The pressure is off Wayne Bennett and Darren Lockyer after the Broncos’ 16-12 victory, but they’re in no position to celebrate as they were virtually handed the win.
The promising attacking raids which produced the Broncos’ three tries will no doubt instil some much needed confidence, but a highly undisciplined performance from the home side, which saw 20 errors, 25 missed tackles, and nine penalties, was obviously the biggest factor in victory.
The Sharks made every effort to undo their good work of taking a 12-0 lead into the break, by constantly handing the visiting team chances on their own line, as well as never holding onto the ball long enough to place sustained pressure whenever they were on the Broncos' line.
However, the Broncos were able to take advantage of a couple of the many opportunities handed to them, as it finally appears that off season changes to freshen their attacking style were taking hold, and they've eradicated the first round schoolboy errors.
The Broncos had a bumper start to the second half, with Brad Thorn only taking five minutes after the break to score their first try on the back of one of several incisive dummy half runs from new recruit, Michael Ennis. This was on the back of a piggyback out of their own half, courtesy of a penalty, and a good roll on with some big hitting runs from their forwards.
Backing up and supporting the ball carrier, which has become extra important in recent seasons, is a feature of play the Broncos have lagged in recent seasons. But their off season work to correct this was evident not only through this try, but also in general play, where players were lining up to support the ball carrier.
However, one area the Broncos lagged in, despite working on in the off season, was defence. A shocking 29 missed tackles, sloppy defence, and not putting the man to ground straight away, meant the Broncos were always being caught on the back foot, and let the Sharks in the game right until the 80th minute, despite the home team’s worse performance.
Kimmorley and Dykes regularly had a great platform from which to launch their attacks of the Broncos’ line, but the rust from their three game break showed, as schoolboy errors saw them repeatedly put the ball to ground, passes not finding their mark, and kicks miss their target.
Leading up to the second try, the Broncos had been given yet another piggyback out of their own half with a penalty, and then earned a repeat set, ten out from the Sharks’ line.
From that point, the heavy tackling from the Sharks, which totalled 328 by the end, really began to take its toll, and in the 67th minute, in a set where Lockyer had a touch in every play, the captain had the vision to hold the ball up at the line long enough to put a barnstorming Shane Webcke through a hole in a tired defensive line, and drag several defenders over the line to score.
After that, the Broncos had a spring in their step, and when Ennis converted to take the scores to 12-10, a gutsy comeback definitely looked on the cards. The Broncos only had to wait till the 69th minute to take the lead for the first time in the match, with back-to-back tries.
Some hard hitting running from Brisbane’s forwards, including Webcke, again caught a ragged and tired Sharks defence on the roll back. Some individual brilliance, and a spot of luck, saw Seymour set up one of the best tries of the round, and announce his presence in 2006.
With markers out of position, and the ruck defence in shambles, Seymour darted up the middle and pierced the Sharks’ line with a little chip and chase. With the bounce of the ball going his way, he found Lockyer in support who had the vision to take the ball out wide, where the Broncos had numbers in attack. A perfectly weighted kick set it up for an epic finish for a pacey Casey McGuire, who was backing up after an earlier hit up in the set, just beat the Cronulla defender to the ball, and only needed approval from the video ref to confirm the grounding.
The game was not over then, as Brisbane had to resist a spirited attempt from Cronulla to steal back the lead. There were scares in the last five minutes of the game, when a Brisbane penalty slightly opened the door for a Sharks raid, and gave the visiting side probably their first true test of ticker for 2006.
A Kimmorely kick, targeting a flying Darren Albert, was uncontested by Steve Michaels, and it was only through the luck of Albert not holding onto it that Brisbane came up trumps. The play surely raised questions about the dependability of the young winger under the high ball.
Two more Sharks raids, one in the 78th minute, where an Adam Dykes pass on the back of a successful backline movement went to ground, and in the final minute when a bustling Lance Thompson broke the line and offloaded, but could only find Broncos players in support, where the last threats for the Broncos, and really were exemplary of the night; where errors gifted a sloppy Brisbane the game.
The win was a good confidence builder for the Broncs, and takes the pressure off an under fire Lockyer and Bennett, after the coach’s comments earlier this week that he would be prepared to move the embattled five-eighth back to fullback.
Despite a woeful defensive effort, something the Broncos will have to focus very strongly on this week, there were positive signs their hard work in the off season is finally achieving fruition. Players are backing up in twos and threes, which means they’re not relying as much on their forwards alone to make metres. Also, threatening runs, and accurate kicking from Lockyer and Seymour mean that, in combination with new recruit Ennis, the Broncos are beginning to form a formidable combination in the crucial halves.
Brisbane's Brightest
3 Points - Shane Webcke. Again showed how much experience accounts for, with 30 tackles, 13 hit ups, 109 metres gained, and 4 offloads. Was the reason the Broncos won, not just because of his first try fot 2006.
2 Points - Petero Civoniceva. Desptie beating Webcke in the tackle count, hit ups, and metres gained, he didn't have the same impact or presence as Webcke, but still a gutsy performance.
1 Point - Darren Lockyer. First point of the year, and thoroughly deserved. While not a stellar performance, showed signs of recapturing his sterling form from when he first switched to five-eigth. Looks certain to remain in the position.
LOL
