The Broncos and Cowboys have had different starts to their respective NRL seasons but one thing they both have is a hunger for success.Time is running out for Johnathan Thurston to lead the Cowboys to a premiership. Photo: Mark Metcalfe
This is not uncommon for either club. Every year there are big expectations as they search for glory.
Having worked with most of the current Broncos in recent years I know how talented the group is. Even more importantly, they are a very tough group.
Players like Alex Glenn, Andrew McCullough, Ben Hunt, Josh McGuire, Matt Gillett, Dane Copley, Jack Reed, and Mitchell Dodds have been developed and kept together to form the core of the team. Individually they have all had to navigate their way through the early stages of an NRL career. They have faced challenges which have included the excitement of a debut season, the disappointment and frustrations of losing form and being dropped, the pain and heartbreak of injury and the emotional minefield of contract negotiations and the decisions that come with that. They have come through the other side now and are maturing. They are getting closer to doing something special together and they know it.Justin Hodges knows what it feels like to win a premiership and is hungry to do it again, writes Anthony Griffin. Photo: Scott Barbour
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The senior players - Justin Hodges, Corey Parker and Sam Thaiday - have already won a premiership with the club, back in 2006. They know what it feels like and probably expected to get another taste of it before this time in their careers. Now they recognise that time is running out for them.
As captain, Justin will be desperate for another crack. Over the last few years his development as a leader has been dramatic and he wants to lead the club to another title. It could just happen. Watching last Friday's win over the Roosters you could sense a changing of the guard. The Roosters, premiers in 2013 and minor premiers last year, couldn't hold off the emerging crop of challengers.
The Cowboys have had a different start to the season than the Broncos. After losing their first three games in an uninspiring fashion they have responded with three great victories over quality opposition.
An NRL season is a very long and brutal journey and at times you can lose your way, as the Cowboys have experienced. But the way they have got themselves up and running over the last few weeks has been impressive.
In Monday night's victory over Souths, the thing that stood out for me was the way the Cowboy went about it. The longer the game went the more they went after it. Admittedly, the Rabbitohs were down on troops but, led by Greg Inglis, they threw everything at the Cowboys and were ahead by eight points at half-time. In the second half the premiers were outplayed and out enthused by a hungrier side.
The man who was pulling the strings, like the Broncos senior players, knows what it feels like to win. Johnathan Thurston was part of the Bulldogs' last premiership in 2004. Like Hodges and co, he wouldn't have fully appreciated at the time how hard it is to get to that last game of the season and win it. Now he does and you can see how desperate he is to do it again.
The Cowboys have a strong squad. Their props Matt Scott and James Tamou get their team forward, Jason Taumalolo and Michael Morgan bring the X factor, and Thurston can win them tight games against good sides as he has done in their come-from-behind wins against Melbourne and Souths.
He can't do it forever though.
For the Cowboys, the situation gets a little more urgent every year now because JT is absolutely vital to their chances. The Broncos on the other hand are building. If they get in range Hodges, Parker and Thaiday can play leading roles.
Both clubs made the playoffs last year only to fall short of the main prize.
From what they have shown in their recent victories they are hungry enough to get another opportunity.
