Crash Tackle: Brisbane Broncos have a mountain to climb to win title as losses mount and Origin looms
History tells us you have to finish in the top four to win the title. With the losses mounting and the Origin blowtorch about to dial up the heat, the Broncos have a mountain to climb, writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.
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Kevin Walters didn’t name names or point fingers but he looked frustrated, bewildered and a tad angry.
So he should have been because his buoyant Broncos had effectively fallen for a sucker punch.
The exceptionally improved Titans love a “you score, we score’’ shootout but are far more vulnerable in a grind.
As Walters pointed out, the Broncos just didn’t “come to the races’’ as they went down in a 36-34 thriller.
If this was a game of cricket, the Titans set a four-man slips cordon, bowled wide outswingers and the Broncos just couldn’t help themselves but nick the big, flashy drive.
Walters said the shootout was “probably never going to work’’, there was a “lack of effort’’, the Broncos’ defence was “non-existent’’ and his team was “not there’’.
Don’t underestimate the significance of this loss.
History is a powerful and reliable force in rugby league.
It tells us you have to finish in the top four to win the title and that the Broncos, with five losses, can only afford to lose another three games to make the top four.
Big ask. With State of Origin placing a blowtorch on player depth and resilience, that’s a mountain climb right there.
TERRIFIC TITANS
Hats off to Des Hasler. That’s seven good games in a row for the Titans and they are becoming one of the NRL’s most watchable teams.
The Titans may have only won three games but the embodiment of their new-found spirit was a match-turning, cover-defending tackle by halfback Tom Weaver that cut down Corey Oates as he was about to score out wide.
All four Queensland teams are dishing up fascinating fare.
WORK TO DO
The best bits of Broncos backrower Brendan Piakura’s game are State of Origin worthy but he needs to eradicate his errors to become the genuine article.
Piakura was benched after conceding two penalties against the Titans, a reminder that as promising as he is, he is not quite the finished product.
SUPER SUNDAY
The Broncos should play more games on Sunday.
They will be seen in daylight only once before the finals and never again on Sunday. It’s a shame.
As evidenced by the sellout against the Titans, the slot is much more family friendly than, say, the soulless games on Thursday nights.
DYNAMIC DOLPHIN
Cool-headed Dolphins playmaker Isaiya Katoa is starting to win some interesting support.
It’s been said several times this season that if Katoa was playing in Sydney he would be touted as the next Nathan Cleary but former NSW playmaker Jamie Soward has not missed his work at the Dolphins.
Soward has tweeted that Katoa and Jarome Luai, once together in the Panthers system even though they never played first grade together, should be united at the scrum base as the new NSW Origin combination.
ONE-CLUB MAN
The Titans must wish every player they signed had the deep-seated commitment to the club of AJ Brimson.
The will-o-the-wisp back signed up for six years last week with not a solitary added clause to his contract. He just wanted to be a Titan for life.
After the draining David Fifita- contract affair, the simplicity of the Brimson deal must have felt like a coastal breeze to Gold Coast.
Brimson, who is set to become a father for the first time in a month, is a qualified carpenter so is well set up for life after football.
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Originally published as Crash Tackle: Brisbane Broncos have a mountain to climb to win title as losses mount and Origin looms
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