NRL 2022: Dragons coach Anthony ‘Hook’ Griffin can bury club which sacked him in Broncos ambush

The Brisbane Broncos are in dire straits, and it might be former coach Anthony ‘Hook’ Griffin who delivers the last rites to their slim finals hopes when they head to Kogarah.

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Dragons coach Anthony Griffin can exact the ultimate revenge on the Broncos eight years after being sacked by Brisbane.

Griffin’s Dragons can put the last nail in Brisbane’s finals coffin by sinking the Broncos at Kogarah on Saturday night.

The Broncos must beat the Dragons in the last round fixture to have any hope of playing in this year’s NRL finals series.

A win will keep Brisbane’s faint finals dream alive ahead of Sunday’s Tigers-Raiders game, however a loss will almost certainly end any hope of the Broncos featuring in 2022 playoffs.

“Hook” Griffin, 56, coached the Broncos for four seasons from 2011 before being shown the door in 2014 to accommodate the return of Wayne Bennett to Red Hill.

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Dragons head coach Anthony Griffin gets his chance to return fire against the club which sacked him back in 2014.

He only missed the finals once in four years and wasn’t embarrassed as head coach of Brisbane, finishing with a winning record of 53 per cent from 101 games in charge.

But it wasn’t enough as Bennett indicated a desire to return to Brisbane and duly took the Broncos to the 2015 NRL grand final, losing to North Queensland.

Griffin has coached at the Panthers (2016-18) and the Dragons since last year.

Now, the Broncos are preparing for St George Illawarra to come out firing as they look to end Brisbane’s season.

“Hook gave me my debut against the Broncos, ironically,” said Brisbane fullback Te Maire Martin, a former Panther.

“He is real tough on defence and attitude and they will come out firing. He will remember the last game we had against them at Suncorp (Broncos win 32-18) and they will be using that as motivation.

“Hook will be getting them up and they will be looking to knock us out and end our hopes of scratching into the eight.”

Griffin isn’t the only ex-Bronco looking to sink Brisbane.

The Dragons are stacked with former Brisbane players, with the likes of Tautau Moga, Ben Hunt, Josh McGuire, Jaydn Su’A, Jack Bird and Andrew McCullough set to take the field in St George Illawarra colours.

McGuire, Su’A, Bird and McCullough were shown the door by Brisbane while under-contract, adding another layer to the rivalry.

Despite the backroom machinations, Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs said there’s no bad blood between the players.

“I have good relationships with the previous Broncos that were here,” he said.

“We got one over them already and I am looking forward to going out there and getting a win for the team and the Broncos fans and members. They deserve it as much as we do.

“Everybody plays their best footy against the Broncos, but I’m looking forward to a good clash on Saturday night.”

Jack Bird will be looking to extract some revenge against his former club. Picture: NRL Photos

Bird endured a turbulent three seasons at the Broncos (2018-20) after joining Brisbane as a big-money recruit from Cronulla.

He never reached any great heights at Red Hill before deciding to return to his home region and was granted a release by the Broncos.

Now, Bird wants to end his former team’s season.

“I want to win, I don’t like losing so I want to win the game and I’m always like that,” he said.

“The Broncos have been pretty good all year, but I want to go out and beat them and hopefully they can’t make the finals.

“Even if they can make the finals (if the Tigers beat Canberra), I want to win the game and hopefully knock them out.

“I am always keen to go up against my old teammates. I know they will be strong and come out firing, I am looking forward to facing them.

“We want to finish the season strongly, we have one more game now and hopefully we can knock the Broncos off and beat them. Our job is not done, even though we can’t make the finals, we want to beat the Broncos and get a win this week.”

Broncos fans won’t tolerate this rot

Brisbane have one game to save their season. Even then, it may not be enough. The Broncos are in free fall as they prepare to face St George Illawarra on Saturday afternoon with a place in the finals potentially on the line.

A season that promised so much threatens to end in failure. The Broncos are a big club that demands finals football. Anything less is considered an abject disappointment. An unmitigated disaster.

At one point this season, only a matter of weeks ago in fact, the Broncos looked bound for the top four. They were talking about a home final and a double chance.

The wheels have fallen off for Brisbane late in the season.

Since then, they have lost four of their past five games. Over the past fortnight, they have been battered. The defensive resilience that was lauded earlier in the season is gone. The Broncos leak like a rusty faucet.

Brisbane have become easybeats and a Dragons side littered with former Broncos – and coached by ex-Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin – would savour ending their season.

Even if they overcome the Dragons, it may not be enough for Brisbane given Canberra will leapfrog them again if they beat the Wests Tigers on Sunday.

The Broncos have lost control of their destiny. They are scrambling for survival only days after departing five-eighth Tyson Gamble appeared to suggest that halfback Adam Reynolds was a more influential figure at the club than coach Kevin Walters.

They were alarming comments from Gamble and he later backtracked. Yet they are symbolic of a club that once again finds itself on the verge of crisis at the end of a season that threatened at one stage to reach dizzying heights.

It promises to be a deeply challenging off-season for the club. The Broncos have fullback Reece Walsh joining from the Warriors but the most pressing issue will be who goes out.

Brisbane need to resolve the future of Payne Haas as a priority. They need to sit him down and address his concerns over his and the club’s direction.

If they are still poles apart, they should let him leave and use the money to strengthen their squad. Above all, the Broncos need to work out whether Walters is the coach to take them forward.

It was smiles at the Broncos after round 12 with the club sitting inside the top four. Picture: NRL photos

A few weeks ago he was in contention for coach of the year. Now he finds his coaching under the microscope as the Broncos capitulate amid unsavoury headlines over the relationship between Walters and his players.

The club has spoken to him about a contract extension but their preference is to have a rolling deal that they could terminate at their whim. They were scarred by a big payout when they axed Anthony Seibold but their refusal to extend Walters for a meaningful length of time suggests they are yet to be convinced that he is the right man to take them forward.

The Broncos have made strides this season under Walters. The majority of their players have improved on his watch. They appear to be tracking upwards but the Broncos and their fans are hard markers. They expect nothing less than the top eight.

Anything less is a failure and that would leave Walters on shaky ground.

Originally published as NRL 2022: Dragons coach Anthony ‘Hook’ Griffin can bury club which sacked him in Broncos ambush