The Anti-Bronco Conspiracy

[Dash]

Holy shit...

Least penalties awarded in 2022 by a large margin.
Second least in 2021.
Least in 2020 again by some margin.
Third least in 2019.
Least in 2018.
Least in 2017.
Second least in 2016.
Third least in 2015 and 2014.

That's pretty damning to be honest. An again, no real explanation for those stats - this is penalties AWARDED to the Broncos so should not be too different from any other team. Why and how do teams play so cleanly against us - consistently, for the last decade? Compared to literally every other team in the comp?

Coupled with the very hard draws compared to the rest of the comp...how are we ever competitive??

Over the period they collected the stats (1980 to present) we have received the least penalties per game of any team in the NSWRL/ARL/NRL.

#penaltybroncos

 

[Kimlo]

Over the period they collected the stats (1980 to present) we have received the least penalties per game of any team in the NSWRL/ARL/NRL.

#penaltybroncos

Is that stat easy to find? Would love to see how it stacks against all teams.

 

[LittleDavey]

Is that stat easy to find? Would love to see how it stacks against all teams.

@Organix had the link. Sorted by average penalties awarded "for", per game, 1980 to 2023:

�

1980-2023
Team​	P	W	D	L	F	Ave. ↑	A	Ave.	Win%	Diff
Newtown	100​	31​	9​	60​	1012​	10.12​	1128​	11.28​	35.50​	-116​
Balmain	478​	231​	45​	202​	4067​	8.51​	3996​	8.36​	53.03​	+71​
Wests	468​	185​	54​	229​	3910​	8.35​	4008​	8.56​	45.30​	-98​
St George	458​	171​	39​	248​	3762​	8.21​	4129​	9.02​	41.59​	-367​
South Queensland	65​	31​	7​	27​	511​	7.86​	454​	6.98​	53.08​	+57​
Illawarra	396​	174​	47​	175​	3109​	7.85​	3111​	7.86​	49.87​	-2​
Manly	996​	463​	116​	417​	7361​	7.39​	7130​	7.16​	52.31​	+231​
Norths	477​	188​	52​	237​	3517​	7.37​	3787​	7.94​	44.86​	-270​
Souths	998​	476​	125​	397​	7307​	7.32​	7010​	7.02​	53.96​	+297​
Cronulla	1052​	530​	122​	400​	7693​	7.31​	7150​	6.80​	56.18​	+543​
Penrith	1048​	458​	123​	467​	7544​	7.20​	7540​	7.19​	49.57​	+4​
Parramatta	1069​	529​	107​	433​	7590​	7.10​	7081​	6.62​	54.49​	+509​
Canberra	1021​	473​	135​	413​	7082​	6.94​	6826​	6.69​	52.94​	+256​
Gold Coast	246​	100​	26​	120​	1705​	6.93​	1819​	7.39​	45.93​	-114​
Canterbury	1072​	427​	120​	525​	7407​	6.91​	7706​	7.19​	45.43​	-299​
Adelaide	42​	18​	7​	17​	288​	6.86​	281​	6.69​	51.19​	+7​
Sydney Roosters	1080​	428​	128​	524​	7407​	6.86​	7734​	7.16​	45.56​	-327​
Perth	61​	24​	3​	34​	412​	6.75​	463​	7.59​	41.80​	-51​
Dolphins	3​	2​	​	1​	20​	6.67​	15​	5.00​	​	+5​
Hunter	18​	10​	2​	6​	119​	6.61​	111​	6.17​	61.11​	+8​
Newcastle	852​	368​	112​	372​	5508​	6.46​	5595​	6.57​	49.77​	-87​
North Queensland	693​	332​	87​	274​	4428​	6.39​	4258​	6.14​	54.18​	+170​
Wests Tigers	564​	256​	68​	240​	3580​	6.35​	3525​	6.25​	51.42​	+55​
Gold Coast Titans	389​	163​	56​	170​	2466​	6.34​	2533​	6.51​	49.10​	-67​
Melbourne	658​	270​	74​	314​	4041​	6.14​	4184​	6.36​	46.66​	-143​
New Zealand	682​	280​	83​	319​	4166​	6.11​	4361​	6.39​	47.14​	-195​
St George Illawarra	603​	283​	72​	248​	3680​	6.10​	3629​	6.02​	52.90​	+51​
Northern Eagles	76​	28​	10​	38​	451​	5.93​	468​	6.16​	43.42​	-17​
Brisbane	879​	372​	113​	394​	5127​	5.83​	5238​	5.96​	48.75​	-111​

Amazing find, plenty of info to be gleaned from there. Also hilarious that we're the lowest average penalties awarded "against" in that table (aside from the Phins). So #penaltybroncos is about as far from the truth as is possible when considered over the club's history.

 

[abashii]

I recall it being pointed out we received the fewest penalties of any team and it was just handwaved away anyway. Those who didn't just straight up ignore it completely would just go on about it's not the number of penalties others when and where we got them. Not that it matters terribly because you're never going to reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.

 

[Organix]

The thing about penalties is that is also about when and where. The stats also don't show 6-agains. It is an entertainment product. The closer a game is, the more entertaining (typically). So, the real proof to this thesis will be over the entire season, wherein a team like us, fit and young, who have now been shown to give away few infringements...suddenly starts to be "their own worst enemy" due to "lack of fitness". I'll cop it if we drop the ball a lot ourselves, as we did against the fins, but if the penalty count suddenly rockets, well...

 

[Skathen]

The thing about penalties is that is also about when and where. The stats also don't show 6-agains. It is an entertainment product. The closer a game is, the more entertaining (typically). So, the real proof to this thesis will be over the entire season, wherein a team like us, fit and young, who have now been shown to give away few infringements...suddenly starts to be "their own worst enemy" due to "lack of fitness". I'll cop it if we drop the ball a lot ourselves, as we did against the fins, but if the penalty count suddenly rockets, well...

Yup, would be great to include the when. Games can be done by 60mins in and catch-up penalties late in the game might even it up but do nothing to affect the result.

Six agains... don't even get me started on that horseshit. I've watched a lot of games so far this year and I still can't tell when they're going to give one.

Dearden the other day was tackled and instantly started shaking like he was having a fucking epileptic fit and got a six again even though the length of the tackle was perfectly fine and it wasn't a line break situation. The Refs are just so easily goaded into it by the con-artists. It's a SUPER inconsistently applied rule.

 

[Organix]

Yup, would be great to include the when. Games can be done by 60mins in and catch-up penalties late in the game might even it up but do nothing to affect the result.

Six agains... don't even get me started on that horseshit. I've watched a lot of games so far this year and I still can't tell when they're going to give one.

Dearden the other day was tackled and instantly started shaking like he was having a fucking epileptic fit and got a six again even though the length of the tackle was perfectly fine and it wasn't a line break situation. The Refs are just so easily goaded into it by the con-artists. It's a SUPER inconsistently applied rule.

It just allows for a little less scrutinising of the game management. The NRL has clearly stated that they want the ref to be invisible. One has to question the motive, but it is also by introducing Bunker and 6-agains that they achieve this inscrutability. It's actually pretty smart, and honestly, if you really do just see the sport as an entertainment product, rather than a fair sporting contest then it actually is quite successful. Some games have been super tense and engaging, and the controversy just adds flavour.

 

[Broncapz]

It just allows for a little less scrutinising of the game management. The NRL has clearly stated that they want the ref to be invisible. One has to question the motive, but it is also by introducing Bunker and 6-agains that they achieve this inscrutability. It's actually pretty smart, and honestly, if you really do just see the sport as an entertainment product, rather than a fair sporting contest then it actually is quite successful. Some games have been super tense and engaging, and the controversy just adds flavour.

Might help if they had a compentent bunker.

 

[Organix]

Might help if they had a compentent bunker.

Are you sure they aren't doing exactly what they are told?

 

[Organix]

Graham Annesley: We hope the rule changes aren't noticed - ABC listen

The NRL's Head of Football Graham Annesley says the success of the rule changes brought in this season will be measured by how little fans notice them. The main changes are meant to stop players infringing. He told Andrew Moore and the team that in an ideal world referees will be able to stay...

www.abc.net.au

For reference regarding Annesley wanting the refs to be invisible in the match.
The quote is at the start and it requires a little bit of mental gymnastics to understand.
Put rules in place that makes it easy to comply to the rules, e.g. onside at scrums, whereby fans won't notice that an infringement doesn't take place unless an infringement does take place and the referee acts. It seems to me to have been quite noticeable that many penalties have been given off the scrum this season, which is essentially just another crackdown on one specific rule.

I mean, refs are an important part of the game, so they're kinda supposed to be noticed. Players are already expected to follow the rules. So, all they are doing is changing the rules to make the infringements less likely, like raising the speed limit in a school zone from 40 to 50, and saying "see, no police needed because noone is breaking the 40 limit".

 

[LittleDavey]

@Morkel did you ever get a response to your letters to the club? Thinking about pointing out some of the stuff in this thread, though I'm sure the club is aware. If they're not, they should be.

 

[Morkel]

@Morkel did you ever get a response to your letters to the club? Thinking about pointing out some of the stuff in this thread, though I'm sure the club is aware. If they're not, they should be.

I did not get a formal response.

However almost immediatey the refs were treating us way differently, and we went on the streak that had us in the top 4. Then the Tigers game happened (where I assume the refs needed to make the Tigers feel good after they robbed them against the Cowboys) and we were shit again.

After the shit that went down towards the end of the year (eg, Panthers player having suspension delayed because The Fans) there was a renewed call amongst BHQers to catalogue the inconsistencies, and while no one ended up compiling them, many examples were posted. I assume this has resulted in our early season success, and at least this time we come up against a Tigers side that was nit recently robbed.

So in summary, our collective rage is a weapon of immeasurable power and we should be careful that it does not fall in to opposition hands.

*** while the above events did indeed occur in the timeline as described, there is no peer-reviewed evidence of causation between our actions and the success of the Broncos. This post is satire.

 

[Morkel]

As mentioned in the Round 5 thread, with the Cowboys being one team that seems to get all the calls, I'm going to be interested how they go this year.

The conspiracy for this was that they were the team that the NRL wanted to promote as the "Not The Broncos" Queensland team, so they needed to be successful otherwise Broncos haters would just lose interest in League. And let's not forget the endless streak of golden-point match-ups we had.

Now that there is a local "Not The Broncos" team, we'll see if the Cow's constant leg-ups amazingly dry up.

 

[Nashy]

As mentioned in the Round 5 thread, with the Cowboys being one team that seems to get all the calls, I'm going to be interested how they go this year.

The conspiracy for this was that they were the team that the NRL wanted to promote as the "Not The Broncos" Queensland team, so they needed to be successful otherwise Broncos haters would just lose interest in League. And let's not forget the endless streak of golden-point match-ups we had.

Now that there is a local "Not The Broncos" team, we'll see if the Cow's constant leg-ups amazingly dry up.

I love that no matter the NRL conspiracy, The Titans always suck in it.

 

[Sproj]

I love that no matter the NRL conspiracy, The Titans always suck in it.

Well as cool as their one fan, @The Don, is let's be honest, one fan teams don't make money, so the NRL don't care about them.

 

[john1420]

Owned by a news company that makes more money when the Broncos are struggling..

None of those teams were dudded. Kaufusi earned four weeks, Cam Smith was a grub and deserved to be suspended every week, and the Cowboys conspiracy train was running wild, brother. Even earned themselves a premiership by complaining so much.

My life sucks so bad but at least I know the difference between you're and your. Good day to you, sir.

I read this in Hulk Hogan's voice, not gonna lie

 

[Mr Fourex]

So in summary, our collective rage is a weapon of immeasurable power and we should be careful that it does not fall in to opposition hands.

*** while the above events did indeed occur in the timeline as described, there is no peer-reviewed evidence of causation between our actions and the success of the Broncos. This post is satire.

 

[LittleDavey]

Soooo.........