- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
On the road, Origin stars backing up, others out injured and one of the toughest away days in the NRL. Anyone would have forgiven the Broncos for dropping this game.
Yet Brisbane made their biggest statement to date that they will be right up there when the whips get cracking at the end of the year, turning Cronulla over 20-12 on their own patch.
It was a rearguard action for most of the game, with the Sharks throwing the kitchen sink in attack, but all the best attacking moments belonged to the Broncos.
A five minute salvo just before the break, in which they went 100m to score from a shift in their own end through Ezra Mam, then capitalised on a mistake via Jesse Arthars, gave Brisbane something to defend.
Defend they did, limiting their opponents to just one try after the break despite almost all of the game being played at their end of the field. It was exceptional stuff from Kevin Walters’ men.
“It’s a tough place to come and win,” said the coach. “Our boys were really good tonight, it was a strong performance across the board.
“We’re a different team in 2023. Particularly I liked our defence. They score more points and tries than anyone else in the competition, so it was good to limit them to just twelve points.”
His counterpart, Craig Fitzgibbon, might wonder where his attack went. Nicho Hynes tried every trick he knew, but was often let down by the finishing of others. The coach will certainly feel like plenty of points were left out there.
“It was looking like it was going to be a good physical contest, but it got a bit sloppy there in the second half and a bit stop start,” he said.
“We missed the mark on some fine areas, last plays. We got kicked to death and didn’t do much about our kicking game. That was the difference in the end.
“We played some good footy and asked plenty of questions, but couldn’t get it. It’s just one of those nights. Every time we got in a position, we let them off the hook.”
Just when you think they’ve reached a hurdle they won’t overcome, they do. The Broncos responded to a fairly chastening month in which they lost to the Bunnies, Panthers and Storm with an outstanding run of form, at a time when they might well have been expected to struggle.
The feeling that Brisbane had benefitted from a rails run to start the year seemed confirmed by their defeats to more established finals teams, but at the time, Walters mentioned that his team would be better for having faced some of the best.
Even with his most optimistic mindset, he couldn’t have imagined that the lessons would have been learned so quickly.
This Broncos side were outsiders last week, away to the Warriors with all their Origin starts out. They won.
They were underdogs again with big names backing up, but won again, at the home of one of the other Premiership contenders.
The genesis of this win harked back to their last trip to Sydney, all the way back in Round 1. That night, in Penrith, they kicked superbly and tackled for their lives to hang on to a lead against a side that threw the kitchen sink at them.
It was a masterclass in controlling the game state, in which the Broncos were able to frontrun effectively, altering their playing style as the situation dictated.
After the break, they were happy to attack from deep, force the Sharks to corners and allow the line to bend, not break. In doing so, they kept Cronulla at arm’s length for the first 25 minutes of the half.
Few sides have proven so adept at using the scoreboard to their ends, and adapting how they approach the task in front of them.
A lot of it comes back to their metre production. The ability of Staggs and Herbie Farnworth to contribute in that regard helps the likes of Pat Carrigan and Payne Haas to play the minutes that they do, and make the tackles that they do.
For a side that couldn’t defend to save their lives in 2021, the improvement has been massive.
There’s a lot to be said for the scramble from the Broncos, but plenty as well for the Sharks attack.
They’ve been by far the best at creating line breaks in the NRL this year, with 6.2 per game – Souths are next, on 5.6, and then it’s down to Parramatta on 5.2.
But when it comes to icing their opportunities, Cronulla drop down, with a major disparity between how many breaks they create and how many tries they score.
Indeed, they’re on 4.3 tries per game, with the Broncos on 4.1 despite creating 1.5 fewer breaks. Their efficiency is a real problem.
That was on full display tonight. On multiple occasions, the Sharks breached the Broncos’ line but couldn’t get the job done. Ronaldo Mulitalo was a major culprit, failing to get passes away cleanly when he could have done better.
It is, perhaps, harsh to criticise players who are so effective at getting into the clear for their inability to turn such opportunities into points. But in games against the best sides, efficiency is always going to matter.
Mulitalo also bombed a try by failing to catch a kick, and why it wasn’t the worst of the year – he’s dropped it over the line twice – it was the sort of thing that happens more often than it should to a player of his quality.
On the other side, Briton Nikora was giving Farnworth the runaround, but even when he beat the English centre, an arm came out for the ankle tap.
Nicho Hynes must despair. He put on four line break assists, but it was worth just one try assist. He buzzed around the football all night, recording above his usual numbers for possessions, but nothing came off. For his part, the final play options were less than perfect too.
It was a night to forget for the usually sharp Sharks attack. Fitzgibbon must now go back and work out why his side struggled so badly to turn their generally good attacking shapes into tangible rewards.