Anthony Seibold genius shines in stunning Queensland derby triumph

Any doubts over Anthony Seibold’s tactical genius were erased in the first 20 minutes of the Broncos’ 29-10 win over the Cowboys.

Kodi Nikorima starred for Brisbane. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

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Any doubts over Anthony Seibold’s tactical genius were erased in the first 20 minutes of the Broncos’ 29-10 win over the Cowboys.

Seibold’s motivational ploy of leaving Tevita Pangai Jr on the bench at the start of last week’s game against the Storm worked an absolute treat.

The 23-year-old front rower couldn’t have sent a clearer message to his coach that he wants to be a starter than if he’d written it in a note and slipped it under his door.

Pangai exploded into action like something out of a Marvel comic.

It was the sort of dynamic, aggressive, full-bore performance that hasn’t been seen on a footy field since … well, since Jason Taumalolo last week.

Kodi Nikorima starred for Brisbane. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

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Taumalolo was so dominant against the Dragons that certain media types went so far as to label him, dare I say it, JT.

Talk about putting a bloke under pressure.

In the lead-up to the match the major talking point was how the young Broncos forwards were going to handle JT Mk II.

Tevita answered that question emphatically after a few minutes, bending Taumalolo backwards with a bell-ringer.

Taumololo left the field soon afterwards with a suspected medial ligament injury.

The Broncos forwards didn’t start singing, “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead,” but their body language said it for them.

Without the threat of the ogre Taumalolo running roughshod over them, they grew in confidence by the minute.

The Cowboys, without a JT to bless themselves, fell apart.

Anthony Seibold’s tactics with Tevita Pangai Junior paid dividends. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

Seibold’s brave new world might have arrived a week late, but none of their fans in the crowd of 45,023 was complaining.

With every Brisbane try they jumped to their feet and launched into the Bronco Jig – the biggest thing to hit town since the Chicken Dance at Expo 88.

Not that everything that Seibold has brought to the Broncos is brand new. Corey Oates’s second try had a very familiar look to it.

Put mytle and cardinal striped jerseys on Anthony Milford, Kodi Nikorima, Jack Bird and Oates and it could have been the South Sydney side of 2018 in action.

That same play brought the Rabbitohs a wealth of tries down the left side last season, and there’s little question it’s going to be just as profitable for the Broncos.

Especially if Milford and Nikorima can continue to grow the way they did on Friday night.

There were groans when they each spilled sitters early on, but as the forwards started dominating and the pressure eased on the halves they began to express themselves.

As for Bird, the third member of the much-maligned trio, he was good for the whole game.

Apart from a bombed try late in the second half he showed the kind of form Broncos fans have been crying out for since he arrived at the club.

But apart from Pangai, whose bulldozing try was reminiscent of Gorden Tallis at his peak, the best news for Broncos supporters was the performance of Tom Flegler.

The kid they are calling the “new Shane Webcke” (although Webcke probably never had the pace off the mark that Flegler showed in a first half burst) will be around for years to come as the new-age Broncos write their own local derby history.

Not that Anthony Milford was willing to let the memories of the great battles of the recent past go quietly.

As a tribute to the one and only JT, he potted a field goal.

Who cares that the score was 28-10 at the time? Some traditions are too good to let go.