The Brisbane Broncos are the biggest brand in Rugby League. Since their entry in 1988, the Broncos have forged a rich history. Under legendary coach, Wayne Bennett, they became a premiership winning machine. Back-to-back in 1992/1993, Super League in 1997, NRL premierships in 1998, 2000 and 2006. Six premierships from 6 grand finals.
The other clubs were understandably jealous. After all, they had a whole state to themselves. Players were prepared to stay in Brisbane for less money than they could get in Sydney. Success was breeding success. Players had rock star status, Alfie, Geno, Locky, Kevvie, Gordy. The future looked bright. A great stadium, great crowds, a thriving Leagues club, sponsors lining up, a supportive media, the good times looked set to roll on.
However, the landscape was slowly changing. Other clubs began plundering the rich playing talent of Qld. The Broncos were no longer able to stockpile all the Qld talent, players, great players sometimes, began to see more opportunity elsewhere. The salary cap was biting. Wayne moved on in acrimonious circumstances. The Broncos were no longer able to snatch the local talent, like an older child stealing a toy off a younger sibling on Christmas day.
A dark foe (wearing purple) in the Rugby League backwater of Victoria had emerged. Like the ‘Joker’ in a disused warehouse on the other side of Gotham city, the Melbourne Storm, under Craig Bellamy, were planning to take over the Rugby League world. They were the antithesis of the Broncos. They adopted a monastic approach. They preached discipline, hard work and humility, and thrived on the anonymity of being in an AFL dominated city, Infuriatingly, for the Broncos at least, their best players were Queenslanders, Smith, Cronk, Slater and Inglis. They seemed to gain extra motivation when playing Brisbane and extra joy from beating them. They too had probably dreamed of being Broncos as young men. The coach also had a knack of developing players with a modest pedigree. The rich family with all the money began to look at their poorer neighbours with envy. They had a happiness and contentment that money cannot buy. The contentment that comes from sustained success. Brisbane even endured the ultimate indignity of winning a wooden spoon as Melbourne continued to have unrivalled success. The Storm had replaced the Broncos as the powerhouse of Rugby League.
Fast forward to 2025. The Storm is as big a force as ever. They have replaced their greats of the past with great players of the present. Grant, Hughes, Munster and Papenhuyzen are a formidable spine. Bellamy is still developing players of modest pedigree to complement his stars. The Broncos, however, are back and will face off in the Grand Final on Sunday with their old foes.
The Broncos have managed to snare the best of the local talent once again. The ‘I have wanted to play for the Broncos since I was a kid’ is still a real thing. Haas, Walsh, Mariner, Piakura, Riki, Staggs, Mam and Carrigan all fit into that category. So too the returning veteran, Ben Hunt, signed by the Broncos at age 12. Under a new coach, albeit one from NSW, they have re-emerged to avenge the heartbreaking loss to Penrith in the 2023 Grand Final. They can also put to rest their shocking record against the Storm which has haunted them since they upset Melbourne to win the 2006 premiership. The Broncos would love nothing more than for history to repeat itself in 2025.
The case for Brisbane: They seem to have gotten through the Preliminary Final without any injuries, HIAs or suspensions. Pat Carrigan will return to strengthen the pack. Talty is the unlucky one to drop out of the team. They are showing uncustomary starch in defence. They could have easily trailed by more on Sunday but hung in there. The buzzword of the modern day is ‘resilience’, and the Broncos showed it against the Panthers. Their talisman, Reece Walsh, was relatively quiet. Maybe Brisbane can win without him having to be the one to do it all. The recent win over Melbourne will have given them a lot of confidence. They have a horror record against the Storm over many years, so that was a timely reminder that the Storm are not invincible Supermen. Payne Hass was quiet in the first half against Penrith but roared into life in the second half. His performance was pivotal in turning the match around and he has no NAS to contend with in the Grand Final. Haas is a real key to the Broncos’ chances. Finally, they are on a roll, fit, injury free and full of self-belief.
The Fairytale: Ben Hunt gains redemption with a grand final win 10 years after dropping the kick off to Golden Point in the 2015 Grand Final. Surely, there is no-one who would begrudge him a win.
Spare a thought for Kevin Walters and son Billy if the Broncos are victorious. Talk about mixed emotions.
May the best team win.
Enjoy the game.
‘Let’s go Broncos’!
Image: en.wikipedia.com
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Welcome back, Prospector.
Just when we thought you were returning to the fold, it seems you’ve managed a stay of proceedings. I’ve read your pieces and views on the Finals series to date and, at long last, you’re starting to talk some sense.
Your reasoning on why Brisbane should get the job done on Sunday is compelling and hard to argue against. I was also impressed with Grant Atkins getting the nod to control the Big Dance. His game management style should allow for an open, free-flowing contest—exactly the kind that suits the Broncos.
By contrast, Klein’s approach last week seemed tailor-made for Melbourne. The constant penalties and stop-start rhythm played straight into their hands, and Cronulla never stood a chance to build momentum. Still, no excuses will be made if the Footy Gods don’t smile on the Broncs this time.
History tells us the formula for a premiership is simple enough: finish in the top four, hit September with momentum, stay injury-free, and hope for that little sprinkle of luck on the day. Here’s hoping the stars align.
Brisbane are in their second Grand Final in the past three years and that surely indicates that they are doing a lot of things right as a club, but i think they will need plenty of things to go their way this Sunday to overcome the Storm. The Melbourne spine will ask plenty of questions of them and test that new-found resilience that you refer to. It is quite amazing to think about ‘how’ Brisbane have made the Grand Final. How did a team that lost seven from nine in one period of the season still manage to make the top four? Critical things have gone their way in their two finals this year. How did the Broncos get the penalty from an incident where their fullback attempted a head-butt on an opponent who sledged them? How did Xavier Willison not get sin-binned for that dangerous tackle at a time when Penrith were on top and could have put them away if one man up? Will they be so lucky this week?
What a relief that the teams aren’t ‘doing time with Ashley Klein’ this week. If quick play-the-balls are allowed and stoppages are reduced, it should be a genuine test of endurance. It should be a cracker.
After much forensic analysis and a deep dive into the International Register of Head Butts , the ruling is in: what transpired was not a head butt. Not even close. No broken noses, no bloodied brows, not even a stray red mark to report. In fact, it had all the hallmarks of two blokes leaning in for a friendly exchange of pleasantries.
I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on this on Bremmer.
On the other hand, The Man from Bremer River hit the nail squarely on the head with his assessment of the tackle on Xavia Willison. Honestly, that was one for the blooper reel of judicial inconsistency. No sin bin, no citing, no justice. Just another miraculous escape for the Broncos— the sort that has conspiracy theorists firing up their whiteboards and drawing arrows between shadowy figures.
So, while the “head butt” registers a flat zero on the Richter scale of violence, the Willison tackle is a seismic event, worthy of its own Royal Commission.
Even if Willison was lucky not to be sin binned, I think the same could be said about Liam Martin for being the third man in (with the altercation between Cleary and Mam).
I really wish that grubby play would be eliminated from the game. No head-rubbing or goading opponents if they fumble the ball. That includes Hudson Young for goading Walsh. Michael Ennis used to be a master at head-rubbing and goading opponents. Really, such grubby antics should’ve been rubbed out of the game a long time ago.
Just get on with the game, I say. No silly rubbish.
What happened to “play hard but play fair”? Sadly, it seems to have become obsolete.
Well said Liam. I couldn’t agree more.