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NRL 2022: Local heroes and 90s spirit all part of Broncos’ revival, says Barry Maranta

Get excited Brisbane fans, the Broncos have recaptured their 1990s vibe with club godfather Barry Maranta believing the club is back to its best.

Dejected Broncos players in 2020. Plenty has been learned since (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Dejected Broncos players in 2020. Plenty has been learned since (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Broncos godfather Barry Maranta believes the club has recaptured it’s 1990s vibe by reconnecting with its old boys and correcting a front office fracture which saw gifted youngsters leave.

With 12 wins from 18 games the Broncos are semi-final bound and Maranta has noted a revival of club spirit which has peaked with a celebratory lunch of the 30th anniversary of the 1992 premiership side last Friday.

“It’s wonderful to see the club back on track from the old boys to the front office,’’ said Maranta, who had previously been greatly concerned at the bitter fallout between the old boys and the club before Kevin Walters appointment as coach appeased the situiation.

“People said the old boys were being critical off the club when it wasn’t going well but they were right.

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Dave Donaghy has made quite a significant impact since coming across from Storm.
Dave Donaghy has made quite a significant impact since coming across from Storm.
Barry Maranta says the chief executive has done a good job to unite everyone.
Barry Maranta says the chief executive has done a good job to unite everyone.

“They cared about the club deeply and could identify missing elements. There was a dislocation from the front office which has now being sorted.

“Thankfully that all seems to be behind us. There has never been a problem identifying the talent — our grounds have been fertile for 30 years — but players like Sam Walker end up going to other clubs because they were poorly treated which was terrible.

“That has changed now. You could feel it at the lunch. It’s wonderful. Players want to play for the Broncos again. I feel (chief executive) Dave Donaghy has done a good job connecting everyone and Kevin Walters and his family have been so important for the Broncos over the decades.

“History is so important to your club. It creates culture. It is important that it is understood and cultivated.’’

Maranta feels the Broncos are at their best when they have large lashings of local talent bolstered by a few choice signings from interstate and he compares the current team balance to that of ‘92.

“In the ‘92 team we had the likes of Chris Johns, Glenn Lazarus and Terry Matterson brought in from interstate but it was basically built on local talent.

Kevin Walters and the Broncos are building towards something special.
Kevin Walters and the Broncos are building towards something special.

“Ideally you want that because your entire local region from where a player comes from starts to get behind the club.

“I am enjoying the stories of Selwyn Cobbo and his following in the South Burnett region which early teams used to have with Steve Renouf.

“Loyal supporters can now really see the club is working towards something. It may not happen overnight but it is heading is the right direction. The win over Parramatta last week was a real litmus test.’’

The Broncos have a relatively comfortable draw ahead of them starting with an away game against the Wests Tigers next Saturday, before the Roosters (away), the Knights (home), the Storm (home), the Eels (home) and the Dragons (away).

The lessons learned over two winters of Broncos hell

Being force-fed rough medicine might be tough for human beings but it can be great for sporting teams. 

The buoyant Broncos may look back at their two year “tsunami’’ before this winter’s revival as the wipe-out they had to have.

There’s a saying in life that you often learn more from failure than success and during two harrowing winters when they folded like no Broncos side ever did before them the club learnt messages that may never have arrived had they cruised along in fifth or sixth spot.

Sometimes success is not so much knowing what you need as what you don’t.

Several players with poor attitudes have left the club and as a result there is more clarity and cohesion on and off the field.

Players who often whinged about doing media and corporate or fan engagement gigs can be a corrosive force.

Dejected Broncos players in 2020. Plenty has been learned since (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Dejected Broncos players in 2020. Plenty has been learned since (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

The club needed the likes of Adam Reynolds and Kurt Capewell to come in and set a decent example which they have.

Fine young players like Pat Carrigan and Kotoni Staggs, who endured those winters from hell, now know how tough life can be and must surely have a tougher shell after enduring such rugged times.

Fitness was another key mover. 

When several key recruits landed at the club in the off-season they spruiked the same blunt message “you just have to get fitter.’’

The word on the street in the NRL was overpowering … if you stuck with the Broncos for the first 40 minutes they would fold in the second half.

They say fitness is alertness. The first sign of an unfit football team is leaking points. After 18 rounds this year the high-flying Broncos have conceded just 339 points — at the same point last year they had conceded a staggering 560 to be second last.

The previous year — when last — they were even worse with 592.

Adam Reynolds has lifted the club to another level (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Adam Reynolds has lifted the club to another level (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

They are horrendous numbers which hopefully will never be repeated and ones indicative of a club all over the shop. But now, under coach Kevin Walters, director of football Ben Ikin and chief executive Dave Donaghy, the club has now reset its compass. 

The Broncos increased defensive effort this season can be measured in a multitude of ways. In a recent match against the Gold Coast Titans, Brisbane missed more than 50 tackles yet still won, a sign of how desperately they scrambled.

Even if the first tackler was shrugged off the swarming back-up did its job which, in itself is a sign of a united team effort.

The Broncos have risen into a sweet spot on the premiership ladder where they are sitting solidly in the top four without huge fuss or fanfare. At one stage this year they were $101 to win the title. Now they are $13.

Punters are hardly kicking the door down to back them but all that will change if their current surge continues.     

Originally published as NRL 2022: Local heroes and 90s spirit all part of Broncos’ revival, says Barry Maranta

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-2022-the-lessons-learned-by-brisbane-broncos-over-two-winters-of-hell/news-story/bdcce5826052993fd41e00149fb99f8e