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Brisbane are building momentum at the right time for a premiership charge
July 27, 2018
In a season that is as wide open as any competition in the past two decades, the Broncos are defending with the ruthless mentality that wins titles.
To watch the Broncos’ psychologically break down Cronulla with their defensive heart on Thursday night was to watch a football team that has the potential to flourish.
Brisbane’s ability to repel wave after wave of Sharks attack was reminiscent of the 2015 season, a year in which the Broncos charged into the grand final on the back of sheer tryline desperation.
The Broncos’ class of 2015 agonisingly fell one win short of the grand prize, continuing the longest premiership drought in the club’s history.
Wayne Bennett’s 2018 squad are not the finished article yet, but if they continue charting an upward curve, I have no doubt they possess the right mix of experience, youth, talent and defensive hunger to give them a realistic chance of going all the way.
There’s a few factors that make the Broncos the real deal.
Against the Sharks, the Broncos showed that working hard collectively and that willingness to play for their teammate can psychologically batter the best teams in this competition.
Few teams in the NRL have the mental grit of a Sharks side led by the ultimate warrior in Paul Gallen. But in the end, the Sharks were out of answers, looking like a dispirited boxer who had thrown his best punches without landing a knockout blow.
To win the premiership, you need to build momentum at the right time and the Broncos are doing that.
Between now and the finals, the Broncos may not march on unbeaten but they are certainly building towards a top-four spot and if they achieve that, they have the big-game players to challenge the more fancied contenders.
They also have a huge X-factor in Tevita Pangai Jr. He is simply a wrecking ball. Basically, the Broncos’ version of Cowboys tackle-buster Jason Taumalolo.
Tevita is one of the special players in the NRL with a genuine X-factor in both attack and defence. His acrobatic leap on Thursday night over the sideline to throw the ball back into the field was simply remarkable for a man his size. He injects a rare energy.
Critically, the halves are now starting to click. Kodi Nikorima and Anthony Milford are finding some rhythm and it can be traced to the development of Milford, whose kicking game over the last couple of weeks has been outstanding.
Milford has had his tough patches this year but behind the scenes at training, he has worked hard on his general-play kicking.
The evidence was there to see against the Sharks and I’ve also noted an improvement in Milford’s physical conditioning. He looks a bit sharper, which is an ominous sign on the eve of the playoffs.
Another important element is Darius Boyd’s shift from fullback to centre. Jamayne Isaako’s energy and pace at the back has been impressive and that has enabled Boyd to provide some class, composure and defensive certainty on Brisbane’s left edge.
One thing that disappointed me from a cracking, finals-style clash at Suncorp Stadium was the post-match hysteria over refereeing calls.
The criticism of referees has spiralled out of control.
We need to accept as a code that the officials are going to make errors. They can’t be weekly scapegoats for every loss a team suffers.
Cronulla can hardly whinge. They got a hugely favourable decision against Canberra the previous week, which led to the demotion of match officials, so they can surely find perspective in the tough calls they received against the Broncos.
The coaches have a responsibility to safeguard the reputation of referees. I understand they have an emotional investment, but the constant whingeing at post-match press conferences is a black eye for the game and I don’t believe it is helping the product.
Why do we expect refereeing perfection? If players are allowed to make errors without being crucified, why can’t we accept the natural human error that will occur with officials?
Ultimately, the champion teams are good enough to handle the odd rough call.
For the health of the sport, the merciless bagging of referees has to stop.
