the time the final hooter game, albeit with Lucky on crutches.
Huddersfield then closed the gap on the Broncos by 2 points as Thorman converted a penalty for an apparent spear tackle, although it did look a bit dubious. Summed up referee Klein’s game, at best inconsistent at worse missing Huddersfield’s constant abuse of the offside rule.
London then took the game by the scruff of the neck as Tyrone Smith, who had it must be said had a quiet game crossed over in the corner. The try was made by a beautiful pass from Luke Dorn which opened a huge gap for Joe Mbu to sail through, Joe himself was unlucky not to score and perhaps with support runners coming from left, right and centre perhaps London should’ve scored earlier in the set. Sykes converted, London now 28-16 up.
London were to get on the score sheet once more before Huddersfield would show any sign of possibly coming back in to the game. Jon Wells ran from dummy half, sucked in several defenders, off-loaded it to Luke Dorn who dinked past the full back to go in under the posts. At 34-16 up with 20 minutes to go the game looked safe surely.
Huddersfield and Chris Thorman had other ideas. First Crabtree had a try disallowed for a forward pass and then Tom Hemingway put in a massive 40-20. It was more like a 20-20. It gave Huddersfield a sense of urgency and not for the first time the Giants crossed the whitewash in a soft try, during which the Broncos missed several tackles. At 34-22 with 10 minutes to go, the Giants could have still dug themselves back for a point if not the victory.
However, mistakes were still apparent none more so than from the player London only two weeks ago released. Lee Greenwood spooned several try scoring chances but possibly more worrying for his new coach Jon Sharp, 3 arguably 4 tries were conceded down his wing, showing his defence frailties.
The game was made safe 5 minutes from time when Sykes sealed the one pointer meaning the Giants would need to score three times for victory, it seemed time would be their own worst enemy. They did however, cross just once more to make the final score 35-26.
The Giants were outplayed over 80 minutes and the Broncos deserved the win, but you have to feel slightly sorry for Chris Thorman, who was immense and didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.
It was a far from polished performance and granted the conditions were terrible but the likes of Leeds, Hull and St Helens would have torn us to pieces. Saying that a win is a win and it now means we have a slight cushion on our nearest rivals. Making the play-offs must be our top priority. We are in form and have the team to do it, my only worry is the players possibly getting burnt out, injuries are creeping in and this like in the past has proved to be our downfall.
Time For Rea To Go (Date Published: 01.05.05)
You could be mistaken for thinking that sporting wise this weekend couldn’t get any more exciting. Yesterday Chelsea proved that money really can buy silverware, whilst Harlequins were relegated from top flight rugby for the first time in their history. However; there was the smaller matter of a rampant Bradford side looking for 3 on the trot visited Griffin Park to play a London side looking at 6 straight Super League defeats.
As the players ran out to perfect summer rugby conditions, fans had seen Tony Rea make some perhaps inspirational changes to the side. Anyone remember moving Dennis to full back? Lucky didn’t even make the 17 after a poor run in form, but the big news was that Mark McLinden was partnering Mark O’Halloran in the centres. In fact for most of the game Paul Sykes would play in the centres and Marty show that he really can play any position but leading from the back at full back.
It was the Bulls that came up with the first mistake with Bradford knocking on after some hard hitting tackles from the Broncos. From the scum London nearly scored after a cross field kick, but it was diffused.
London kept applying to pressure to the Bulls line, however the first points came after Paul Sykes stopped Bradford’s kick on the 5th tackle, he picked up and ran the length of the field to score under the posts. He duly converted his kick, 6-0 London.
It was nearly 10 minutes before Bradford got their first proper attack, with them breaking down their right wing, it possibly should’ve been a try, however Marty decided to take the guys head off and so Bradford got a penalty which they decided to run, however the Broncos defence stopped any threat. Arguably, McLinden should have been sin binned, it was a high tackle and he did stop a scoring opportunity. If Laughton had then the game could have been completely different; as will be discussed later.
Bradford started to play the rugby they are famous are and through the boot of Paul Deacon, they got the first and only 40/20 of the game. The penalty count started to rise as London struggled to cope with the power and pace of a huge Bulls pack. They decide not to for a tricky two points, however due to some brilliant tackles Bradford couldn’t cross the white wash.
In the space of two minutes, I feel Laughton lost all control of the game. First there was somewhat of a scramble for the ball on the floor with Bradford initially knocking on. However; Laughton believed that it was in fact London who had knocked on. The fans were irate, who if were honest have always felt Mr Laughton isn’t the best referee around. Things were about to get worse for the referee after it seemed Lee Radford tripped Paul Sykes after he cleared up the pieces from a Bradford attack. The penalty was awarded but no card was shown, Aspinwall all over again? I certainly think so. Not enough evidence, probably, after all it didn’t even go on report. All that could be heard from the stands was cries of ‘off off off’ mixed in with the chanting of ‘cheat.’
Luke Dorn then made a beautiful break, however Pryce caught him and decided to that the definition of a tackle is to put the player on the floor, pick them up again and then put them back on the floor. This was a blatant professional foul, and it should have seen Leon spend 10 minutes in the bin. However; Laughton not for the first time failed to set a benchmark for what is allowed and isn’t and only awarded a penalty. Bradford were made to pay though as Sykes slotted over the penalty, London were 8-0 up.
McLinden made a darting break on the 25 minute mark, which put Sykes through for a certain score, however he was held up. It was London’s turn to be awarded a string of penalties, well two. The first one they ran and from that they were awarded another penalty. I myself felt that they should go for the two, however they decided to run it, much to the horror to many Broncos fans. The Broncos showed why they decided to run for it as Hopkins came from no where to cross the whitewash and Sykes converted, with London 14-0 up, with Bradford on the rack and still 10 minutes to go of the 1st half.
London’s final score of the half came from Jon Wells, who after some slick play scored in the corner. As a hush drew over Griffin Park for Sykes to take his most difficult kick of the afternoon…. he missed it, and the hooter went, London were 18-0 up. Were London about to end their losing streak. They had played awesome in that first half, probably there best half of the season. You wouldn’t know Bradford had some of the worlds best players, the London defence all be it desperate at times shut out any threat from the likes of Paul, Deacon and Harris. The pressing defence had caused mistakes, mistakes which London benefited from. The game was there for the taking, it would require 10-15 minutes hard work at the start of the second half to seal the victory.
The second half didn’t start well as Sykes kicked out on the fall gifting Bradford a penalty from which Harris crossed over for Bradford’s first points of the afternoon. It was obvious Brian Noble had put a rocket up every single player as Bradford started to play with more flair and passion. Whilst London seemed to melt in the heat with first half hero Paul Sykes, becoming the villain, kicking out on the fall two more times from the kick off.
After a successful spell at full back in the first half Tony Rea decided to keep with him there and 10 minutes in to the 2nd half, London crossed to make it 22-4. It was great hands from the London backline, Leuluai to Dorn to McLinden who then gave it to Smith for him to score in the corner. Although we didn’t know it then, this was going to the only positive of the 2nd half. London just disappeared. They were stepping back from tackles, letting Bradford play the football they wanted.
At times it was like Bradford were playing for fun, taking the Broncos one way, watching them miss tackles here there and everywhere, only to take them back the other and leave gaping holes in a London defence that had proved very leaky this season. The lead soon vanished in to thin air as Reardon went over.
15 minutes in to the half, the points were level as Peacock crashed over, after several missed tackles. Just to think we were 18-0 up!! London looked dead and berried; but that didn’t stop Laughton making just one more mistake, awarding a penalty to Bradford for ripping at the ptb, although replays showed that Fielden actually knocked on.
Tries from the Pryce brothers, Jamie Langley and a deacon drop goal meant Bradford notched up 41 points on to the score board. Although; there was some class involved in these tries, you cant help thinking that if London had been tackling like they were in the first half Bradford would’ve have found the prospect of crossing the line a more difficult challenge.
Before the final hooter, NBQ crossed for a consolation try, showing that London do have the class but for whatever reason didn’t show it in the 2nd half. The final score being 41-22 to the Bulls.
Watching how badly we disintegrated today, I feel the question has to be asked should Mr Rea call it a day. I probably am underestimating how well Bradford played in the 2nd half. However as far as I’m concerned to give away an 18 point lead is suicidal. Just to think after our fabulous wins against Wakefield, Wigan and Widnes; fans had aspirations of possible trip to Old Trafford in October. The quality is there, but Tony doesn’t seem to be getting that out of the players and if he does it’s not for the total 80. London lost all kind of shape today and that just isn’t good enough at the top.
Due to London’s poor run in form, and a revival by Windes and Leigh two teams who were meant to be the leagues whipping boys, relegation has once more become a real issue. Tony has done the best he can with that team, and so I feel it is now time for him to resign and let someone else have a go, before it’s too late.
If London had won today; of course I wouldn’t be saying this, but its how they lost that hurts the most. The points were there for the taking and not for the first time this season London let the points slip away.
Until the management changes I fail to see how the Broncos form will change.
As the players ran out to perfect summer rugby conditions, fans had seen Tony Rea make some perhaps inspirational changes to the side. Anyone remember moving Dennis to full back? Lucky didn’t even make the 17 after a poor run in form, but the big news was that Mark McLinden was partnering Mark O’Halloran in the centres. In fact for most of the game Paul Sykes would play in the centres and Marty show that he really can play any position but leading from the back at full back.
It was the Bulls that came up with the first mistake with Bradford knocking on after some hard hitting tackles from the Broncos. From the scum London nearly scored after a cross field kick, but it was diffused.
London kept applying to pressure to the Bulls line, however the first points came after Paul Sykes stopped Bradford’s kick on the 5th tackle, he picked up and ran the length of the field to score under the posts. He duly converted his kick, 6-0 London.
It was nearly 10 minutes before Bradford got their first proper attack, with them breaking down their right wing, it possibly should’ve been a try, however Marty decided to take the guys head off and so Bradford got a penalty which they decided to run, however the Broncos defence stopped any threat. Arguably, McLinden should have been sin binned, it was a high tackle and he did stop a scoring opportunity. If Laughton had then the game could have been completely different; as will be discussed later.
Bradford started to play the rugby they are famous are and through the boot of Paul Deacon, they got the first and only 40/20 of the game. The penalty count started to rise as London struggled to cope with the power and pace of a huge Bulls pack. They decide not to for a tricky two points, however due to some brilliant tackles Bradford couldn’t cross the white wash.
In the space of two minutes, I feel Laughton lost all control of the game. First there was somewhat of a scramble for the ball on the floor with Bradford initially knocking on. However; Laughton believed that it was in fact London who had knocked on. The fans were irate, who if were honest have always felt Mr Laughton isn’t the best referee around. Things were about to get worse for the referee after it seemed Lee Radford tripped Paul Sykes after he cleared up the pieces from a Bradford attack. The penalty was awarded but no card was shown, Aspinwall all over again? I certainly think so. Not enough evidence, probably, after all it didn’t even go on report. All that could be heard from the stands was cries of ‘off off off’ mixed in with the chanting of ‘cheat.’
Luke Dorn then made a beautiful break, however Pryce caught him and decided to that the definition of a tackle is to put the player on the floor, pick them up again and then put them back on the floor. This was a blatant professional foul, and it should have seen Leon spend 10 minutes in the bin. However; Laughton not for the first time failed to set a benchmark for what is allowed and isn’t and only awarded a penalty. Bradford were made to pay though as Sykes slotted over the penalty, London were 8-0 up.
McLinden made a darting break on the 25 minute mark, which put Sykes through for a certain score, however he was held up. It was London’s turn to be awarded a string of penalties, well two. The first one they ran and from that they were awarded another penalty. I myself felt that they should go for the two, however they decided to run it, much to the horror to many Broncos fans. The Broncos showed why they decided to run for it as Hopkins came from no where to cross the whitewash and Sykes converted, with London 14-0 up, with Bradford on the rack and still 10 minutes to go of the 1st half.
London’s final score of the half came from Jon Wells, who after some slick play scored in the corner. As a hush drew over Griffin Park for Sykes to take his most difficult kick of the afternoon…. he missed it, and the hooter went, London were 18-0 up. Were London about to end their losing streak. They had played awesome in that first half, probably there best half of the season. You wouldn’t know Bradford had some of the worlds best players, the London defence all be it desperate at times shut out any threat from the likes of Paul, Deacon and Harris. The pressing defence had caused mistakes, mistakes which London benefited from. The game was there for the taking, it would require 10-15 minutes hard work at the start of the second half to seal the victory.
The second half didn’t start well as Sykes kicked out on the fall gifting Bradford a penalty from which Harris crossed over for Bradford’s first points of the afternoon. It was obvious Brian Noble had put a rocket up every single player as Bradford started to play with more flair and passion. Whilst London seemed to melt in the heat with first half hero Paul Sykes, becoming the villain, kicking out on the fall two more times from the kick off.
After a successful spell at full back in the first half Tony Rea decided to keep with him there and 10 minutes in to the 2nd half, London crossed to make it 22-4. It was great hands from the London backline, Leuluai to Dorn to McLinden who then gave it to Smith for him to score in the corner. Although we didn’t know it then, this was going to the only positive of the 2nd half. London just disappeared. They were stepping back from tackles, letting Bradford play the football they wanted.
At times it was like Bradford were playing for fun, taking the Broncos one way, watching them miss tackles here there and everywhere, only to take them back the other and leave gaping holes in a London defence that had proved very leaky this season. The lead soon vanished in to thin air as Reardon went over.
15 minutes in to the half, the points were level as Peacock crashed over, after several missed tackles. Just to think we were 18-0 up!! London looked dead and berried; but that didn’t stop Laughton making just one more mistake, awarding a penalty to Bradford for ripping at the ptb, although replays showed that Fielden actually knocked on.
Tries from the Pryce brothers, Jamie Langley and a deacon drop goal meant Bradford notched up 41 points on to the score board. Although; there was some class involved in these tries, you cant help thinking that if London had been tackling like they were in the first half Bradford would’ve have found the prospect of crossing the line a more difficult challenge.
Before the final hooter, NBQ crossed for a consolation try, showing that London do have the class but for whatever reason didn’t show it in the 2nd half. The final score being 41-22 to the Bulls.
Watching how badly we disintegrated today, I feel the question has to be asked should Mr Rea call it a day. I probably am underestimating how well Bradford played in the 2nd half. However as far as I’m concerned to give away an 18 point lead is suicidal. Just to think after our fabulous wins against Wakefield, Wigan and Widnes; fans had aspirations of possible trip to Old Trafford in October. The quality is there, but Tony doesn’t seem to be getting that out of the players and if he does it’s not for the total 80. London lost all kind of shape today and that just isn’t good enough at the top.
Due to London’s poor run in form, and a revival by Windes and Leigh two teams who were meant to be the leagues whipping boys, relegation has once more become a real issue. Tony has done the best he can with that team, and so I feel it is now time for him to resign and let someone else have a go, before it’s too late.
If London had won today; of course I wouldn’t be saying this, but its how they lost that hurts the most. The points were there for the taking and not for the first time this season London let the points slip away.
Until the management changes I fail to see how the Broncos form will change.
A Weekend To Forget (Date Published: 29.03.05)
It’s a gloom, overcast Tuesday morning and as people wake up all thought of summer is a distant thought as more importantly people are coming to terms with the weekends Super League action. For the first time this season London have now lost two in a row, the first a close encounter at Griffin Park against a strong Hull side, and then last night against winless Leigh.
Obviously losing any game isn’t good but to lose two in a row and against two teams that we can beat is even more disappointing. In the Hull game we were outplayed and not helped by the referee, however we can’t blame the ref all the time, we have to play to him and that’s what Hull did. London also did throw away a 10 point lead, which against Hull is unforgivable. The game was won or should I say lost half way through the second half when there was a huge mix up between Leuluai and Hopkins after being awarded a penalty. It destroyed the Broncos momentum and then Hull pounced.
As for last night, well what can I say? Ever since the fixture list was released people were labelling it as a potential banana skin, memories of Halfiax, Cas were at the forefront of peoples memories as London typically don’t play well or turn up against these teams. By all accounts London didn’t play well last night, but then they haven’t been playing well away all year. Whilst Leigh had been the whipping boys, they had been slowly getting better and whether you’re going to admit it or not their first win was going to come at some point. Unfortunately their first win came against us, there’s nothing we can do about it, its part and parcel of being a London fan I suppose. It’s obviously going to hurt more because of McLinden’s sin binning 8 minutes from time and then with former Bronco Rob Jackson crashing over a minute later would hurt the Broncos. Anyone remember a Martin Offiah hat trick for Salford against us? Former players scoring against us will always hurt, but its hard fact of sport.
London’s play off chances are far from dead. The Super League is some what unpredictable this year. Wakefield beat Wigan and thrashed Leeds last night but then got thumped by the rampant Broncos side when they came down to GP. Who’d thought it Leeds would lose to Wakefield but beat Bradford in a thrilling encounter at the Osdal on Friday night? It is near enough impossible to predict anymore and this can only be good for teams like London who tend to be a little inconsistent. It also makes for very exciting rugby league, every game seems to have you on the edge of your seat even if you don’t support any of the teams on show. Like the Saints v Bulls game yesterday. That game could’ve gone either way and you didn’t know where the points were going to go until the end when Paul Deacon decided to for the one, still not sure why he did! SO even if London are losing so are other teams, and I’m sure we won’t be Leigh’s only scalp this year.
What must be remembered is that London are still a relatively small squad, compare the team sheets on the back of the Hull ‘Game On’ magazine. Hulls stretched down the whole page, whilst London’s stopped 2/3 down. London undoubtedly have a lot of talent but that talent is going to get tired and Fridays game would have taken a lot out of them. After the game they were dead, to pick themselves up for a game on Monday was always going to be a big ask. This is where the big squads come in. Teams like Hull, Saints, Bradford all have big squads so they can afford to rest a lot of their players and if they get injuries then they can bring in replacements. If London get injuries then we always seem to question, well whose going to fill the space? This year, the question hasn’t always had to be asked, but with an ever lengthening injury list and with 3 possibly injured after last night, is it any surprise we lost? There’s only so much hard hitting tackles the players can take. Let’s hope the Tony Rea loan campaign kicks in shortly and we pick up some useful players, Mr Botham you around at all?
London has made a great start to the season and possibly we got a little complacent. Not since I’ve supported them at least have we won on the first day of the season, until this year when we beat play off rivals Warrington. London were scoring freely and playing very attractive rugby. However, in the past few weeks I think its become apparent London have a rather leaky defence. This cost us against Hull and I’m guessing against Leigh. Defence will win the games not the attacking flair. It is nice to watch but if for every try we score we concede two it won’t make for good season. That is obviously an extreme, but London have conceded very soft tries, especially against Wakey and Widnes, but it just wasn’t a problem then because of the scores we put on them. With poor defence comes poor discipline and whether they were controversial or not, two men have been put in the bin in the past two games for holding down. When Greenwood was binned against Hull it was because one of the Broncos players missed a tackle which allowed Raynor I believe to slip through and it was Greenwood with a flying cover tackle that stopped a certain try.
This article probably does seem a bit negative, but was it a case of fans expecting too much? Look how badly we played in places last year but still finished the season respectively. London are penetrating defences something which hasn’t been seen before. They can’t be perfect all the time, not even Leeds can, and I must admit I thought they could’ve done an Arsenal this year and not lost a Super League game, they looked so strong. London are still developing and it will take time. Lastly, if we as fans weren’t unhappy about this weekends performances wouldn’t we be bad fans? Why should be let the team off, they played badly and we need to improve no point hiding sweeping it under the carpet. You get no points for being friendly in sport.
Obviously losing any game isn’t good but to lose two in a row and against two teams that we can beat is even more disappointing. In the Hull game we were outplayed and not helped by the referee, however we can’t blame the ref all the time, we have to play to him and that’s what Hull did. London also did throw away a 10 point lead, which against Hull is unforgivable. The game was won or should I say lost half way through the second half when there was a huge mix up between Leuluai and Hopkins after being awarded a penalty. It destroyed the Broncos momentum and then Hull pounced.
As for last night, well what can I say? Ever since the fixture list was released people were labelling it as a potential banana skin, memories of Halfiax, Cas were at the forefront of peoples memories as London typically don’t play well or turn up against these teams. By all accounts London didn’t play well last night, but then they haven’t been playing well away all year. Whilst Leigh had been the whipping boys, they had been slowly getting better and whether you’re going to admit it or not their first win was going to come at some point. Unfortunately their first win came against us, there’s nothing we can do about it, its part and parcel of being a London fan I suppose. It’s obviously going to hurt more because of McLinden’s sin binning 8 minutes from time and then with former Bronco Rob Jackson crashing over a minute later would hurt the Broncos. Anyone remember a Martin Offiah hat trick for Salford against us? Former players scoring against us will always hurt, but its hard fact of sport.
London’s play off chances are far from dead. The Super League is some what unpredictable this year. Wakefield beat Wigan and thrashed Leeds last night but then got thumped by the rampant Broncos side when they came down to GP. Who’d thought it Leeds would lose to Wakefield but beat Bradford in a thrilling encounter at the Osdal on Friday night? It is near enough impossible to predict anymore and this can only be good for teams like London who tend to be a little inconsistent. It also makes for very exciting rugby league, every game seems to have you on the edge of your seat even if you don’t support any of the teams on show. Like the Saints v Bulls game yesterday. That game could’ve gone either way and you didn’t know where the points were going to go until the end when Paul Deacon decided to for the one, still not sure why he did! SO even if London are losing so are other teams, and I’m sure we won’t be Leigh’s only scalp this year.
What must be remembered is that London are still a relatively small squad, compare the team sheets on the back of the Hull ‘Game On’ magazine. Hulls stretched down the whole page, whilst London’s stopped 2/3 down. London undoubtedly have a lot of talent but that talent is going to get tired and Fridays game would have taken a lot out of them. After the game they were dead, to pick themselves up for a game on Monday was always going to be a big ask. This is where the big squads come in. Teams like Hull, Saints, Bradford all have big squads so they can afford to rest a lot of their players and if they get injuries then they can bring in replacements. If London get injuries then we always seem to question, well whose going to fill the space? This year, the question hasn’t always had to be asked, but with an ever lengthening injury list and with 3 possibly injured after last night, is it any surprise we lost? There’s only so much hard hitting tackles the players can take. Let’s hope the Tony Rea loan campaign kicks in shortly and we pick up some useful players, Mr Botham you around at all?
London has made a great start to the season and possibly we got a little complacent. Not since I’ve supported them at least have we won on the first day of the season, until this year when we beat play off rivals Warrington. London were scoring freely and playing very attractive rugby. However, in the past few weeks I think its become apparent London have a rather leaky defence. This cost us against Hull and I’m guessing against Leigh. Defence will win the games not the attacking flair. It is nice to watch but if for every try we score we concede two it won’t make for good season. That is obviously an extreme, but London have conceded very soft tries, especially against Wakey and Widnes, but it just wasn’t a problem then because of the scores we put on them. With poor defence comes poor discipline and whether they were controversial or not, two men have been put in the bin in the past two games for holding down. When Greenwood was binned against Hull it was because one of the Broncos players missed a tackle which allowed Raynor I believe to slip through and it was Greenwood with a flying cover tackle that stopped a certain try.
This article probably does seem a bit negative, but was it a case of fans expecting too much? Look how badly we played in places last year but still finished the season respectively. London are penetrating defences something which hasn’t been seen before. They can’t be perfect all the time, not even Leeds can, and I must admit I thought they could’ve done an Arsenal this year and not lost a Super League game, they looked so strong. London are still developing and it will take time. Lastly, if we as fans weren’t unhappy about this weekends performances wouldn’t we be bad fans? Why should be let the team off, they played badly and we need to improve no point hiding sweeping it under the carpet. You get no points for being friendly in sport.
Back To Earth With A Bump (Date Published: 25.03.05)
In recent weeks it was conceivable to believe that London were invincible and certainly on cloud 9 after marvellous victories over Wigan, Wakefield and Widnes, however with a in form Hull side coming to the fortress there was a chance our unbeaten home record could vanish in 80 minutes. As we were to find out it didn’t turn out to be a Good Friday to remember for the Broncos and Leeds once again showed they were the invincible team to beat thrashing a rampant Bradford side 40-12.
As the sun shone brightly for the first time on Griffin Park this season, so did a bright London side, forcing Hull to knock on their 20 metre line. From the resulting set of 6 London continued the flowing rugby they have shown all season with Nick Bradley-Qalilawa crossing in the corner for his 3rd try in 2 games, after just 2 minutes. Sykes was unlucky in the conversion, although if NBQ keeps scoring in the corner he’s certainly going to get a lot of practice. Tony Rea couldn’t have asked for a better start, however; I guarantee he didn’t know London were going to add an extra 6 even before the game was 10 minutes old.
It was again from the Hull 20 with Luke Dorn throwing a huge dummy to split the Hull defence and go under the sticks. Sykes duly converted. Up to this point Hull were asleep, they were still on the coach, and I must admit I was thinking this could be another fantastic win for the Broncos. Saying that I should’ve known better that someone like John Kear and a team like Hull were never going to lose lying down. Indeed after this try Hull woke up and two tries followed, from Raynor and Kirk Yeaman, to leave the score at 10 all.
The tries didn’t come from the run of play at all; Hull had applied a lot of pressure to the Broncos line and like against Widnes the Broncos defence didn’t look tight at all. However they also had themselves to blame with them frequently coughing up possession through knock ons or over ambitious moves. This was summed up 20 minutes in when London were awarded a penalty on the Hull 40 metre line. Many thought this was the opportunity London needed to relive the immense pressure Hull had placed on us, literally giving us no space. However; it turned out to be the huge turning point in the first half and in my opinion ultimately lost us the game. Instead of kicking to the corner and getting our heavyweights to push it up there, Thomas Leuluai decided to go for the kick tap. However he gave what can only be described as a stupid pass to Lee Hopkins who was a good yard in front of the ball to cough up possession. It certainly was poor considering the form both of these guys had been in. It did kind of sum up Leuluai’s today who didn’t play well, but then in fairness he was shut down well by a strong Hull defence.
In the last 20 minutes London were no where to be seen with Hull dictating everything. A score was bound to follow and it did in the shape of Stephen Kearney. It was all Hull deserved for all their hard work and in the remaining 13 minutes of the half every Bronco fan was either having a go at the ref or praying that we didn’t concede any more points. Hull were unlucky not to go in to the hall time interval even more in front. They didn’t through a desperate London defense in which Jon Wells and Paul Sykes both made interceptions, and through there own mistakes. On another day this could have cost Hull dear.
Before the hooter went for half time, London did get down to Hulls line, with Tookey picking up a loose ball to go over from all of 20 centimeters. However, referee Lawton didn’t give it as London knocked on in to the build up of the try.
Half time couldn’t arrive soon enough for the Broncos, who for the first time this season were under pressure and not clicking as a team. Being 16-10 down it was always going to be a tough job stopping these two points going back to Hull. It didn’t help with some strange and controversial decisions by the referee which only made matters worse, especially in the second half.
Any hope we had that London were going to be a different team when they re entered the pitch were soon dashed when from the kick off London allowed the ball to bounce and Hull picked up the ball. Anyone who knows even the slightest bit about rugby league this is one of the worse sins in rugby and London were punished with Hull scoring a penalty through Danny Brough. Hull should never have had the chance to score; it was only through sloppy play by the Broncos. It was like they had come in to the game thinking they were going to win it and when this didn’t go to plan their heads started to fall. The penalty also meant London had to score twice and a victory soon to drift away. Matters were made worse when NBQ went from hero to villain gifting Hull a drop out after a moment of madness. Putting even more pressure on a shaky London defense. Without picking on NBQ too much, to me and some others I think it has shown that whilst he is great going forward, defending he is not so good at and possibly needs to work on it. He made some silly mistakes against Widnes and the same happened today. It wasn’t just him however. Another person who springs to mind was Lucky, who I feel has had a terrible week. He didn’t play well last week and this week he was far too shallow and meant Hull had lots of space to attack.
By this time Lawton was getting slack almost constantly. Now, I am going to be slightly bias but it did seem he was been unfair and inconsistent. Saying that it is no secret that if your going forward you get the rub of the green and London certainly weren’t going forward they lacked all direction.
Hull then made a break away down the far flank and the two Lee’s (Greenwood and Hopkins) raced back to catch the Hull player meters from the line. Greenwood in my opinion was controversially sin binned for a professional foul as the rest of the team raced back. Considering how London had been playing, this probably could’ve and probably should’ve been curtains, but London don’t do things in the orthodox way, and how the Hopkins/Leuluai blunder changed the game in the first half so did this. It gave London a new spring in their step, they game together and things started to click.
The tables were literally turned as London started applying the pressure hoping to show their true worth and coming back to win the game. London kept pushing and with McLinden back off the bench (God knows why he was on there for so long) things happened and with great link up play with the backs set up Joe Mbu who went over, only for Lawton to judge he was held up. It wasn’t long before London soon crossed the white wash again with Lee Greenwood back on the field; it was NBQ trying to make amends however again it was disallowed with the touch judge deciding he was pushed out in the corner. It backed up the case even more for video refs to be at every game, but more importantly it summed up today and showed it wasn’t going to be our day.
It was a frantic last 10 minutes, with Dorn and McLinden trying every trick in the book to cross the white wash. However, they just couldn’t penetrate the Hull defense that was until the 75 minute, when Joe Mbu who had worked tirelessly in the game crossed the whitewash for the second time and this time it was given and with Sykes converting it set up an exciting last 5 minutes. London were all over Hull, trying to grab 4 points just to tie the game. London would have been happy with a point after playing so badly at points in the game. Memories of 2002 when Dennis Moran crossed with seconds to go came back and I know I was hoping someone could repeat this feat. However it just wasn’t to be, as the hooter went with London losing 20-16.
To be fair if London had come out with anything they wouldn’t have deserved it, they played badly today and maybe this was what they needed to keep their feet back on the ground. You have to take your hat off to Hull and John Kear who knew coming to Griffin Park wasn’t going to be easy and they proved they are going to be up there after getting two points today, they applied a lot of pressure and London didn’t know what to do. Let’s just hope London bounce back with a win against Leigh on Monday.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad; London must take heart how they played during and after Greenwoods sin binning. There were some brilliant performances by McLinden, Dorn, Sykes, Mbu and Jon Wells who played a lot of the second half at second row.
The season isn’t over by a long way, our unbeaten home record might be, but even the best fall at some point and I will be surprised if London don’t finish in the top 6.
As the sun shone brightly for the first time on Griffin Park this season, so did a bright London side, forcing Hull to knock on their 20 metre line. From the resulting set of 6 London continued the flowing rugby they have shown all season with Nick Bradley-Qalilawa crossing in the corner for his 3rd try in 2 games, after just 2 minutes. Sykes was unlucky in the conversion, although if NBQ keeps scoring in the corner he’s certainly going to get a lot of practice. Tony Rea couldn’t have asked for a better start, however; I guarantee he didn’t know London were going to add an extra 6 even before the game was 10 minutes old.
It was again from the Hull 20 with Luke Dorn throwing a huge dummy to split the Hull defence and go under the sticks. Sykes duly converted. Up to this point Hull were asleep, they were still on the coach, and I must admit I was thinking this could be another fantastic win for the Broncos. Saying that I should’ve known better that someone like John Kear and a team like Hull were never going to lose lying down. Indeed after this try Hull woke up and two tries followed, from Raynor and Kirk Yeaman, to leave the score at 10 all.
The tries didn’t come from the run of play at all; Hull had applied a lot of pressure to the Broncos line and like against Widnes the Broncos defence didn’t look tight at all. However they also had themselves to blame with them frequently coughing up possession through knock ons or over ambitious moves. This was summed up 20 minutes in when London were awarded a penalty on the Hull 40 metre line. Many thought this was the opportunity London needed to relive the immense pressure Hull had placed on us, literally giving us no space. However; it turned out to be the huge turning point in the first half and in my opinion ultimately lost us the game. Instead of kicking to the corner and getting our heavyweights to push it up there, Thomas Leuluai decided to go for the kick tap. However he gave what can only be described as a stupid pass to Lee Hopkins who was a good yard in front of the ball to cough up possession. It certainly was poor considering the form both of these guys had been in. It did kind of sum up Leuluai’s today who didn’t play well, but then in fairness he was shut down well by a strong Hull defence.
In the last 20 minutes London were no where to be seen with Hull dictating everything. A score was bound to follow and it did in the shape of Stephen Kearney. It was all Hull deserved for all their hard work and in the remaining 13 minutes of the half every Bronco fan was either having a go at the ref or praying that we didn’t concede any more points. Hull were unlucky not to go in to the hall time interval even more in front. They didn’t through a desperate London defense in which Jon Wells and Paul Sykes both made interceptions, and through there own mistakes. On another day this could have cost Hull dear.
Before the hooter went for half time, London did get down to Hulls line, with Tookey picking up a loose ball to go over from all of 20 centimeters. However, referee Lawton didn’t give it as London knocked on in to the build up of the try.
Half time couldn’t arrive soon enough for the Broncos, who for the first time this season were under pressure and not clicking as a team. Being 16-10 down it was always going to be a tough job stopping these two points going back to Hull. It didn’t help with some strange and controversial decisions by the referee which only made matters worse, especially in the second half.
Any hope we had that London were going to be a different team when they re entered the pitch were soon dashed when from the kick off London allowed the ball to bounce and Hull picked up the ball. Anyone who knows even the slightest bit about rugby league this is one of the worse sins in rugby and London were punished with Hull scoring a penalty through Danny Brough. Hull should never have had the chance to score; it was only through sloppy play by the Broncos. It was like they had come in to the game thinking they were going to win it and when this didn’t go to plan their heads started to fall. The penalty also meant London had to score twice and a victory soon to drift away. Matters were made worse when NBQ went from hero to villain gifting Hull a drop out after a moment of madness. Putting even more pressure on a shaky London defense. Without picking on NBQ too much, to me and some others I think it has shown that whilst he is great going forward, defending he is not so good at and possibly needs to work on it. He made some silly mistakes against Widnes and the same happened today. It wasn’t just him however. Another person who springs to mind was Lucky, who I feel has had a terrible week. He didn’t play well last week and this week he was far too shallow and meant Hull had lots of space to attack.
By this time Lawton was getting slack almost constantly. Now, I am going to be slightly bias but it did seem he was been unfair and inconsistent. Saying that it is no secret that if your going forward you get the rub of the green and London certainly weren’t going forward they lacked all direction.
Hull then made a break away down the far flank and the two Lee’s (Greenwood and Hopkins) raced back to catch the Hull player meters from the line. Greenwood in my opinion was controversially sin binned for a professional foul as the rest of the team raced back. Considering how London had been playing, this probably could’ve and probably should’ve been curtains, but London don’t do things in the orthodox way, and how the Hopkins/Leuluai blunder changed the game in the first half so did this. It gave London a new spring in their step, they game together and things started to click.
The tables were literally turned as London started applying the pressure hoping to show their true worth and coming back to win the game. London kept pushing and with McLinden back off the bench (God knows why he was on there for so long) things happened and with great link up play with the backs set up Joe Mbu who went over, only for Lawton to judge he was held up. It wasn’t long before London soon crossed the white wash again with Lee Greenwood back on the field; it was NBQ trying to make amends however again it was disallowed with the touch judge deciding he was pushed out in the corner. It backed up the case even more for video refs to be at every game, but more importantly it summed up today and showed it wasn’t going to be our day.
It was a frantic last 10 minutes, with Dorn and McLinden trying every trick in the book to cross the white wash. However, they just couldn’t penetrate the Hull defense that was until the 75 minute, when Joe Mbu who had worked tirelessly in the game crossed the whitewash for the second time and this time it was given and with Sykes converting it set up an exciting last 5 minutes. London were all over Hull, trying to grab 4 points just to tie the game. London would have been happy with a point after playing so badly at points in the game. Memories of 2002 when Dennis Moran crossed with seconds to go came back and I know I was hoping someone could repeat this feat. However it just wasn’t to be, as the hooter went with London losing 20-16.
To be fair if London had come out with anything they wouldn’t have deserved it, they played badly today and maybe this was what they needed to keep their feet back on the ground. You have to take your hat off to Hull and John Kear who knew coming to Griffin Park wasn’t going to be easy and they proved they are going to be up there after getting two points today, they applied a lot of pressure and London didn’t know what to do. Let’s just hope London bounce back with a win against Leigh on Monday.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad; London must take heart how they played during and after Greenwoods sin binning. There were some brilliant performances by McLinden, Dorn, Sykes, Mbu and Jon Wells who played a lot of the second half at second row.
The season isn’t over by a long way, our unbeaten home record might be, but even the best fall at some point and I will be surprised if London don’t finish in the top 6.
Taken To The Cleaners (Date Published: 27.02.05)
A phrase that is normally used for a Broncos dismal away performance, however today the shoe was on the other foot, when Wakefield came to town. They were bulldozed over by a rampant Broncos team, scoring no less than 12 tries and Paul Sykes scoring 12 from 12 from the boot. The game will go down in history as one to remember for Broncos fans.
Before the match you could feel the tension building, with many including myself expecting a Wakefield victory. After their superb victory against the Warriors and with our poor discipline costing us defeat at the Willows.
Led out by stand in captain for the day Lee Hopkins, with Mark McLinden on the bench to a huge Broncos support I don’t think any fan had a clue what was about to come. Indeed in was Wakefield who started the brighter of the two sides, and Broncos soon started giving away penalties and one was for back chat. However this ill discipline soon went and the Broncos started to play flowing football. London piled on the pressure and this pressure soon told with Rob Purdham going in and Sykes duly converting. The try was somewhat of a shock to many Broncos fans who thought that Rob was initially held up; it was only when referee Ian Smith came over was the try awarded. This kicked the Broncos in to action, along with a fairly hefty snow shower.
As soon as the snow came, many were apprehensive what this would do to the players, after all many are from warmer climates and I heard even one fan informing our Australian continent that the white stuff falling was snow. Fans only had to wait another 7 minutes before in form Luke Dorn flew over in the corner after some confusion about who’s ball it was, but it came about after a magnificent run from find of the pre season Lee Hopkins. Sykes again converted from the corner to huge cheers from the Broncos fans.
Lee Hopkins then went over himself straight from the kick off and deciding to go himself when he had the choice of an overlap. Thankfully the overlap wasn’t needed the Broncos were 18-0 up and it wasn’t even 25 minutes in to the game. Now ask any fan what are London good at doing and they all say the same thing….. throwing away leads. Too many times before have London had commanding leads only to see them thrown away. There was one obviously advantage for the London side playing in by now were awful conditions and that was the wind. It was blowing straight down the throats of the Wakefield team and maybe this had something to do Londons purple patch, as a try from debutant Tyrone Smith followed after good interplay between the backs on the far side. With Luke Dorn breaking and putting Smith in for an easy try. It sent the Breamer Road stand in to a mental state of jubilation, but silenced an already quiet but quite large set of Wakefield fans who had made the trip South looking for warmer weather but also a win, neither were to happen today.
Before the half time hooter went London crossed the Wakefield white wash one more time with Anthony Armour barging over. Arguably any one of the props could have scored, with Mark Tookey especially making some notable runs, and even the odd pass or too. The hooter went with London 36-0 up, surely they couldn’t throw this away, only time would tell.
The wind had died down and a win was defiantly on the cards, unless Shane McNally could spring some magic in the dressing room, although arguably he had already played his trump card taking off former Widnes loose forward Julian O’Neil.
Half time saw a certain Mr Warren, try, try and try again at putting in a 40-20 after two contestants both tried and failed, but it ended in disappointment as his kicks ended up further in field than the touch line!!
So out came the Broncos for the second period, the next ten minutes were going to be crucial. It always seems that the 10 minutes after half term is Broncos weak spot. Again this seemed to happen again as Wakefield piled on the pressure after some silly errors by the Broncos, but not even the rampant Michael Korkidas could punch holes in a solid London defence. The try that probably sealed the victory came on 47 minutes, with Lee Greenwood showing why he is one of Super Leagues fastest. After quick hands from the Broncos, Lee found himself with a touch line to run down, but he wasn’t quite finished as he ran past two more Wildcats to put the ball under the posts to give Sykes an easy compared. Saying that Sykes made even the hardest kicks look easy today, scoring from any distance, and any side. Andy Robinson/Charlie Hodgson were you watching?
With the score at 42-0 the fun really started. The chants of We Love You London, Tony Rea’s Barmy Army, and the best of the lot Stevo, Stevo, Stevo, What’s the score? After Sky Sports reporter Phil Clarke tipped the Broncos for the drop. Today there was no sign of relegation as the Broncos certainly showed why they deserve to be near the summit of Super League.
Both Mark McLinden and Tyrone Smith then doubled their tally for the afternoon as both went under the sticks after slack play from the Wildcats. By this time more chants emerged, of easy, easy, Hughesie and can we play you every week, as the Broncos eased past the 50 point mark in fashion.
Only once was in 54-0 did Wakefield get on the score sheet through former Bronco, Darrel Griffin, but by then it was all over and came though poor tackling by the Broncos, showing that the defence still isn’t water tight. It would have been nice to nil them, but a Wakefield score wasn’t going to cause much bother to a Broncos side still looking at scoring more tries. Jamie Rooney’s attempt on goal seemed to sum up Wakefield’s day. In a position that was more than kickable for someone of Jamie’s ability, he hit the post and it went the wrong side to deny the Wildcats two extra points.
Luke Dorn then grabbed his second of the day after rounding the Wildcats fullback and Sykes converted in front of the posts. At this point there was still 13 minutes left and it seemed like every time the Broncos had the ball they were going to score. It certainly seemed like every time Wakefield kicked to the Broncos to restart the Broncos came straight back at them with a try.
Lee Greenwood and man of the match Thomas Leuluai finished the scoring for the Broncos, but it was Ben Jeffries who scored last for Wakefield right in the corner on the hooter, and this brought about a huge cheer from the Bronco faithful. The game finished 72-8. Don’t get me wrong the Broncos certainly played well, but Wakefield didn’t turn up today and through this and some the Broncos stopping the likes of Jason Demetriou, Jamie Rooney, Ben Jeffries, David March and Michael Korkidas playing the destructive game that blew Wigan and Bradford away in the previous rounds.
To sum up how well London played, you just have to see that when I asked my family and friends around me who should be man of the match and every single person said someone different showing that there was no one player that didn’t play their part in today’s performance.
Now you know Tony Rea by now, he will be happy but he will also know the season is 28 rounds long and not just decided on one fabulous victory, so expect a hard weeks training as they travel up to a reformed Bradford side after their great fight back against Wigan, both teams looking for a much needed 2 points.
Before the match you could feel the tension building, with many including myself expecting a Wakefield victory. After their superb victory against the Warriors and with our poor discipline costing us defeat at the Willows.
Led out by stand in captain for the day Lee Hopkins, with Mark McLinden on the bench to a huge Broncos support I don’t think any fan had a clue what was about to come. Indeed in was Wakefield who started the brighter of the two sides, and Broncos soon started giving away penalties and one was for back chat. However this ill discipline soon went and the Broncos started to play flowing football. London piled on the pressure and this pressure soon told with Rob Purdham going in and Sykes duly converting. The try was somewhat of a shock to many Broncos fans who thought that Rob was initially held up; it was only when referee Ian Smith came over was the try awarded. This kicked the Broncos in to action, along with a fairly hefty snow shower.
As soon as the snow came, many were apprehensive what this would do to the players, after all many are from warmer climates and I heard even one fan informing our Australian continent that the white stuff falling was snow. Fans only had to wait another 7 minutes before in form Luke Dorn flew over in the corner after some confusion about who’s ball it was, but it came about after a magnificent run from find of the pre season Lee Hopkins. Sykes again converted from the corner to huge cheers from the Broncos fans.
Lee Hopkins then went over himself straight from the kick off and deciding to go himself when he had the choice of an overlap. Thankfully the overlap wasn’t needed the Broncos were 18-0 up and it wasn’t even 25 minutes in to the game. Now ask any fan what are London good at doing and they all say the same thing….. throwing away leads. Too many times before have London had commanding leads only to see them thrown away. There was one obviously advantage for the London side playing in by now were awful conditions and that was the wind. It was blowing straight down the throats of the Wakefield team and maybe this had something to do Londons purple patch, as a try from debutant Tyrone Smith followed after good interplay between the backs on the far side. With Luke Dorn breaking and putting Smith in for an easy try. It sent the Breamer Road stand in to a mental state of jubilation, but silenced an already quiet but quite large set of Wakefield fans who had made the trip South looking for warmer weather but also a win, neither were to happen today.
Before the half time hooter went London crossed the Wakefield white wash one more time with Anthony Armour barging over. Arguably any one of the props could have scored, with Mark Tookey especially making some notable runs, and even the odd pass or too. The hooter went with London 36-0 up, surely they couldn’t throw this away, only time would tell.
The wind had died down and a win was defiantly on the cards, unless Shane McNally could spring some magic in the dressing room, although arguably he had already played his trump card taking off former Widnes loose forward Julian O’Neil.
Half time saw a certain Mr Warren, try, try and try again at putting in a 40-20 after two contestants both tried and failed, but it ended in disappointment as his kicks ended up further in field than the touch line!!
So out came the Broncos for the second period, the next ten minutes were going to be crucial. It always seems that the 10 minutes after half term is Broncos weak spot. Again this seemed to happen again as Wakefield piled on the pressure after some silly errors by the Broncos, but not even the rampant Michael Korkidas could punch holes in a solid London defence. The try that probably sealed the victory came on 47 minutes, with Lee Greenwood showing why he is one of Super Leagues fastest. After quick hands from the Broncos, Lee found himself with a touch line to run down, but he wasn’t quite finished as he ran past two more Wildcats to put the ball under the posts to give Sykes an easy compared. Saying that Sykes made even the hardest kicks look easy today, scoring from any distance, and any side. Andy Robinson/Charlie Hodgson were you watching?
With the score at 42-0 the fun really started. The chants of We Love You London, Tony Rea’s Barmy Army, and the best of the lot Stevo, Stevo, Stevo, What’s the score? After Sky Sports reporter Phil Clarke tipped the Broncos for the drop. Today there was no sign of relegation as the Broncos certainly showed why they deserve to be near the summit of Super League.
Both Mark McLinden and Tyrone Smith then doubled their tally for the afternoon as both went under the sticks after slack play from the Wildcats. By this time more chants emerged, of easy, easy, Hughesie and can we play you every week, as the Broncos eased past the 50 point mark in fashion.
Only once was in 54-0 did Wakefield get on the score sheet through former Bronco, Darrel Griffin, but by then it was all over and came though poor tackling by the Broncos, showing that the defence still isn’t water tight. It would have been nice to nil them, but a Wakefield score wasn’t going to cause much bother to a Broncos side still looking at scoring more tries. Jamie Rooney’s attempt on goal seemed to sum up Wakefield’s day. In a position that was more than kickable for someone of Jamie’s ability, he hit the post and it went the wrong side to deny the Wildcats two extra points.
Luke Dorn then grabbed his second of the day after rounding the Wildcats fullback and Sykes converted in front of the posts. At this point there was still 13 minutes left and it seemed like every time the Broncos had the ball they were going to score. It certainly seemed like every time Wakefield kicked to the Broncos to restart the Broncos came straight back at them with a try.
Lee Greenwood and man of the match Thomas Leuluai finished the scoring for the Broncos, but it was Ben Jeffries who scored last for Wakefield right in the corner on the hooter, and this brought about a huge cheer from the Bronco faithful. The game finished 72-8. Don’t get me wrong the Broncos certainly played well, but Wakefield didn’t turn up today and through this and some the Broncos stopping the likes of Jason Demetriou, Jamie Rooney, Ben Jeffries, David March and Michael Korkidas playing the destructive game that blew Wigan and Bradford away in the previous rounds.
To sum up how well London played, you just have to see that when I asked my family and friends around me who should be man of the match and every single person said someone different showing that there was no one player that didn’t play their part in today’s performance.
Now you know Tony Rea by now, he will be happy but he will also know the season is 28 rounds long and not just decided on one fabulous victory, so expect a hard weeks training as they travel up to a reformed Bradford side after their great fight back against Wigan, both teams looking for a much needed 2 points.
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