Colman’s Call: Broncos talent will shine through doom and gloom

THE Bennett-Broncos haters are out in force but you have to wonder if things are as dire as they would have us believe. You could argue that the club went pretty well. Over-achieved even.

David Fafita of the Broncos. Photo: AAP

OKAY, let’s see. We’ve got the Wayne Bennett effigy, the Sack Paul White posters and the rotten eggs to throw at the Clive Berghofer Centre of Excellence, so let’s get going.

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Altogether on the count of three, “What do we want?”

“A premiership …”

“When do we want it?”

“Now …”

Broncos fans at the Elimination Final against St George-Illawarra last Sunday. Photo: AAP

There’s no doubt the Bennett-Broncos haters are out in force this week but you have to wonder if things are really as dire as they would have us believe.

Looking back at the season you could even make a case that given the injuries, youth of the squad and off-field dramas, the club went pretty well. Over-achieved even.

Sixth spot and a home final? You’d have to think supporters of the Bulldogs, Sea Eagles, Eels or premiership favourites Cowboys would have been pretty happy with that.

Sure, it all came crashing down at the last hurdle but if you didn’t see that coming you need to get yourself a new pair of reality glasses.

As Bennett pointed out after the Dragons’ debacle on Sunday, all season his team had done well in the games they weren’t expected to win, and crashed and burned against teams they were tipped to beat.

Wayne Bennett at the Broncos-Dragons post-match press conference. Photo: Liam Kidston.

Add in the pressure of a finals match against a side strengthened by the return from injury of its best and most influential player in Gareth Widdop, and the loss of experienced Broncos campaigners Matt Gillett and Alex Glenn, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster of Titanic proportion.

Even so, I wouldn’t be rearranging the deckchairs quite yet.

The worst thing that could be said of many of the Broncos’ players this season is immaturity and there’s no quick cure for that.

Certainly not a change of coach. There’s been plenty of speculation about the state of the relationship between Paul White and Karl Morris and Bennett in recent months but if I was on the Broncos board my main priority right now would be making sure Bennett sees out his current contract at the very least.

The amount of young talent on the Broncos books with the likes of Fifita, Ofahengaue, Pangai Jnr, Su’A, Haas, Isaako and Staggs — with an average age of 20 — is phenomenal and you wouldn’t want to be handing it over to just anyone.

David Fafita of the Broncos during the Elimination Final against the Dragons. Photo: AAP

Sure Bennett has been playing some off-field games through the media recently, but what would you expect? You don’t survive over 30 years at the top of professional sport by lying back and copping it on the chin.

And you don’t become the most successful coach in the history of the modern game without learning a few sneaky tricks along the way. Ask Brian Smith about that.

So come on Broncos supporters, chin up. It’s not as bad as it seems.

At the very worst 2019 is going to be a lot more intriguing than 2018.

On and off the field.