NRL 2021: Broncos under the microscope after Eels defeat
The Kevin Walters era has kicked off and there was much to digest following their performance against Parramatta.
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Chief League Writer PETER BADEL puts the Broncos under the microscope in the aftermath of Friday night’s 24-16 loss to Parramatta in the season-opener at Suncorp Stadium.
HIT: BRONCOS BRAVERY
No coach or fan can cop a team that doesn’t have a crack in defence and the Broncos found a defensive heartbeat. Under former coach Anthony Seibold, the Broncos were a rabble last year, leaking a whopping 624 points with regular avalanches that showcased an alarming lack of commitment. Seibold’s successor Kevin Walters has promised to restore pride in the Broncos jumper and this was a step forward. Technically, the Broncos still have some flaws — Eels hooker Reed Mahoney opened them up around the rucks — but overall, there was more unity in defence. Walters has a bedrock on which to build.
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MISS: MILFORD’S MISSION
The Broncos will simply not be a legitimate premiership contender until Anthony Milford develops a ruthless ability to close out games. The code’s $1 million playmakers are paid big bucks to deliver in the clutch moments. This is the final mental frontier for Milford. His natural talent is unquestioned. Milford was brilliant in the opening 40, first with a pinpoint kick for Xavier Coates before his sublime cut-out pass for his second try. But at 16-0, Milford should have turned the screws on the Eels, just like a Johnathan Thurston, Darren Lockyer or Cooper Cronk. Instead, Brisbane lost direction in the second half. After 181 NRL games, winning games should be muscle memory for the off-contract Milford. This is a seminal season for him. If he can’t get the job done, Walters needs to find a main man who can.
HIT: HUNGRY ROOKIES
Pat Carrigan. Herbie Farnworth. Xavier Coates. Tesi Niu. These are some of the Next Generation Broncos who will be better players for the suffering they endured last year. Carrigan is the ironman every good NRL side needs, making 136 metres and 36 tackles with just one miss against the Eels. Farnworth has the size and speed to produce Justin Hodges-style runs out of their danger zone, while Niu has an explosive edge out wide. In Coates, the Broncos have a bona fide X-factor on the flanks, a 105kg beast whose two tries underlined why he can be among the best finishers in the code.
MISS: LEAD BY EXAMPLE
Where is the forward standover man who will muscle up for the Broncos when they are under siege? The Roosters have Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. Melbourne have Jesse Bromwich. Souths had Sam Burgess. The Broncos of the glory years had Shane Webcke and Petero Civoniceva. When the Eels applied midfield pressure in the second half, the Broncos desperately needed an inspirational figure in the pack to ignite a momentum shift. Granted, Payne Haas was suspended and Matt Lodge was injured in the 18th minute, but for Brisbane to become a top-eight side, they need a spiritual leader in a time of crisis.
HIT: HEIR JORDAN
The muscular Jordan Riki can bring a brutal point of difference to the Broncos pack. The 21-year-old missed seven tackles against the Eels, which spotlights the technical reads he must finetune on an edge, but he can be a destructive force one-on-one. Riki is just six games into his NRL career and if given the right education by Brisbane’s coaching staff, the 106kg hulk has the physical tools to be as damaging as Queensland Origin wrecking ball David Fifita.
MISS: DUMMY-HALF DILEMMA
Jake Turpin is tough-as-nails but he needs to bring a creative element to his ruck play. In the new era of the six-again rule, no NRL team can afford to have one-dimensional hookers. Turpin amassed 47 tackles against the Eels but his rival Mahoney outpointed him, unlocking the Broncos in midfield and it’s that Damien Cook-style thrust Brisbane require from their chief No.9. If Turpin wants to be an 80-minute player this season, he needs to be a threat out of dummy-half, which will ease the strain on Milford and Brodie Croft.
CROFT: DON’T DROP ME KEVVIE
Brodie Croft has appealed for Broncos coach Kevin Walters to keep faith in his scrumbase partnership with Anthony Milford despite failing to deliver victory in Brisbane’s 2021 premiership opener.
The Broncos were left to lament an injury crisis and another lacklustre second-half as the Croft-Milford halves alliance struggled to steer Brisbane home in a gutsy 24-16 round-one loss to the Eels at Suncorp Stadium.
Broncos coach Walters made the first big selection call of his career last week, opting for Croft as his No.1 halfback ahead of promising 19-year-old Tom Dearden for the Parramatta showdown.
Croft looked confident in the first half, regularly barking orders at his forwards as the Broncos bolted to a 16-0 halftime lead, but he lost control after the break as the Eels surged home to continue his pain in the No.7 jumper.
Croft has won three of 14 games in the halfback hot seat, but remains adamant he and Milford can strike the right playmaking formula to steer the Broncos out of the cellar and into the finals.
“This is the start of the season and there are a lot of good signs for us,” he said.
“We can’t be happy with losses but this is the starting platform and we’ll go from there.
“Hopefully Kevvie does keep the faith in us (he and Milford) and we will go from there.”
Speaking for the first time since edging out Dearden for the No.7 jumper made famous by Allan Langer, Croft said he is determined to prove himself as a game manager.
“I’ve just tried to put my best foot forward and I left the decision to Kevvie as the coach,” he said.
“To Tom’s credit, he congratulated me coming into this game and that was nice of him.
“There is competition between us but there is mutual respect between us. He has a big future ahead of him.
“Kevvie just said the experience I had (got him the nod over Dearden), that was the main thing.
“We were neck-and-neck in pre-season and we’ve had a good competition in pre-season.
“We have pushed each other and hopefully it betters the team on the back of that. Competition is healthy.”
Croft could have easily been Brisbane‘s hero on Friday night.
With Brisbane trailing 18-16 in the 63rd minute, Milford broke upfield and found Croft, who grubber-kicked ahead for Jake Turpin. The Broncos hooker appeared to score, but the video referee ruled Turpin failed to apply downward pressure.
“It looked 50-50,” Croft said.
“It was a big moment, there were 15 minutes to go and that would have put us in front.
“It would have been nice to come home with the win. We had a few other chances. It could have been anyone’s game and if we scored that, who knows what the result could have been.
“It’s certainly not the result we wanted but we can be proud of our efforts, especially the first half. There is a lot to look forward to.”
Originally published as NRL 2021: Broncos under the microscope after Eels defeat
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