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.
Warren Turner
Roar Rookie
Factor in the upcoming byes and the current table reads a lot differently
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
Not necessarily - Damien Cook, Harry Grant and Ben Hunt are all under 90kgs. I think Smith probably played most of his career under 90kgs too. It’s very hard to play 80 minutes as a dummy half if you weigh 90kgs, especially in the 6 again era. But yeah - Mozer is still way less than that. Could even be under 80kgs. He definitely needs to stack on quite a bit of weight.
RedcliffeFan
Roar Rookie
Agree on Moylan. He blew a try when he failed to pass to Nicho who was in the clear 10m out. Nicho threw his arms up in frustration. Me too.
langparker
Roar Rookie
So the broncos have got the Knights, bye, Titans & Dolphins next 4 rounds plus 2 further byes later on. With 26 points using the byes, as well as the benefit of very competitive lower table clubs, you’d have to think that last season’s collapse SHOULDN’T be repeated. Not counting chickens but they appear more resilient than previous seasons & need to keep their key personnel healthy through the origin period. A lot of credit to Reynolds and Carrigan as leaders. Dolphins now looking short on troops with injuries (sad about Gilbert for them & Qld) and suspensions, Titans lapsing into old habits & don’t know what the cowboys are going to turn up with. That bronco win in NZ followed by the away win at Cronulla, which is never easy, might be the difference in top 4-6 when it counts.
Nat
Roar Guru
Agree. Probably Piakura and he is only just coming of age. Mozer is certainly showing some skill and composure though. Needs to be +90kg to stand in front of the NRL boys.
Nat
Roar Guru
— COMMENT DELETED —
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
Mozer is both really skinny and plays relatively short minutes. Still seems like he’s a couple of years away from the NRL. Clearly talented, but I can’t remember the last time a kid was hyped like this.
Nat
Roar Guru
*Eels will heavily depend on that story breaking today.
Nat
Roar Guru
That was Piakura's best game in NRL. I see Mozer had a belter yesterday as well: 2 tries, 2 LB, TA, LBA & 26 tackles. Still a bit skinny for NRL level but next season...
RedcliffeFan
Roar Rookie
Another Sharks fail in a match against a top side. They can't beat Brisbane - haven't for years no matter where they play them. Staggs has torn them apart before too. I see a repeat of last year - winning plenty of games against lower ranked sides and failing against the best ones. Spot on too about Mulitalo - time for a spell with Newtown - he's an error machine. And when it comes to putting the ball down for a try he needs to emulate the likes of the Hammer - in Origin on Wednesday it was ball tightly to his chest with both hands. Muglair Mulitalo never learns - he might if he has to watch first grade from the stands.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Lol fair enough, I think we did have that discussion :thumbup: I get your perspective here and definitely not saying it’s wrong but long season ahead still. I think the sharks were going a lot better this time last year then this year…. So there’s plenty of improvement left and im probably also hoping they peak at the right time this year. FWIW I think we’ve seen peak bunnies, which will be hard to beat if they replicate in September but I feel we’ve seen the best they have to offer Panthers won’t be at the same untouchable level as last year with broncos, Storm, sharks still yet to peak. There’s an outside chance of warriors, raiders, eels, manly, etc of making a surprise deep run as well… great competition this year.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I remember us having a discussion last year - probably a few weeks later in the season than we are now My position was that we hadn’t really seen the best of the Sharks because they’d accumulated wins through a favourable draw and had mostly met strong teams - like the Cowboys - in the Origin series. From memory they’d strung a few wins together but I didn’t think they’d proven their credentials. I think the way the season played out confirmed that… or maybe it was just a coincidence :laughing: I feel that way about the Sharks and Broncs this season too. They’re both putting together good seasons and they’re very well positioned and can go deep in September. I’m just not ready to sign off on it right now. I think they’ve both been found wanting - albeit not by much - against the gun teams for 18 months and I don’t think last night changed that It wouldn’t blow my hair back at all for either (or both) of them to go deep or one to win the comp… but they’ll both have to improve on what we’ve seen so far
Nat
Roar Guru
Yeah fair. Just going back through the Sharks season it would appear they are getting kudos on reputation more than results. TBF to Brisbane though, if the others were short Munster, Walker or Cleary for those games there would be huge * beside it.
Renegade
Roar Guru
TB, I think both teams are capable of going a long way, it’s a much a tighter competition in 23. Broncos keep proving everyone wrong and have actually beaten half the top 8 teams already. They are as good as any side right now and have the ability to stay in the contest even when the other team are on top. The two long range efforts against the run play are perfect examples of that. As for Cronulla – last year they beat the eels, souths, cowboys, Storm and went toe to toe with the panthers in Penrith – who were the top 6 sides…before crumbling in the semis. No one remembers the earlier games because September is where it counts. I’m hoping the opposite occurs this year, as we haven’t seen the best of the sharks but they sit in the top 4 at the halfway point of the season – with plenty of improvement areas left in them. They had the broncos measure last night everywhere but on the scoreboard and I would be going in confident if they played again. To your point though, they need to win a big game to prove it – storm in Melbourne next week is another opportunity.
WA Sharks Fan
Roar Rookie
“Nicho Hynes tried every trick he knew, but was often let down by the finishing of others.” This summed up the night. The Sharks created enough points to win but couldn’t get the job done and Ronnie was very poor with his execution. Not to down play Brisbanes defence. It was outstanding and they just keep turning up.
danwain
Roar Rookie
Definitely, they chance their arm and have strike all across the park.
Redcap
Roar Guru
I might even get along to one of the upcoming games at the Gabba (and cheer vociferously against them) just for something different. 'Twas only one game, but I imagine there'd be a few clubs having a good look at Sailor given he's unlikely to get many games at the Broncs.
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
Sure, but the problem with assessing a side against benchmark teams is that we don't get to see how the benchmark teams would go against themselves ...
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yep. Agree with all of that… but that’s also sorta my point… it’s those games I’ll be using to benchmark the Broncs more than this one There was plenty of excuses for the Broncs to lie down. They didn’t. It was a good win, but it was a good win against a team who tends not to go too well themselves in big games
Muzz Manyana
Roar Rookie
Such an odd performance from the Sharks. They created enough chances to win by plenty. Missed enough tackles to be flogged by plenty. The Broncos effort areas are helping them win ugly when they’re overall game is off. I reckon the Broncos will win it this year.