I’ve long had a great deal of respect for the Brisbane Broncos.
Obviously, with six premierships in their first 18 years of existence, it’s not hard to work out where that respect came from.
Sure, they have all the advantages of being a one-team city and access to perhaps the greatest nursery in rugby league, but there are no guarantees in sport, so for the Broncos to build their club into a national juggernaut over 30 or so years is to be applauded.
But it’s also why their fall from grace in 2020 has been met with so much mirth.
I feel bad for the way Anthony Seibold ended his tenure at the club, but other than that there has been a pretty strong sense of schadenfreude across the league seeing the glamour club struggle so badly.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
This is an organisation that turns over $50 million per year, has the best facilities in the land and play out of the finest rugby league venue in the world.
What’s more, their 2020 squad is dripping with talent.
Of the top 30 the Broncos named on 3 March of this year four played Origin in 2019, three are former Origin players, five are incumbent internationals for Pasifika nations and there are two Kiwis and a Junior Kangaroo – that means half the squad is of representative quality.
Yet a loss to the Cowboys this week will ensure they finish the year with the wooden spoon for the first time in the club’s history.
And no club deserves it more.
When we talk about the worst teams in recent history it’s hard to go past the 2016 Newcastle Knights.
That year the blue and red recorded a single victory and a draw in 24 matches, which I believe means they hold the NRL record for suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.
But they were also battlers, journeymen and teenagers. Of the rep-quality players, Jarrod Mullen had a single Origin match to his name, Trent Hodkinson was well and truly a spent force and Tariq Sims – who was one of the team’s three co-captains – left for the Dragons midway through the year.
Dane Gagai was a worthy inclusion for Queensland come State of Origin, but it was overwhelmingly a side devoid of established talent.
Yet here we are, comparing the 2016 Knights to the 2020 Broncos, with the latter’s points differential to date of -340 the worst since the former’s -495.
It’s almost impressive how bad these Broncos are, particularly given they started the year with two wins – over North Queensland and former coach Wayne Bennett’s Rabbitohs.
Then the season went on hold due to COVID and Brisbane came back a completely different team.
With Seibold having been fired, there is obviously a valid argument to be made that it’s in no small part the coach’s fault.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
However, while there have been lukewarm articles praising the Broncos’ improvement under Peter Gentle, the team are yet to string together a win on the interim coach’s watch. So all the blame can’t sit on Seibold’s shoulders.
Without knowing the specifics, all an outsider can really glean is that something stinks in Brisbane – and it’s not the giant squid-infested river.
A new head coach and a new CEO will hopefully start to set things right but a player cleanout is likely also required because you can’t have a squad with this much talent lose all bar one game since the season resumed and just say, “It’s the coach’s fault”.
The lack of effort and pride in the jersey from most of the team suggests the criticism levelled at the current crop from former players is bang on – that they feel entitled because they play for the Broncos despite the fact they haven’t won or done anything to make the club better than when they arrived.
In the days after the Knights finished up their 2016 season I went to the gym at Wests Mayfield and noticed one of the young players hitting the weights.
Without naming names, this bloke had debuted that year and it was apparent he was not destined for a lengthy career in the NRL.
But there he was, a battler who had just finished that humiliating season doing extras to ensure the following year was at least a little bit better for the supporters and fans.
Obviously I’m not going to be pumping iron at Red Hill any time next week, but I wonder who – if any – of the Broncos will be there trying to make amends ahead of 2021.
I’d be surprised if any turned up, because it appears as though the 2020 wooden spoon won’t be taken out by the team with the worst players but by the players with the worst attitude.
Mungo Joe
Guest
"The lack of effort and pride in the jersey from most of the team......" Has surely gotta be a coaching issue.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
He has a high tackle count because the Broncos spend so much time defending. No other Bronco avoids contact like he has over the last couple of years. If there were a statistic for shirked tackles, he would have more than all other players in the NRL combined.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
I'm not saying he hasn't played some bad games, clearly he has. But the data just doesn't support what you are saying. How could he possibly have the fourth highest tackles at fullback if he is shirking in defence for the entire season? It doesn't make sense. You have a picked some footage of where he is poor and said he has been like that all season, when clearly he hasn't. I am sure similar footage could be found for a number of Bronco's, they have been awful this year.
Parasite
Roar Rookie
If it wasn't for those 80 years of amateurism LOL, you wouldn't even be watching a Brisbane Broncos side, we would all be probably following fumbleball as we'd have been indoctrinated into that cult long ago.
Heyou
Roar Rookie
???? Milward! Man of many mistakes! A source of Saints supporter’s ire. He’s a shocker to be sure.
Heyou
Roar Rookie
Truth. Perhaps the Broncos should appeal to ‘Old Bony Legs’ to come home and show them how to play? Age doesn’t seem to have wearied him and he remains one of the best rugby league minds of the modern era. Many of my peeps would welcome him back with open arms.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Righhtttt. So Ben, you make a *highly* contentious assertion and then tell people to "zip" their opposing opinion. Nice.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Imo, one of the biggest reasons why their their defence is cracking is because their 'attack' is putting no pressure on the opposition. I don't know if the stats are available, but I'd bet a tidy sum that the Broncs lead the comp in percentage of 'one player taking the ball up'.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
The only sign of Bronx arrogance I've seen in the last couple of seasons Wal is Anthony Milfords Errol Flynn-genre mustache.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
We have all watched the games. The stats don’t show the non tackles every game where he pretends to slip over rather than make contact with a defender. Go back through my comment history. I was probably his greatest defender on The Roar. And I don’t regret giving him the benefit if the doubt when he was coming back from injury. But he has made me look a fool by his conduct over the past couple of years. He shirks contact worse than any player in the history of the NRL: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVbb91X5zhI https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oYiu-RvKfKk That second link is just from the first 7 rounds last year. It’s like he is trying to get sacked. He makes Quade Cooper look like Trevor Gilmeister. No other player has played as badly as he has played for as long as he has been allowed to play. He has trashed his own legacy.
Greg
Roar Pro
I'm in no way a Broncos fan but I enjoyed this comment
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
Do you have any data to support your scathing assessment? I would suggest that the facts are unlikely to support what you have said. You don’t like Boyd, I get it, but the worst player in the NRL? A simple glance at the NRL stats on the Fox sports site shows that out of 44 fullbacks he is 3rd for effective tackle percentage at 87%, 39th for run metres (that is poor, no doubt. But his forward pack is useless giving the backs no space), 14th for errors with 10 (44th is Drinkwater with 28. For the avoidance of doubt, 30 other fullbacks made more errors), he is 4th for tackles made at 239, he is 8th for try assists at 9 and 7th for line break assists at 13. If you are correct in saying he hasn’t tried then it is remarkable, because other than run metres he has still beaten many of the other fullbacks on a number fronts.
Nat
Roar Rookie
Exactly because it was amatuer hour - for 80yrs.
Parasite
Roar Rookie
Nup, the ARL were working on mergers and relocations before those two greedy TV propagandists took over.
Fraser
Roar Rookie
https://amp.reddit.com/r/nrl/comments/g56i6j/all_nrl_clubs_for_2020_ranked_by_average_age_only/
kersed
Roar Rookie
I guess it depends what your source is, I saw a stat that said dogs were the youngest with average age of 22.5 years. Anyway, like I said, this isn't a cut and dry indicator anyway as evidenced by the Panthers.
matth
Roar Guru
Disinterested or unfit? I think a bit of both. Consistent second half defensive fade outs imply poor fitness to me, or heads dropping as soon as they fall behind.
Nat
Roar Rookie
I have no problem with taking the spoon, the team has earned it. Don't have to like it but it is what it is. I get the tall poppy syndrome and as TB has said many times it better to be hated than felt sorry for (everyone's 2nd team...). To say any team "deserves" the spoon simply childish at best. BTW, the Broncos didn't create the SL war. Blame that on NSWRL that wanted to maintain an amatuer comp for their sole benefit of control. Left to their own devices, players would still have jobs and we'd only have a Friday and Sunday game on TV. If you've ever spent a lazy Saturday watching 3 games of footy from the couch - You're welcome.
Parasite
Roar Rookie
Come on Broncos fans, don't take it so personally. Someone has to come last :laughing: I'm a nice guy, I reckon if we band together, we could ask the Parramatta club for one of their fourteen wooden spoons to hand over, it's not like we're gonna miss one lol. Anyway, we all Love being part of history (I was there, I seen that) and in footy, what can be more history breaking than winning your first title? Being arrogant enough to think you'll never win a wooden spoon. So on behalf of all none Broncos/SL fans, take it, and stick it as far up Uncle Rupes nose as possible. You're welcome.
Parasite
Roar Rookie
:laughing: