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The Bronco report: Grand final review and season preview

Roar Rookie
29th February, 2016
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Ben Hunt is back from Queensland Cup exile - but for how long? (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
Roar Rookie
29th February, 2016
2

Welcome to the Bronco Report, a totally maroon-coloured New South Welshmen-free analysis of Queensland’s biggest and best NRL team. Well, the biggest anyway.

My blood may run maroon and gold, but I can guarantee that I will not sugar-coat the cold hard facts, nor will I shy away from criticising my most beloved of sports teams. I may even come across as overly critical from time to time. I certainly won’t be talking about sunshine and rainbows if Brisbane finish outside the top two.

I am waffling however. Since this is a season preview, we have to talk about the most recent competitive match the Broncos played in – the 2015 NRL grand final. The best ever. The one with a match-saving try in the last second of regular play. The first to go to Golden Point.

The first that Brisbane lost.

I won’t yammer on too much about the game – everyone knows what happened – so I’ll just provide a few thoughts about it, around five months after it took place.

Firstly, I believe that some of the criticism directed at Ben Hunt was uncalled for. I disagree with the view that he had a grand final ‘shocker.’ People seem to have forgotten the 79 minutes preceding Kyle Feldt’s decisive try.

Hunt certainly didn’t play to the standard he had set for himself during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He had a quiet game topped off by a dangerous tackle in the penultimate set in regular time and his gut-wrenching knock-on on the first play of golden point.

However, many critics seem to have forgotten that in the 2015 decider, the Broncos forwards were totally dominated by the Cowboys, especially in the second half. Their inability to lay a successful platform for the backline meant that Hunt’s kicking was only as good as the field position provided for him, which is to say poor.

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He could hardly have worked any halfback magic in his own half, either.

Ultimately, Hunt played a reasonable game but was outshone by Michael Morgan and the irrepressible master that is Johnathan Thurston. In big games like grand finals, Origins and Tests, the best players stand up. It was the class of the Cowboys’ halves pairing that separated the closest rivals for a premiership in recent memory.

Secondly, I believe that the absence of Josh McGuire was a far bigger loss than first thought.

After watching the Broncos trounce the Roosters in the preliminary final, I thought that they were truly over the loss of their tattooed workhorse: I was wrong.

The Broncos were desperate for another big bopper to counter the brilliant momentum created by Matt Scott, James Tamou and Ben Hannant. If Mitchell Dodds and Joe Ofahengaue had been replaced by McGuire and early-season loss James Gavet, then perhaps the result could have been different.

Thirdly, I want to address the issue of golden point. I agree with Wayne Bennett that for grand finals, if not all finals matches, golden point should be dropped in favour of extra time or golden try. Regular season matches can be turned into field goal shootouts, but this method should not decide whose name is etched on the Provan-Summons Trophy.

I don’t count this as an excuse for last year’s loss, however. Both teams knew going into the game how the contest would be decided beyond 80 minutes and can have no grievances about the way it played out. I merely believe that in the not-too-distant future, golden point grand finals should be scrapped and replaced with a system that rewards more than a single drop goal.

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Anyway, enough about last year. This is 2016 and for some baffling reason, the Broncos are huge favourites for the minor and major premierships. This is despite the Cowboys’ incredible effort to retain all 17 of their grand final squad from last year.

The only major player movements from Brisbane are the departure of captain Justin Hodges and the incoming James Roberts, last year’s winner of the Dally M Centre of the Year Award – a fair replacement to say the least.

Along with Roberts, new signings include Ipswich Jets flyer Carlin Anderson and forwards Herman Ese’ese, Caleb Timu and Tevita Pangai Jr. Timu will be an interesting one to watch, given that he has spent the last two years on a Mormon mission.

Knowing how Will Hopoate has fared since his return from his mission we don’t know how he will go, although his attacking runs during the trials were the stuff of defenders’ nightmares.

Speaking of the trials, Brisbane have played and won four in the pre-season, although only two were anywhere near NRL standard.

Wynnum-Manly and Souths-Logan fell 20-0 and 50-0 respectively to Brisbane sides missing any regular NRL starters, so the juniors are in fine form at least.

The first trial was won 48-26 against the Cowboys on a mud-soaked Salter Oval in Bundaberg, with Brisbane mounting a second-half comeback to record 38 unanswered second-half points. That makes up for the grand final right? Too soon?

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The other trial was a competitive World Club Series match against Wigan at the DW Stadium. Last year, the Broncos defeated the Warriors on the buzzer with a 90th minute penalty goal in Golden Point. This year, the game was never competitive, with the Broncos smashing the plucky Brits 42-12 despite the loss of Ben Hunt to suspension.

James Roberts showed plenty of promise in that match without having a real opportunity to show off his renowned speed, but the real highlights of the match were the performances of Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima, who were both sensational in the win.

Milford’s performance in particular was a good sign for Brisbane. Last year, he never properly clicked until about halfway through the season as he found his feet at five-eighth. If his performance in England is anything to go by, he should have defenders quaking in their boots.

Milford and Hunt should both be motivated to work extra hard this year after their pathetic breaking of curfew at the Queensland Emerging Origin Camp. Behaviour like that suggests a real attitude problem and both players, along with fellow curfew breaker Jarrod Wallace, will need to up their game even further to even be considered for State of Origin next year by new coach Kevin Walters.

Now, let’s get back to the footy. It’s only two days away now, and the NRL will be glad that some sport is getting in the way of some off-field controversy.

Brisbane will travel to Pirtek Stadium to take on the Parramatta Eels, one of the best recruiters of the off-season. Michael Jennings, Beau Scott and Kieran Foran are the headline recruits for the team suffering from the longest finals drought in the league.

I’m inclined to think that this will be a fast-paced if sloppy first-round game. Brisbane are the natural favourites, though not to the extent most outlets are predicting in my opinion.

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The Broncos possess a far more settled side which looks better on paper. Their forward pack is so strong and full of Test and Origin caps that one of Josh McGuire or Sam Thaiday will be starting from the bench.

Meanwhile, the backline looks to be in good shape, with likely starter Greg Eden putting in a good showing in the World Club Series in his first proper match for the club.

As for Parramatta, they have the makings of a great side but will most likely take a few rounds to build some chemistry. Judging from the trial against Penrith, the halves combination of former Bronco Corey Norman and new captain Kieran Foran are clicking together rather nicely.

Were this match taking place in Round 20 and both sides were sitting in their expected positions on the ladder, I would be tipping Brisbane in a heartbeat. But, this being Round 1, I’m tipping Parramatta to steal the chocolates.

The Eels have scored at least 36 points in their last three Round 1 fixtures, all of which were at home. Yes, they played against the Warriors and Sea Eagles, not quality defences like the current Roosters and Broncos sides, but Parramatta just seem to have more enthusiasm in March than they do for the rest of the year.

This year, their recruitment has resulted in optimism not seen for the blue-and-golds since some NFL player got them into the 2009 grand final. This will fill the Eels will vigour and they will produce a strong performance as a result.

For the Broncos diehards reading, the pessimism continues from here I’m afraid.

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I’m not as convinced by Brisbane as the rest of the mainstream NRL media. Remember that last year, Brisbane won all of their games during the Origin period, yet still lost seven regular-season matches.

This means that if normal service resumes and Brisbane struggle during June as per usual, they will have to lose sparingly with their full-strength side available. Anything more than seven losses will almost certainly cost them the minor premiership, while nine or ten losses will see them flirting with the top four.

The closeness of the NRL’s elite is an undervalued element of the competition and the lack of forgiveness when it comes to slim losses sums up all of the work Wayne Bennett has cut out for him this year.

At the end of the day, Brisbane’s backline has hardly evolved and the forward pack contains all of the old heads from last season, minus the overrated Mitchell Dodds.

Bennett’s defensive tactics of conceding large metres but defending the line with an iron resolve worked brilliantly until the grand final. The Cowboys’ forward pack was and is the best in the competition and they expertly strangled the life out the Broncos forwards until Feldt struck the decisive blow.

It became obvious after the grand final that Brisbane needed to recruit a big, mobile experienced forward to improve, something which they failed to do, despite the return of Josh McGuire.

I fail to see how a side boasting not one new experienced forward when they are in desperate need for one can possibly improve to the extent which makes them unbackable title favourites.

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Call me a party pooper, but I’m prepared for disappointment this year. The boys from Brisbane will certainly be up there this season, but a poor Origin period and subsequent hangover will see them place fourth and drop out of the finals in straight sets.

Of course, this could just be a red herring to distract you from my nagging sense that Brisbane are in prime position to go one better this year, but I’ll let you decide.

Besides, if I’m wrong with my negative predictions, then Brisbane will most likely improve on them. To quote Homer Simpson, “extended warranty – how can I lose?”

Stay tuned for next week’s review of the matches against the Eels and Warriors respectively.

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