Are the fans "over" the Broncos?

I'm not over the Broncos.

I'm over the FUCKING MELBOURNE STORM. Really they are the ONLY thing stopping us from a solid chance at a premiership. I'm counting the days till Bellamy / Smith retire.

They have two of the best wingers in the comp, for less than the price of one of ours. They just shit all over the ruck every year with some new tactic. I'm just over the Storm.
 
I bleed Maroon said:
I'm saying more than that, I'm saying he has a dickhead face....

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Witty.
 
Broncapz said:
I'm not over the Broncos.

I'm over the FUCKING MELBOURNE STORM. Really they are the ONLY thing stopping us from a solid chance at a premiership. I'm counting the days till Bellamy / Smith retire.

They have two of the best wingers in the comp, for less than the price of one of ours. They just shit all over the ruck every year with some new tactic. I'm just over the Storm.
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So you're conceding we'll never beat the best. I know they've spanked us nearly every year since 2006 but we need a team that can beat the current Melbourne storm consistently to ever be a title chance.
 
winslow_wong said:
So you're conceding we'll never beat the best. I know they've spanked us nearly every year since 2006 but we need a team that can beat the current Melbourne storm consistently to ever be a title chance.
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I like the idea but which modern team has been able to beat the Storm consistently? Canberra (funnily enough) I think is one of the few.

Unfortunately, as someone mentioned on here recently, we are an above average (very good when we want to be) side but not a great one, we have obvious deficiencies that the best sides (Storm, Cowboys) don't have and this is why the remodelling (rebuild is the wrong word that gets bandied around here) that must happen is so important this preseason and next.

The tools to be a great side are there but a lot of whether it gets there depends on three things in my opinion:

1. Milf's desire and attitude as to what he wants or does not want to be because the need for another halfback purely rests on him as our main man, time to earn his payday or we never get there.

2. The coach - do we stick with him or be bold and throw the kitchen sink at Green (metaphorically because literally puts us in legal trouble) or Walters. In my opinion JD is NOT the guy we need or deserve, he is free to go coach the Gold Coast Bronco-Titans.

3. Signings and particularly retention - keeping our core young forwards together is crucial to whether we become great or not.
 
Dee said:
Sitting here a few days after the prelim finals loss, I've had time to really process everything that happened and I'm sure I share the same feelings as most of you. Disappointment. Anger. Frustration.

I've been thinking about how much the Broncos affect us, how much they consume our everyday thoughts and feelings so I thought I'd ask the question after this 2017 prelim finals loss - are we (the fans) starting to get "over" the Broncos?

I know its easy to ask that question after such a disappointing loss but let me finish.

When Wayne came back in 2015, I was one of the fans who knew that bringing him back would change us for the better, I knew Wayne would turn us around and turn us back into a top 4 team who can contend for the NRL premiership season after season. His record speaks for itself and honestly, Wayne Bennett is the Brisbane Broncos. He made us what we are/were so it was never a bad thing to bring the super coach back home where he belongs. He never should have left in the first place, but that's another story.

I also knew in 2015 that bringing in almost ANY coach at that point would be better than the Henjak/Griffin eras. In all honesty, 2010-2014 were the absolute lowest points to be a Broncos supporter, especially seasons 2012-2014. It was absolutely heart breaking what we were back then. 2011 was the exception. So when Wayne came back after the horrid seasons we were having, you couldn't help but feel positive, right?

It's been 3 seasons since Wayne came back. We changed our roster, changed a few coaching staff and we are always going to keep changing, that is the NRL salary cap. I'd like if everyone of you could answer truthfully - how do you think we are going as a club since 2015? How do you feel about the Broncos since then? Are you more passionate/less passionate? How do you feel about our future?

Are we starting to get "over" the Broncos?

I can only share my thoughts and opinions. When Wayne came back in 2015, I was highly optimistic. I thought we'd make the top 8 definitely, perhaps the top 4 but didn't hold my breath due to so many players leaving, bringing in new players etc so thought it would take at least a couple seasons for the team to gel. As the 2015 season went on, I started to see things in the way the team played that I haven't seen in YEARS. Commitment. Hunger. Desire. Playing as a team. Ball control. Confidence. Great tackling and defense. Communication. As the season went on, the club made me "believe" again and I truly felt we could actually win the premiership in Wayne's first season back in charge. We had "it". What is "it" exactly? I'm not sure but what I do know is we were a really really great team in 2015, and we made the grand final, I was extremely confident.
Well, then... we all know what happens next.

Devastation. Disbelief. Heart break. Sadness. Anger. Embarrassment. That pretty much sums up that 2015 Grand Final for me. It will never go away.

Since 2015, I honestly believe we are a changed team, and not for the better. We can't underestimate what losing that grand final did to us as a club, to our confidence, to our supporters, to the players, to everyone. We will always be laughed at whenever opposition teams and fans watch the 2015 GF. Always. And that angers me because we are so much better than that and it can never go away.

2016, this was the year for redemption. It's safe to say as a Broncos supporter, you thought the team would be absolutely hell bent on restoring pride within themselves as rugby league players and go out there in 2016 with a killer mind set and unshakeable hunger and desire to go one better and win the NRL premiership. What I saw in the team in 2016 was quite possibly even sadder than watching the 2015 GF. Instead of playing with desire, hunger and a never say die attitude, we were inconsistent, lacked hunger, confidence and just buckled and crumbled against teams that actually wanted it more then we did. Read this again - after losing the 2015 GF the way we did, OTHER teams in 2016 actually WANTED TO WIN THE NRL PREMIERSHIP more than we did. They showed it and played accordingly. Let that sink in. How is this possible for such a successful club like the Broncos? How can we bend over and buckle like we did? Why weren't we so hungry for success in 2016? We went backwards.

Who's the best team in the NRL? I think we'd all agree that it's the Melbourne Storm, right? Okay good. How did they do in 2016? Yep, made the grand final and lost. That's okay, shit happens. Now THIS is what separates US from THE BEST. How did the Melbourne Storm react to their 2016 GF loss? By coming out in season 2017 and playing with so much passion, desire, confidence and belief. Their attitude as a team and club is extraordinary. People are saying this Storm side this season is one of the best EVER. They've only lost 4 games all season and look absolutely unstoppable. They gave us a 30-0 lesson and are now in their second GF in row and honestly, they'll win and win big. You can tell. They just look so hungry for it. You can tell losing last year's GF hurt them and they've come out this season and showed they WANT and WILL go one better.

We have to compare ourselves against the best otherwise we'll never know what the bench mark is. The point is, the Melbourne Storm show us and every other club how it's done year in year out for over a decade. What I'm asking is - why can't we? What's wrong with us?

As a Broncos supporter, we just expect success. That's how it's been from the beginning and it'll never change. We the fans want success and we demand it because we are the Broncos. We are a damn good team when we want to be, I'm not denying that at all. I rarely question the teams EFFORT, I believe in 99% of our games, the effort to win is usually there so there's no issue with their effort. Effort was there during the Henjak and Griffin era so effort is ingrained in us so I'm happy with that. But, effort only takes you so far. When it's a tight game and it's 12-12 with 5 minutes to go, both teams are giving all the effort they can and one team has to step up and take the game. It's in THESE moments where I question us as a team, I question our desire and attitude. I question our game plan. I question our leadership. I question the body language of the players. The look in their eyes. Their hunger. Their want. Their never say die attitude. Their execution in the big moments. Their confidence.

Our effort alone can and will beat the bottom 8 teams. Effort alone can probably take us to wins over teams coming 5-8, but effort alone will never win us a premiership.

2017 in all honesty was a pretty successful season. Most teams would love to play in prelim finals with a shot at making the GF. We had a very unlucky season this year with injuries and we navigated well during the origin period. We were pretty inconsistent but we still made it deep into the finals. But us as a club and fans expect success and the ONLY success we want is winning the NRL premiership. Then and ONLY then does the talking stop. It's been 11 years since we last won a premiership. Some clubs haven't won a premiership in over 30 years so we are quite lucky as fans with the success we've had in our lifetime. But 11 years without a premiership is WAY TOO LONG as a Broncos supporter and this NEEDS to change.

How do we change it?
What do we do?
Have we got the players here to win a premiership?
Do we have the coach?

Because we haven't won a premiership in 11 seasons, we'll always watch every Broncos game every week and cheer until we can't cheer no more. We'll always support the club and the team no matter what. But, because we haven't won a premiership in 11 years and we aren't the best club in the NRL anymore - are you losing faith and getting "over" the Broncos?
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Try supporting the tigers
 
Morkel said:
The dude is nigh on 12 foot tall. He has to have one thing common with a horse.
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Is punching above his weight that's for sure, you could be onto something. @Porthoz to confirm.
 
Was just thinking some more on what separates us from the best, the Melbourne Storm.

Smith, Cronk and Slater are winners. They are extremely mentally strong and the desire they have to win EVERY game is remarkable in all honesty. I don't know if they are just born with that attitude or it's been coached in them but now let's compare them to our boys like Ben Hunt, Alex Glenn etc.

From what I can see, the reason why we haven't been able to topple the likes of the Storm and Cowboys in recent years is because of our lack of mental strength. Didn't Hunt and Glenn play in that under 20s grand final in 2008 which they lost in extra time? How did we do in the 2015 GF with those players? Who dropped the ball in the 2015 GF in extra time?
See, it's honestly all a mental thing. Those boys aren't losers, but they aren't winners also. Thurston, Smith, Slater, Cronk etc are winners. They don't buckle under immense pressure. They never fold, and if they do it's very very rare. They don't get overawed by the game or situation they are in. They aren't intimidated by the opposition. They get the job done.

This soft, weak, fragile, second guessing ourselves mentality has been with us since before 2015. Although, in 2015 we were well on our way to transforming ourselves physically and mentally but we folded and crumbled.

Since that 2015 GF loss, i truly believe every time we play teams like the Storm or the Cowboys, we've lost those games before kick off. It's like we KNOW we can't beat them and no matter how close we can get to them, we KNOW it'll be close but we KNOW the likes of a Thurston or a Cronk will take it away from us. I believe we go into games with this mentality like we did last Friday in the prelim final loss. Everyone was saying the Storm will beat us, and more importantly, we believed it. We lost that game as soon as we beat Penrith.

We aren't a mentally strong and confident team. Sure, we'll always beat the bottom placed teams, we'll possibly make the top 4 consistently but until we overcome our mental weakness, we won't beat the best. We'll always have those teams in our heads beating us before kick off.

If the NRL was played off talent alone, we'd win the premiership almost every year. We have an amazingly naturally talented rugby league team. We all know that, they know that but until we somehow overcome our fragile mentality, I'm afraid we'll always come off 2nd best. It's in Wayne's hands now....
 
I think you make some good points and I've noticed at times the players don't seem to be truly fired up for the contest. It's almost like they treat the game as a career/job rather than a passion. When they're doing the lap at the end of a game there is almost no change in expression between a win or a loss.

Heading into the prelim all the talk was about how we wanted to move the ball to disrupt their structures and we "achieved" that only by doing a LOT of sideway movement, but there was never any intent to play fast physical football to create room for the spread. We threw very little at them and got annihilated in the process. This is all down to mentality which was obviously very poor from the start.

One thing associated with Melbourne and also the Cows is they have very good tactics and plans when it comes to their players. The roles are very well defined for each player so when a player is missing they find a new one to put into the role. The storm in particular are good at also modifying their play to suit a player's strengths.

In the case of the storm this has largely been the same structure for over a decade... so whilst they may have turnover in the players the machine as a whole still functions the same.

This is what's missing for the broncos... the roles are not well defined (hence our constant suggestions that Bennett relies on individual brilliance). Hell we didn't even know who was playing where week to week. We didn't know what kind of football we were going to play each week and there was massive variance from week to week.

There's also no clear tactic to exploit certain players strengths... Jimmy being a perfect example. Milf another. Even against the roosters earlier in the year Gillett was absolutely destroying Keary yet we rarely went back to it. There needs to be some sort of structure to create these situations, recognise when it's on and execute to get them the ball.

The heads up style we tried to run this year is fine however there didn't appear to be any ability to recognise situations (which a heads up style should be doing) and then exploit them through our strengths. Instead they just largely went through the motions.

One example I noticed from the eels when they played us was when Milf was defending at marker Moses almost always ran a blindside play. The commentators now rave that Moses is one of the best blindside players going, but it is clearly coaching from Arthur to identify a situation his team can exploit, be able to get his players to recognise this situation in game and then be able to exploit it.
 
winslow_wong said:
So you're conceding we'll never beat the best. I know they've spanked us nearly every year since 2006 but we need a team that can beat the current Melbourne storm consistently to ever be a title chance.
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The thing is we've been able to match it with every other team, there is just something about the Storm that elevates them above every other team since 2006. That really just shows in how many minor premierships they've won.

Take Melbourne out of the competition and we probably would have had 2 more premierships between 2006 and now.
 
They're the ultimate professionals, with a great coaching staff, great talent scouts, and multiple players on the paddock who are heavily involved in putting together - and executing - a game plan. Both the overarching general structure of how they play (wrestle, set plays, etc) as well as opposition-specific attack/defence each week. It's incredible to watch tbh. They're so far ahead of the rest of the comp in general.
 
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