What Broncos coach Michael Maguire can learn from watching NRL grand final masterclass

Michael Maguire was in the stands for Penrith’s epic grand final win. There was plenty for the new Broncos coach to ponder, writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.

Broncos coach Michael Maguire sat with the punters at the NRL grand final and there was much to think about.

The first and most conspicuous takeaway was simply that it’s outrageously difficult to be a premiership side unless you have a gold plated halfback.

Goodness is often not enough. You need greatness.

Nathan Cleary’s performance was not quite as great as it was in last season’s grand final when he picked apart the Broncos but he still ran for 118m and had a hand in everything that mattered. And Jahrome Hughes was simply relentless for the Storm.

What a player Cleary is. And a modest man to boot. His lack of pretence adds to his charm.

As he sat in the stands you wonder whether the thought crossed Maguire’s mind that he will have only one more season of Adam Reynolds and then he must find another half.

New Broncos coach Michael Maguire was given plenty to ponder at the NRL grand final.

The Broncos are likely to make a million-dollar offer to Sam Walker to leave the Roosters but prising someone out of Bondi Junction can be like extracting a brick out of a dam wall.

The Broncos must lament the day they could have assigned a young Walker but made him pay for an Uber from Ipswich for a contract interview.

Another thing Brisbane can learn from was the connection of the Panthers players. It’s almost as if they play for a greater cause that individual glory.

Their connectivity was in stark contrast to the Broncos’ closing games of the season, when some try scorers were given only token pats on the backs from teammates.

Nathan Cleary had a hand in everything that mattered for Penrith. Picture: Getty Images

DRAFT ISSUE

During the four years the Panthers have won consecutive premierships the AFL have had four different premiers – and there’s a reason for that.

The AFL has a draft which drags the top teams down and pushes the battler up. It’s slow moving and tedious at times but it helps level the competition. The NRL has a salary cap but no draft. It’s telling.

The Panthers deserve all the praise that comes their way for winning four titles in a row. They rebuilt their club from the bottom up and have been magnificent.

But only three clubs have won premierships in the last nine NRL summers. Many clubs are not rising or falling.

The one-way traffic must be a worry to the NRL. It seems no matter how many players they lose the Panthers always have someone to step up. This victory has been branded the final surge of a great generation. Don’t believe it.

The Panthers deserve all the praise that comes their way for winning four titles in a row. Picture: AFP

NIGHT NIGHT

The NRL are in love with their night time grand finals but few punters are.

The 7.30pm (6.30pm Brisbane) start literally seems to be left in the shade by the 2.30pm AFL grand final kick-off which seems a more fan friendly slot with the lengthening shadows at the end of the day as the players do a lap of the ground in an appropriate curtain-drawing experience for the season.

The fact that tickets were available for Sunday night’s grand final just before the kick-off was its owns statement about the kick-off time.

PANTHER WITH CLAWS

It has taken Panthers backrower Liam Martin a long time to be fully recognised for the exceptional player he is.

There’s been a feeling over the years Martin is a fiery-eyed mad dog but he’s much more than that. His passion and skill won the Blues a State of Origin series and again on Sunday night he was there to score a try on half time, making a crucial stolen ball play, a stunning catch off a bomb that produced another try — and he was everywhere in defence.