No defence for lacklustre Broncos who simply failed to hold out opposition attacks all season
DEFENCE wins premierships. The 30-point mauling in the elimination final was as brutal as they come, but the writing was on the wall for Brisbane following their defensive performances in 2018.
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DEFENCE wins premierships.
The Broncos found that out the hard way on Sunday after watching their season go up in smoke in a 48-18 torching by the Dragons at Suncorp Stadium.
The 30-point mauling in the elimination final was as brutal as they come, but the writing was on the wall for Brisbane following their defensive performances in 2018.
The Broncos conceded 500 points in 24 games throughout the regular season and only three teams in the game’s 110-year history have won premierships after racking up such a tally.
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Minor premiers the Roosters conceded 361 points and fellow preliminary finalists Melbourne (363) were only marginally behind.
Four of the past five NRL premiers have been the best defensive outfits throughout the regular season.
The Broncos built their late-season title tilt on knocking off the top four Roosters and Rabbitohs, but they failed to fire in the finals arena.
Brisbane simply couldn’t match the intensity of the Dragons and their chief destroyer — Tariq Sims.
Sims produced one of the great individual finals performances with three tries, but he wasn’t alone.
The Dragons’ all-NSW Origin backrow of Sims, Tyson Frizell and Jack De Belin outpointed their Broncos rivals Tevita Pangai Jr, David Fifita and Josh McGuire.
At halftime the Broncos had missed 19 tackles to St George Illawarra’s nine and were on the wrong end of line breaks at 5-1 despite bouncing out to an early 10-2 lead.
“If you get any possession you’re a chance of scoring against the Broncos,” said Channel 9 commentator Phil Gould.
Gould was right. The Dragons weathered an early storm before huffing and puffing and blowing Brisbane away.
The Broncos’ 10-2 lead turned into a 28-10 deficit in 20 minutes.
Fifita, 18, could do nothing to contain the rampaging Sims as he dominated Brisbane with a hat-trick within 18 minutes.
For all Brisbane’s attacking threats, the Broncos suffered from too many defensive deficiencies this year.
The Dragons towelled them up 34-20 in Round 1 and Brisbane’s season never really recovered.
The Broncos were never in the top four at any stage throughout the season, sneaking into sixth spot on the ladder and securing a home final with a final round victory against the lowly Manly Sea Eagles.
With seven-time premiership winning coach Wayne Bennett at the helm, there was a sense the Broncos could do some damage in September.
With 812 games under his belt, Bennett could orchestrate the fairytale and snap Brisbane’s 12-year title drought by becoming the first club in NRL history to win the premiership from outside the top four.
But the Broncos lacked the most important ingredient in a title tilt — strong defence — and Sunday’s 30-point thrashing was evidence of that.
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