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How the Broncos have re-emerged as a premiership contender

Roar Guru
20th July, 2015
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The Broncos are in dire need of a win. (AAP Image/Craig Golding)
Roar Guru
20th July, 2015
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2369 Reads

After several years of underachieving under Ivan Henjak and Anthony Griffin, the Brisbane Broncos have re-emerged as a premiership contender under super coach Wayne Bennett.

It was this time twelve months ago that the Broncos made the huge call to sack Griffin while at the same time announcing that Wayne Bennett would return to the club, following three years each at the St George Illawarra Dragons (2009-11) and Newcastle Knights (2012-14).

Bennett had delivered the Dragons their first premiership since 1979, while he endured a rocky time at the Knights, his tenure there being disrupted due to the neck injury suffered by Alex McKinnon last year.

His return to Red Hill was a timely one for the Broncos, who are currently enduring their longest premiership drought, having not won the premiership since 2006 when they defeated an illegally-assembled Melbourne Storm side in the grand final.

Only five players remain from that side – namely Justin Hodges, Darius Boyd, David Stagg, Corey Parker and Sam Thaiday. Boyd later won a second premiership ring when he featured with Bennett in the 2010 St George Illawarra side.

In the intervention, club legends Shane Webcke, Darren Lockyer and Petero Civoniceva all retired from the game, while the club would miss out two finals series, in 2010 and 2013 – the only years since 1991 when the club missed September action.

However, it was missing the finals in the latter year, which went down as being the worst season in the club’s history, that proved to be the one of the main factors in Anthony Griffin being shown the door last July in favour of Wayne Bennett.

One of the big calls the super coach made upon his return to the Broncos, whom he coached to all six of their premierships including the aforementioned 2006 flag, was to tell Ben Barba that he was not required for this season.

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Despite playing all 25 games in 2014, Barba appeared a shadow of the man whose Dally M Medal-winning form in 2012 propelled the Bulldogs to the grand final.

Others such as Martin Kennedy, Ben Hannant, Jake Granville, David Hala and Josh Hoffman were among those also let go by the Broncos at the end of the 2014 season which concluded for the Broncos with a second elimination final loss to the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville in three years.

Bennett also brought Darius Boyd back to the club, and signed Anthony Milford and Adam Blair from the Canberra Raiders and Wests Tigers respectively. It was made clear from the get-go that the Broncos were seriously intent on ending their longest premiership drought in history, which is currently eight years and counting.

Bennett’s return to the club was going to be an interesting talking point entering season 2015. Despite all the hype leading up to his first match back as Broncos coach since 2008 on the opening night of the season, the club copped a humiliating 36-6 defeat to reigning premiers South Sydney on March 5.

That result saw the club finish Round 1 on the bottom of the ladder and it was then thought that there was still a lot of work for Bennett to do if the Broncos were to return to the glory days that saw them win six titles between 1992 and 2006.

However, the Broncos would hit back hard, losing just two more games (against the Dragons and Cowboys in Rounds 7 and 10 respectively) to currently be sitting on top of the ladder with seven rounds to go in the regular season.

After suffering an Achilles injury that at worst could have sidelined him for the entire season, Darius Boyd has slotted back into the side very well and was instrumental in Queensland regaining the State of Origin shield this year.

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With 32 competition points, a 14-3 win-loss record and one and three-game buffers on the North Queensland Cowboys and Sydney Roosters respectively, the Broncos remain in the box seat to secure their first minor premiership since 2000.

Following their 42-16 thrashing of last-placed Wests Tigers last Sunday afternoon, coach Wayne Bennett complimented halves Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt for their game and declared them as the club’s best halves combination since the days of Kevin Walters and Allan Langer in the 1990s.

An instability in the playmaking department was primarily one reason why the club could only win one premiership since the turn of the century, in 2006. That year, Darren Lockyer and Shane Perry were the club’s halves combination.

Lockyer might have been the world’s best five-eighth during his playing days, but struggled to regularly find a regular partner to share playmaking duties with until Perry was plucked from the Queensland Cup prior to the start of the 2006 season.

Perry, who also previously played for the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Bulldogs, became the Broncos’ number one halfback after Brett Seymour was sacked for disciplinary reasons.

Among the other halfbacks Lockyer partnered with during his time at five-eighth included, among others, Casey McGuire, Seymour, Peter Wallace and Ben Hunt. Only the latter remains at the club today.

If the pair of Milford and Hunt continue on their merry way for the remainder of the season, then Broncos fans will have reason to believe that they can win their first premiership since 2006 this season.

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Should the rest of the season unfold without any major surprises, then the Broncos could find themselves facing off against the Cowboys in the NRL’s first ever all-Queensland grand final and first not to feature a NSW side since 2006.

Already reeling from their state losing the Origin shield after just twelve months (leading to the birth of the hashtag #oneinarow on the Twitterverse), the last thing New South Wales fans would want is to have to endure an all-Queensland decider at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, October 4.

While the fans south of the border will very likely turn away in their droves if it does eventuate, those north of it won’t mind, but it will be a shame that the match isn’t played at Suncorp Stadium where a sell-out would have been a possibility.

It would, however, shape as the perfect conclusion to an NRL season which saw the Maroons regain the State of Origin shield in such dominant fashion, thrashing the Blues by a record 52-6 in the decider in Brisbane.

It’s now up to the Broncos and Cowboys to make it happen, and if the former club does mount the premiership dais on that first Sunday in October this year, then their decision twelve months ago to sack Anthony Griffin and bring Wayne Bennett back home will be well and truly vindicated.

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