Even Alfie admits St George can play

NEARLY 20 years on, "Alfie" has finally uttered the words Broncos fans thought they would never hear: St George can play.

Alfie Langer

NEARLY 20 years on, "Alfie" has finally uttered the words Broncos fans thought they would never hear: St George can play.

Allan Langer, now an assistant coach at Brisbane, once urged thousands of adoring Broncos fans to sing "St George Can't Play" at the madcap, alcohol-fuelled celebrations of Brisbane's famous 1993 grand final win.

But yesterday, as the build-up continued to Saturday night's knockout semi-final at Suncorp Stadium, one of league's great larrikins declared the Dragons could play after all - especially with his old boss Wayne Bennett at the helm.

"Things like that have turned around. I notice they can play a bit," Langer said.

"It's going to be tough out there Saturday night. They defend great, so we have got to be really on the ball with our attack because we have got to score points.

"They (St George) have been the benchmark of the competition over the past two years.

"People have said they have been in a bit of a hole for the past six or seven weeks, but I'm sure they will fix it this weekend."

Saturday night's clash is far more than just a fierce game of finals footy.

Throw in the still-bubbling rivalry between Brisbane and St George, and the tantalising fare of the Bennett versus Darren Lockyer battle, not to mention Bennett versus the club he called home for more than two decades.

Few men know Bennett better than Langer. And "Alfie" reckons the master coach is at his best when the pressure is on.

"That's when he coaches at his best," Langer said. "He is the sort of bloke that loves the pressure ... I'm sure he's given the Dragons blokes a few extra things this week, and individually he will be improving their ways as well.

"He's not a ranter and raver (but) he will be pumping them up. He will sitting up in his little box not giving too much away.

"But I'm sure he will be wanting to get one on Locky."

The Broncos returned to the training paddock yesterday, fired up by a verbal spray from coach Anthony Griffin warning his side to pick up their act in defence or get flogged.

It appeared a master motivational tool by Griffin, giving his players a serve in the pages of this newspaper, to ensure their heads were not in the clouds after their thumping win over the Warriors.

However Langer insisted that a video review from the 40-10 win over the Warriors revealed that all was not as rosy as it might have appeared.

"We looked at the game closely and we did miss quite a few tackles and we were a bit lazy around the middle," Langer said.