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We’ve reached the very cream of the crop here with only the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys remaining in The Roar‘s 2015 NRL preview series.
Today we look at the Broncos who came so close in 2015 but look well positioned to go one further in 2016.
2015 in review: Seconds away
After several lacklustre years under Ivan Henjak and Anthony Griffin, supercoach Wayne Bennett returned to the Broncos in 2015 and immediately revived the sleeping giant. After an unexpected shellacking at home in the first week the team quickly got to work and only lost back-to-back games once all season.
After cruising through the regular season they edged the Cowboys in a ridiculously entertaining first week of the finals before comfortably ending the Roosters’ season in week three. Then in the grand final…
Well, you all know what happened but out of respect for Ben Hunt we’ll leave that thought unfinished.
Off-season story: Centre-go-round
We’ve previously discussed it in the context of the Bulldogs, Roosters and Dragons previews but the move that kicked off the great centre-go-round of 2015 was James Roberts extricating himself from the Titans and finding his way to the Broncos.
As the reigning Dally M centre of the year, Roberts was arguably the most important centre to switch teams in the off-season which makes the Broncos the big winners. Especially given they just happened to have a Justin Hodges-sized vacancy in Roberts’ preferred right centre spot.
Roster management
2016 Gains: Herman Ese’ese, James Roberts, Tevita Pangai Jr.
2016 Losses: Dale Copley, Mitchell Dodds, Mitch Garbutt, James Gavet, Justin Hodges, Todd Lowrie, Jayden Nikorima, Matt Parcell, David Stagg, Ashley Taylor, Daniel Vidot.
While there are a lot of names on the losses list that doesn’t necessarily reflect a significant dent in the team for 2016. Most of the players listed were either backups, prospects or have been quickly replaced in the line-up by a coming man.
Perhaps the only gap is that the loss of both Dale Copley and Justin Hodges is only being filled by the arrival of James Roberts. However, it’s worth noting that at full strength the team will still be leaving one of Lachlan Maranta, Jordan Kahu or Corey Oates on the sideline (or more likely progressing Corey Oates into the forward pack where he will no doubt find a permanent home in the future).
Again while the team has lost depth forwards like Mitch Garbutt, James Gavet, Todd Lowrie and David Stagg the reality is that those players recorded only six appearances between them in 2015 with Todd Lowrie not playing any first grade at all.
Mitchell Dodds was a more regular member of the rotation but with Josh McGuire returning from injury and the team’s unending pipeline of rugged and rangy forwards (keep an eye out for Jai Arrow and recent acquisition Tevita Pangai who may get first-grade call-ups this season) it is unlikely that the loss of Dodds and those other forwards will derail the team.
Likely line-up
1. Darius Boyd
2. Corey Oates
3. James Roberts
4. Jordan Kahu
5. Greg Eden
6. Anthony Milford
7. Ben Hunt
8. Josh McGuire
9. Andrew McCullough
10. Sam Thaiday
11. Alex Glenn
12. Matthew Gillett
13. Corey Parker
14. Kodi Nikorima
15. Adam Blair
16. Joe Ofahengaue
17. Jarrod Wallace.
Unsurprisingly for a team that went within a few seconds of a premiership there are few changes to the line-up for this season.
The main change is, of course, Roberts replacing the retiring Hodges. While Hodges’ defensive game had slipped considerably in the latter years of his career he remained a potent attacking force and was still clowning defenders by getting into, and out of, dummy half inside his own end with regularity.
Roberts, however, will be an upgrade overall, bringing more speed, elusiveness and raw tackle-breaking power to that edge, with almost twice as many broken tackles as Hodges in 2015. Roberts also had a useful habit of scoring tries, with his 16 being not only the most in the competition among centres but significantly more than Hodges who recorded only three. However, Hodges remained effective as creator for others with eight try assists.
Hodges’ overall contribution to the team will no doubt be missed as he was clearly a vital leader and mentor for the team’s young backline. However, if you’re going to lose a giant of the game like Hodges it’s nice to be able to replace him with the guy who won best centre the year.
Beyond the Hodges-Roberts switch there are few changes to report for the Broncos with the return of McGuire the only other major deviation.
The team remains deliberately light in the forwards without a single traditional big man but with an endless stream of 188-centimetre, 102-kilogram utility forwards all capable on the edges or in the middle unit. Supercoach Bennett has long eschewed the wrestle game, preferring to rely on speed and mobility and that is reflected in his squad.
It helps to have two outstanding halves in the form of Ben Hunt and Anthony Milford. While Hunt and Milford do conform to a modern split halves alignment, with Milford on the left and Hunt on the right, in some ways they operate more like a traditional six and seven with Hunt doing almost all the kicking and Milford playing mostly as a runner.
It was a partnership that flourished in 2015 and should continue to improve over 2016 as Milford settles in the halves more fully.
Player to watch: Anthony Milford
In his final year at the Canberra Raiders in 2014 Milford recorded 12 tries, 12 try assists, 16 linebreaks and 13 linebreaks. He also had 108 tackle breaks and made a tick less than 100 metres per game. And he accrued the vast majority of those statistics playing fullback.
So when Milford arrived at the Broncos and Bennett immediately indicated that Milford would play in the halves many people, myself included, were sceptical. The consensus was that Milford was best suited to a free-ranging role and that placing the shackles of playing in the halves on him would constrain a unique football talent.
The sceptics had plenty to crow about early in the season. Eight games into 2015 Milford had yet to record either a try assist or a linebreak assist and even his electric running game had been largely stifled with the majority of his metres gained coming on fortuitous breakaways rather than coming in the flow of the attack
However, it turns out that Bennett knows more about rugby league than most as Milford steadily improved as the season wore on. He improved so much that I named him as the five-eighth in my team of the year after he finished the season with 13 tries and 18 linebreaks, but more importantly with 17 try assists and 17 linebreak assists. Every single one of them coming from playing in the halves.
The remarkable thing is that Milford still has plenty of potential to grow. He is yet to develop any sort of kicking game and as teams begin to focus on shutting down his running game, to the extent that they are able to, he will have to further develop his passing game to ensure that he remains a dual threat.
Milford was outstanding in 2015 but the incredible thing is that 2016 could well be better.
Predicted finish: Top four
The bookies have the Broncos as premiership favourites and that billing is well deserved. After going within seconds of the title in 2015 the team has lost no significant players but rather has upgraded at centre with the arrival of Roberts and in the forwards with the return from injury of McGuire.
Milford and Hunt, meanwhile, will continue to improve and it’s worth remembering that Darius Boyd has only played 18 games with the club after starting 2015 on the injured list.
Unless something goes badly awry this team will certainly finish in the top four and is rightly favoured to be there on grand final day.
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