One of Clint Eastwood’s most famous movies is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. His NRL lookalike Wayne Bennett and the Broncos have shown the ugly with the awful way the Matt Lodge signing has been handled by the club. The performance in round one against the Dragons was bad. We finally saw some good after a round two win against Queensland rivals the Cowboys.
Hate him or love him, Wayne Bennett knows how to make an entertaining press conference. With his defiant comments and epic mic drop on Friday night, he has shown that he has faith in his team and that he could not care less about the outside noise. It is amazing the difference a week can make. Seven days ago, the rugby league world were discussing the demise of the Brisbane Broncos. Flash forward to today, the side has got their season back on track and have shown their ability to compete for the finals with a spirited performance.
Eighty minutes of football does not make a season but the performance against the Cowboys gave Broncos fans something that they had been missing-Hope. The emergence of Tongan wrecking ball Tevita Pangai Jnr, Anthony Milford rediscovering his running game and a solid performance from halfback Kodi Nikorima are all signs that 2018 could be a successful one.
Jack Bird’s return is only going to enhance the Broncos performance on the field. Bird will bring a winner’s mentality to the club and his versatility and willingness to play in both the back and forward line it will give the club an X factor on the field. While many forward packs are bigger, there are not many more mobile which may also serve as a powerful weapon this season.
Never before have more questions being asked of the Broncos premiership credentials or Wayne Bennett’s relevance in today’s NRL. While he might have been in the line of fire to start the season, a turnaround in attitude and spirit will have Bennett looking like a million dollar baby by the end.
https://nothingbutleague.com/2017/10/23/kevin-walters-returns-to-broncos-as-assistant-coach/