Matt Lodge captaincy calls epitomise Broncos’ dramatic fall, writes Paul Kent
Not long ago Matt Lodge was the NRL’s bad boy, now he’s being considered as Brisbane’s next captain. It’s a scenario that shows just how far the Broncos have fallen, writes Paul Kent.
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A quiz for NRL fans: Player A broke into the home of an unsuspecting family and threatened to kill all who lived there, including the nine-year-old son. This, after earlier threatening two innocent women walking home after a night out.
Player B posted on social media that anybody who is a drunk, gay, an adulterer, a liar, fornicator, thief, atheist or idolater will go to hell.
Which player is not allowed to play in the NRL and which player is about to be announced captain of his NRL team?
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NRL fans will know, immediately, that Player A might be about to be made captain at the Broncos while Player B, better known as Israel Folau, has no place in the game.
News leaking that Matt Lodge heads the list to be named Broncos captain is old school rugby league.
It is a fishing expedition. One to see what the public reaction will be and therefore determine whether the Broncos have it in them to go through with it.
There is more to it, though.
More to the point it is an indication of how far the Broncos have fallen. How could Lodge look set to be named, at the very least, as a co-captain at the NRL’s biggest brand?
It explains the confusion on Tuesday over whether the Broncos were going with one captain or, in the absence of a stand out leader, dual captains for next season.
It was rumoured many weeks ago that part of the negotiation for Lodge to re-sign with Brisbane would be him being made captain.
Some laughed it off as too absurd even for rugby league but, desperate times …
How will his likeness sit on the mural outside Suncorp Stadium, alongside the other great Broncos captains that began with Wally Lewis and passed through Allan Langer, Kevin Walters, Darren Lockyer, Gorden Tallis …
The appointment threatens to overshadow this week’s preliminary finals, at least in the bar room talk.
That the Broncos can still command attention as a side story in the game ahead of this weekend’s preliminary finals, with all 11 other eliminated clubs now mostly forgotten, is a nod to what they once were and what they have become.
Each of the weekend’s four finalists have their own story to tell.
Melbourne is looking to win its first premiership since the Big Three became the Big One.
Coach Craig Bellamy will admit in his quiet moments he did not expect the Storm to win the minor premiership and already going this far has been an overachievement and yet now, without Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk and with only Cameron Smith, the Storm are a game away from going at it again.
Smith and Cronk play each other for the final time on Saturday.
The Rabbitohs’ narrative centres around coach Wayne Bennett doing it again at another club. Bennett is the master at turning good chances into premierships.
The Raiders are Ricky’s redemption. Written off, can’t coach, Ricky Stuart took the time he needed to build a club that was premiership capable and now has them poised.
The Roosters are looking to become the first team to win back-to-back grand finals since Brisbane won Super League in 1997 and the first NRL premiership in 1998.
That second premiership was important to the Broncos.
After the split competitions the year before, the Broncos winning theirs in what was effectively the rebel competition, the Broncos felt it was important to come back into the fold and beat everybody, all the ARL teams included.
They knew how difficult it would be but they were such a mighty team they won going away, beating Canterbury 38-12 in the grand final.
Bennett was the coach.
He understood the importance of the premiership not only for the premiership sake but for what it meant historically. For the team and one day the club.
It is not fair to say Bennett would never have named Lodge captain. It was Bennett who got him to the club in the first place, recognising the first law of remaining employed, which is winning.
But some things are bigger, and the Broncos always understood that.
Once, anyway.