This post was prompted by the 2017 top 8 flops thread, and the quite a few posters believing the Broncos will miss the 8 this year. I remember when the signing was first announced, Bennett's move to the Broncos was talked up by fans of various clubs (not just the Broncos) as their great new hope, obviously off the back of his successes previously at the Broncos.
Remarkable how much has changed in the following years. It started off strong, with a GF appearance against Cowboys in 2015 where they lost. That was Milford's breakout year, which contributed a fair bit to their success clearly. Ever since then however, Bennett's broncos have seen a steady decline. Runners-up became 5th in 2016 only to go out in week 2 of the finals against Cowboys.
Considering the pedigree Wayne walked into the joint with in 2015, his results have been average at best. 1 GF appearance notwithstanding, he previously led the broncos to many finals appearances, 5 GF's and 5 premierships, one of which was the 15-8 schooling of Melbourne. He was being talked up as still an elite coach up there with Bellyache and Hasler. So why such a big drop off in success?
For mine, their recruitment and player management under his watch has been horrendous. The word that comes to mind is "boring". They don't have many players capable of the individual brilliance that the likes of Barba and Milford are capable of, and their pack, physically small compared to other clubs, can't provide a good enough platform to mask the severe lack of flair in the spine and backline. Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt just don't seem to have what it takes to be a premiership halves pairing. In fact in all honesty, Hunt is a liability more than anything else. His handling issues on field see him drop it far more often than any half should ever (his grand final knock-on is the stuff of legend, just as one example). By extension Milford, for all his obvious talent just doesn't have enough to carry the whole spine/backline on his own.
This, combined with certain players like Sam Thaiday among others being over the hill and even worse off season gains and losses this year and things aren't looking great for Wayne and the Stable. The mighty have fallen bigly.
