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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 3331029, member: 1899"] 2005! But before I begin, I should explain the point of taking this stroll down memory lane. The point was to paint the picture that things weren't as bright as you may have remembered them and the Broncos struggled after pulling off an incredible bounce back in 2000. However the game kept changing, the Broncos success cost them and in order to stay relevant Bennett had to make some incredibly bold choices like moving the Australian Captain from his preferred position ultimately to compensate an unheard of 17-year old utility player from the GPS Rugby system. All the while the competition was changing. A lot of the best players were retiring or coming to the end of their careers and a new generation of talent was rising. Once struggling clubs were beginning to get themselves together while the top clubs were trying their best to retain their talent. It was an exciting time that was best represented in Round 3 when the Wests Tigers won an incredible back and forth game against the Bulldogs 37-36. It would have been heart-breaking for the Bulldogs, but as a Rugby League fan their start to the season just highlighted how open the year was. First round they dominate one of the competition's best team in the Dragons 46-28. The following week they travel up to Townsville and LOSE to a determine Cowboys outfit following a stand-out performance from sleeping giant Carl Webb. I believe this was also the game where Rocket Rod Jensen made a Sattler like tackle that doesn't receive much mention. Side tangent, any content creators out there should do a Top 10 Most Unlikely Try Saves after Scotty. Sure, the Darren Albert on Matt Seers 1997 Prelim Final was a beauty but I'm talking plodders tackling outside backs. Scott Bolton on Jarryd Hayne, Jason Ryles on Justin Hodges that sort of display. So after the loss to the loss to the Tigers, the Bulldogs went to Shark Park and the Sharks put 18 points on them in as many minutes. Cronulla had only just started to pull themselves together after the Chris Anderson era ended terribly and fans couldn't believe the Bulldogs were 1-3. At Red Hill, the Broncos appeared to be rejuvenated heading into the 2005 season and while they did farewell their skipper Gorden Tallis they were arguably in a better position. Dual Internationalist Brad Thorn re-joined the club and his seniority was the ideal replacement for Tallis. Meanwhile after a disappointing end to his stint at Bondi, the prodigal son Justin Hodges returned to a mixed reception. Actually mixed is being generous, fans LOATHED Hodges and he was considered one of the most overrated players in the competition. It's funny to think about now but I was there at his Suncorp return where he was loudly booed when he was announced pre-game. It took awhile but by mid-season Hodges had established himself as one of the best centres in the competition and would go onto become a real fan favourite. 2005 was the last time I considered the Broncos a genuine force in the competition. After their checkered start to the season that was punctuated with a 50-4 loss to Melbourne where the Storm basically picked up where they left off in their last encounter the Broncos went onto win 13 of their next 15 games. The Broncos were just so well structured as a team. The spine that Bennett had put in place in 2004 had developed their combinations and no other team could work that second man play as well. Young halfback Brett Seymour was no longer a teenager and his kicking game, especially in the red-zone was among the best in the competition and Lockyer had really found his footing as a five-eighth after a disrupted 2004. The backline of Berrigan, Hodges, Tate and young flier Leon Bott was remarkably potent and the forward pack could match it with any in the competition. Even a quiet achiever like Casey Maguire was making waves and earned himself a well deserved Origin jersey. It was the Broncos competition to lose...and so they did. Coming off a disappointing Origin series, the Broncos just appeared to be coming off the boil. It was like clockwork where the same song and dance that had haunted the club since 2001 would take over. The Broncos would lose a couple of close games, then they'd lose a key player and suddenly they just couldn't win those tight games anymore. As a fan it was so uncomfortable to watch this clearly talented team struggle to do things that came so easily months before. In the centre of it was Brett Seymour. While he was in very good company it's easy to forget that Seymour was having a quality season in his own right and it wouldn't have been ridiculous to call him a potential Origin player. Certainly he was ahead of Cooper Cronk at that stage of their respective careers. However when the Broncos needed a half to make the difference he imploded forcing injured players to come back early and try to make a difference. Side tangent part two, but one of my favourite early BHQ memories was Strapping Young Lad (I've got the right guy, yeah?) reading tea leaves to predict whether Justin Hodges would play against the Wests Tigers. They correctly predicted Justin would play based on them spilling the tea leaves but miraculously getting the tea leaves 'just-in' the pot. Hodges played but gee he shouldn't have. The end to 2005 was truly devastating. Of all the years, it really felt like the Broncos had let the premiership slip through their fingers and worst of all they did it on back of a seven game losing streak. It was extremely difficult to enjoy anything about the club and while they still had a good team heading into next year and still had good young prospects coming through it was difficult to take them seriously until they could actually win in September. Then to make matters worse, Australia suffered a shock defeat in the Tri-Series and Lockyer would suffer a foot injury that would require surgery and put him in doubt for the season opener. There was also a lot of pressure on Bennett around this time especially after he ducked the press at the Brisbane airport. It appeared his time was going to come to an end unless he did something drastic. Which he did when he fired Kevin Walters, Gary Belcher and Glenn Lazarus from his staff. With that move, Bennett had thrown down the gauntlet and with largely the same squad from 2005 was going to take one last crack at premiership glory. Let's go out with a side tangent, I had grave fears heading into 2006 until the Broncos announced the signing of Michael Ennis. Until that point I had no idea how the Broncos were going to improve after only signing an interchange forward from the Roosters who were even worse. In Ennis, I saw their next Luke Priddis and an attempt to finally right a wrong that had hurt the club since 2001. [/QUOTE]

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