Broncos report card: How Brisbane can hit back after disastrous 2020 NRL season
The Broncos are in the midst of a disastrous season but they can bounce back quickly in 2021 — and there are three players they should sign immediately to help make that happen.
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The Broncos have lost their coach and are in danger of collecting their first-ever wooden spoon — but there’s still reason for hope.
Peter Badel looks back at what went wrong in season 2020, and why it can be turned around next year.
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ROSTER
Former Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold had no excuses coming into the 2020 season.
The Broncos possessed the most exciting batch of young guns in the code, a talent base rich enough to convince bookmakers to install Brisbane among the leading contenders for this year’s premiership.
Many pundits rated them a genuine top-four contender on the back of back-row strike weapons David Fifita and Tevita Pangai Jr, centre sensation Kotoni Staggs and the code’s best young front-rower, Payne Haas.
There were concerns about the halves but Seibold had moved to provide more experience and depth with the signing of playmaker Brodie Croft, Melbourne’s halfback in the 2018 grand final.
It was a youthful roster but one undoubtedly on the rise. And Seibold believed the injection of Croft at halfback would free up Anthony Milford to be Brisbane’s instinctive matchwinner at five-eighth.
INJURIES
From the outset, the Broncos were kicked in the guts by the football gods. The injury toll would become one of the worst in their 32 years.
It started before Round 1, when Matt Lodge injured his ACL in a training mishap. Two days before their opening clash against the Cowboys, Jack Bird snapped his ACL in another training breakdown.
Skipper Alex Glenn also missed the opener with a calf injury, triggering a shocking injury toll that also claimed Jake Turpin (leg), Corey Oates (leg), Milford (hamstring), Tom Flegler (shoulder), Croft (shoulder) and Staggs (hamstring).
Entering Thursday night’s clash against the Panthers, the Broncos had 14 players out due to injury or suspension. Premiership teams are invariably the healthiest teams. With so much turbulence week to week, Seibold rarely had the chance to build continuity with his squad.
DRAW
The COVID saga came at the worst possible time for the Broncos.
They were flying with two consecutive wins to start the season and were poised to meet the Titans in Round 3, a match they almost certainly would have won after the winless Gold Coast were flogged 46-6 by the Eels in Round 2.
Then the NRL season was suspended due to COVID-19.
The new, revised draw tossed up a torrid month for the Broncos, who lost to Parramatta (34-6), the Roosters (59-0), Manly (20-18) and the Knights (27-6) as their season began to unravel.
In six weeks mid-season, Brisbane faced big guns Melbourne, Souths, Canberra, the Roosters and Penrith. They lost every game.
COACH
Seibold struggled to deal with the fallout as losses mounted and pressure intensified on him to stop the rot.
The coach made some bizarre strategic decisions. He released Andrew McCullough to Newcastle, only for fellow hooker Turpin to fracture his leg a week later.
Seibold refused to play Darius Boyd at fullback despite the former skipper urging to be picked there. Seibold also dug his heels in with Croft despite calls for the halfback to be dropped in favour of Tom Dearden as Brisbane’s top-eight hopes began to crumble.
Seibold reached breaking point. After sickening social-media allegations about his private life, and with Brisbane floundering in 15th spot, Seibold severed ties with the club with five rounds to play.
WHAT WENT WRONG
Injuries aside, the game model Seibold believed would break Brisbane’s premiership drought simply failed.
He was a big believer in playing high-speed, up-tempo football with quick shifts. But Brisbane’s playmaking spine lacked the experience and cohesion to consistently execute the ideas Seibold had in mind.
And their defence was a debacle.
In pre-season, his mantra was: how do we win without the ball? But Brisbane’s attitude in defence was poor. When flogged 59-0 by the Roosters in Round 4 – the club’s worst loss – the troops never recovered.
FIVE KEY STATS
1. The Broncos will for the first time finish with single-digit season wins, with 10 victories in 2013 their fewest previously. Their most losses in any regular season is 13, in 2010, 2013 and currently in 2020.
2. It’s the first time the Broncos have conceded 50 points twice in the same season.
3. Brisbane had missed the finals just twice (before this season) since 1992 (2010 and 2013), and their lowest finishing position is 12th in 2013.
4. Seibold delivered the two worst differentials in Broncos history. Their previous worst (-115) last season has been blown apart by this season’s annus horribilis (-314) entering this week’s clash against the Titans.
5. They are also on track to record their highest points-conceded average at 33, well above their mark of 24 per game in 2009.
THE TARGETS
The Broncos need forward hardheads and they should sign three players immediately – Cameron Smith, James Tamou and Christian Welch.
Smith and Welch remain off-contract at the Storm, while Tamou’s talks with the Panthers have hit a snag.
Welch and Tamou have Test and Origin experience, while Smith would transform the entire club if the G.O.A.T. joined the Broncos.
REASON FOR HOPE
A new coach will bring fresh vitality to Red Hill.
If Kevin Walters is given the job, a tidal wave of goodwill will sweep over a Broncos club craving harmony.
Whoever the new coach is, Seibold’s successor will inherit a quality squad. Dearden is a fine young halfback, and players such as Staggs, Haas, Carrigan, Coates, Pangai Jr and Milford still have their best years ahead.
The Roosters went from 13th in 2012 to premiers 12 months later. With the right coaching systems and renewed confidence, the Broncos can be genuine top-eight material in 2021.