Brisbane Broncos impressed with Darwin fan support ahead of Parramatta Eels clash

BRONCOS coach Kevin Walters has been “pleasantly surprised” with the support in Darwin for his team as it looks ahead to an Anzac Round clash against Parramatta at TIO Stadium on Friday night.

Brisbane coach Kevin Walters chats to the media before the clash against Parramatta at TIO Stadium on Friday night. Picture: Che Chorley

BRONCOS coach Kevin Walters has been “pleasantly surprised” with the support in Darwin for his team as it looks ahead to an Anzac Round clash against Parramatta at TIO Stadium on Friday night.

There’s no hiding the fact that Broncos have struggled for results in recent times and a return to the winners circle is what they’re after.

And a strong showing against in defeat against a strong Penrith Panthers gives the side something to emulate heading into their match against the Eels.

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The Darwin heat is likely to play a role at TIO though Walters played it down hoping his players wouldn’t let that affect them.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the knowledge and support for the NRL and the Broncos in particular up here,” Walters said.

“The heat only affects the mind so we expect our boys to manage the conditions which are a little different to what we’re used to but it’s down to the players to get on top of it.

“We arrived (on Wednesday) and the boys have been doing community work and a short training session so now we’re all ready for the game.

“We’ve been on the improvement over the past few weeks. Last week in particular was a good performance from us and we will need more of that this week against Parramatta.”

Tom Dearden and Brodie Croft will be pivotal cogs in Broncos’ machine with both halfs needing to be on their game against an in form Eels’ outfit.

Brisbane captain Alex Glenn signs a fan’s Broncos shirt. Picture: Che Chorley

“It has to be there team, that’s part of their role and responsibility here at the Broncos as our six and seven,” Walters said.

“There’s several aspects of their game that they needed to get better at including their organisation and finishing of our sets and that’s their responsibility.”

And new acquisition Danny Levi will be another that will be looking for a strong performance on his first outing for the Broncos.

Captain Alex Glenn was also impressed with the support his club had gained in the Top End community and hoped to his side could provide a strong showing.

“It’s amazing to see our support up here and obviously to engage here means the world to us. It’s one of the best parts of this job,” Glenn told the NT News.

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“It’s going to be a big game. We’ve had a big rivalry with Parramatta in recent years and they’ve stuck to us in recent games so though we’ve come up here to win we know it won’t come easy.

“Last week we showed the attitude we need to have every single week and we need to back up that strong showing.

“The most positive thing from that game was the potential we showed against Penrith that are the most dominant side in the competition and we had them for 75 minutes.”