Monday Bunker Round 17: Future is almost now for Broncos, dilemma for Storm

WITH Round 17 of the competition now done and dusted, our team of rugby league writers analyse the NRL’s talking points in the latest edition of the Monday Bunker.

David Fafita of the Broncos is tackled during the Round 17 NRL match between the Gold Coast Titans and the Brisbane Broncos at Cbus Super Stadium in Robina on the Gold Coast. Sunday, July 8, 2018. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

WITH Round 17 of the competition now done and dusted, our team of rugby league writers analyse the NRL’s talking points in the latest edition of the Monday Bunker.

MONDAY BUZZ: Highlights, lowlights, talking points

ORIGIN: Has it lost it’s shine?

STORM DILEMMA ON THE HORIZON

Storm 52 Dragons 30: Melbourne down Dragons in wild shootout

Hughes will for a crucial part of Melbourne’s future. AAP Image/Daniel Pockett.

THE Storm have a conundrum with young gun Jahrome Hughes.

The classy fullback looks a genuine star in the making, but how the club will use him going forward remains to be seen.

Should Billy Slater play on in 2019, Hughes will be stuck behind the Storm legend as well as five-eighth Cameron Munster in the club’s pecking order.

Hughes scored one try and assisted two others in Melbourne’s 52-30 belting of the depleted Dragons on Friday night.

Munster had been tipped for some time to return to his favoured fullback role following the retirement of Slater, however the form of Hughes is likely to keep the Maroons pivot in the halves.

Regardless of how the situation plays out, the club look ominously well set up for the future with the likes of Brandon Smith, Ryley Jacks and Brodie Croft ready to succeed the senior members of the spine.

— Tim Williams

VILIAME KIKAU HAS NO CEILING

Panthers 36 Warriors 4: Rookies run Warriors off the park

Kikau mixes absurd physical power with deft skill. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts.

Viliame Kikau is fast becoming the most destructive forward in the NRL.

The Panthers back-rower still has a way to go to reach the levels of Jason Taumalolo, but his tackle busting ability is relentless.

‘Billy Kiks’ was enormous against a near full-strength Warriors side on Saturday running 18 times for 151 metres.

Most impressive about the Fijian international is his engine.

The 195cm, 119kg Kikau is a proven 80 minute performer on the left edge for Penrith.

To carry that load week in week out for the entirety of an NRL game is impressive.

Furthermore, a deft kick in behind the Warriors line to earn a repeat set showed Kikau has proven he’s more than just a hefty frame.

Kikau is fast becoming aware of how dominant he can be in the top grade.

At just 23-years-old, he could be set to join the game’s elite forwards in the near future.

— Tim Williams

RAIDERS ESCAPE IN BELMORE MIRACLE

Raiders 32 Bulldogs 28: Canberra fly home to down Canterbury

Against all the odds, Canberra are still alive. Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images.

THE hope is what kills you.

If a team is bad then they’re just bad. They go along week to week losing, failing and occasionally snagging a win here and there. Not enough to convince anyone the corner has been turned mind you, just here and there.

Going for a bad team is tough. But you know what’s worse? Going for a team that facilitates week to week, half to half and minute to minute from world-beaters to wooden spooners.

That’s what Canberra are like. That’s why losing every single game in late, crushing fashion will one day put their fans in a sanatorium. Fox Sports rolled out a stat on Saturday night showing Canberra would be equal competition leaders if matches only went for 60 minutes. It was awful.

I'm calling the cops https://t.co/7lOSWzr5ZV

— Nick Campton (@campo37) July 7, 2018

The Raiders didn’t lead this one after 60 minutes. In fact, it took until the final 60 seconds for them to get home after scoring three tries in the final five minutes. Last year they were on the end of a similar loss at the hands of the Panthers and it destroyed the team in such a way that it took a month for them to be put back together.

This time, it keeps their faint finals hopes alive and really, that’s the way it has to be for Canberra. They can’t ever totally collapse and prop up the ladder. They have to keep you hoping, cause that’s what kills you in the end.

— Nick Campton

NEXT GENERATION IS NOW FOR BRISBANE

Broncos 34 Titans 0: Finals charge begins now for Brisbane

Kotoni Staggs played a blinder for Brisbane. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

DON’T look now, but Brisbane are coming.

Maybe not this season, although this 34-0 win over the Titans put them in the fight for a top four stop.

Brisbane are coming next year, and the year after that and for many of the years to come.

Wayne Bennett made repairing the junior pathways a priority when he returned to the club in 2015 and the fruits of that labour are now blooming.

Kotoni Staggs, aged 19 in his fourth first grade game, set up the first try and scored the second before leaving the field with a concussion. Jaydn Su’A, at 20, has become a mainstay in the backrow. David Fifita is the first NRL player born this century and Payne Haas isn’t much older. Jamayne Isaako, Tevita Pangai Junior and Joe Ofahengaue are all 22, playing well and have their best footy in front of them. Even the mainstays of this team are young — James Roberts is 25, Anthony Milford 24 and Corey Oates only 23.

There might not be a title in Brisbane until they find a halfback or can transform Kodi Nikorima into what he needs to be but the foundation is there and building the new world might be the finest thing Bennett does in his second life with Brisbane.

— Nick Campton

Watch the 2018 State of Origin Series LIVE or ON DEMAND anywhere outside AU, NZ and Pacific Islands on WATCH NRL. GRAB YOUR PASS NOW >

Originally published as Monday Bunker Round 17: Future is almost now for Broncos, dilemma for Storm