Broncos fail to meet expectations against the Titans, Tyrone Roberts soars as skipper

Was Brisbane’s loss to the Gold Coast another costly stumble for a young, rebuilding team or a desperate case of a lack of motivation, asks ROBERT CRADDOCK.

The Broncos just can’t get any consistency this season. Image: Jono Searle/Getty Images

• Broncos count the cost after Titans shock
• Five things: The result this rivalry needed

Each week, The Courier-Mail’s chief sportswriter Robert Craddock looks at the big talking points coming out of the NRL.

OFFSIDE

SUNDAY ROAST

THE Broncos’ shock loss to the Titans has divided critics over the cause of their Sunday sleep in.

Is this simply a matter of a young team unable to cope with the stresses of the Origin period?

Is it the cost a team has to pay during a rebuilding period?

Or is it a case of a team yet again having its motivational levels dipping when it faces a battling rival?

It’s probably all of the above but none of the three excuses such a timid performance in front a decent home crowd. Most critics felt the Broncos were a top four team at the start of the season.

One of the reasons Melbourne Storm are so special is that when they see a lower ladder team out of form they go for the kill. The Broncos often slip into cruise mode.

The Broncos just can’t get any consistency this season. Image: Jono Searle/Getty Images

MAKE A WISH

What a shame it would be if Cowboys prop Jordan McLean is denied a State of Origin debut for NSW after being the victim of one of rugby league’s ugliest sights — the wishbone tackle.

McLean’s left leg was hoisted high and he left the field in agony after a tackle by Manly young gun Manase Fainu.

BENNETT”S BIG TEST

ARE Wayne Bennett’s Rabbitohs all they are cracked up to be?

We are about to find out. With two successive losses, Sam Burgess gone for two weeks with a shoulder injury, Adam Reynolds out for a month and mystery man James Roberts appearing from nowhere to test their robust culture, Souths face a stern examination of their depth and character.

McGuire behaviour is getting boring. Image: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

NO MORE JOSHING

WHAT is wrong with Josh McGuire?

We love the passion and high standards he brings to the game for Queensland and the Cowboys but the facial massage he gave Dylan Walker on Saturday night was the latest in a sequence of unacceptably unsavoury acts.

McGuire was fined $3,400 by the NRL who are watching him closely and tiring of his antics.

WELCOME BACK COTTER

It could and should been one of most uplifting moments of the weekend.

After two knees reconstructions, Mackay’s 20-year-old star Reuben Cotter swoops on a chip kick within seconds of making his NRL debut on Saturday and the cameras cross to his jubilant parents as he scores a try.

And then it gets called back because of a lightweight and clearly disputable obstruction call. What a let down.

You can see how much it means to Tyrone Roberts. Image: Jono Searle/Getty Images

ONSIDE

A REAL TITAN

Tyrone Roberts had to sneak off to his car to shed a tear when he was named Titans captain recently, so much did it mean to him.

That’s just the sort of passion the club needs and his performance against the Broncos was just the sort of wholehearted contribution the club needs as it negotiates the stormy seas of Ash Taylor’s absence. It’s hats off to the Titans for the spirit they showed after a tough week.

THE GREATER GOOD

Ash Taylor’s decision to take leave from the game as he deals with the cruel pressures of social media criticism has not surprised sportsmen from all codes who are glad he took a stand.

At Eagle Farm races on Saturday there were stories of two young jockeys struggling to cope with vicious social media taunts. Education for the challenges of social media is improving by the year but even the experts agree there is no set cure for handling it.

Have Newcastle taken the right strategy with the game’s brightest talent? Image: AAP Image/Darren Pateman

NIGHT OF KNIGHTS

WHEN the Newcastle Knights are riding high in the saddle so is rugby league.

The Knights’ six-match winning streak has added an electric edge to the competition and taken us back to the days when Andrew Johns was running amok with the vibe in the steel city as good as it has been for too many years. Great stuff.

BARGAIN BUY … BUT

NEWCASTLE pulled off one of the great bargain buys of the decade when they signed Kalyn Ponga to a five-year deal with $600,000 a season. But was he too cheap?

The pressure on Newcastle is to play him a top up fee but some club officials argue that a contract is a contract and he would not be handing money back if he was going poorly. It’s a deceptively complex debate.

TURPIN TIME

In an era when so many young players gain rich long-term contracts, Broncos rake Jake Turpin continues to plan with the rousing desperation of a youngster on small bickies playing for a bigger feed. Soon enough he will get one.