Kurt Capewell is ready to give his young Broncos teammates a crash course in big game experience as they prepare to bring down the Panthers' dynasty in the 2023 Telstra Premiership Grand Final.
Having tasted both victory and defeat in his time with the Penrith powerhouse in 2020 and 2021, Capewell joins skipper Adam Reynolds as the only two Brisbane players who head into Sunday's decider with previous grand final exposure, and knows there's a valuable lesson to be had in preparing for the big dance.
“It's the biggest game you'll play in your career and you don't get a second chance so you’ve got to make sure you don't miss the start, which I think we've been pretty good at all year,” Capewell said following Saturday's preliminary final win.
“We’ll have to be better than what we were. I'm a little disappointed with how we played, but there’s room for improvement and we’ve got a week to work on it.
“We definitely weren’t at out our best but we've got a week to work on fixing some things and I think we'll be ready to go.”
The Broncos' dominant 34-12 victory over the Warriors on Saturday came off a strong offload game (23) opening up play for speedsters Reece Walsh and Herbie Farnworth to run riot out the back.
But the Brisbane vice-captain knows his side will need to dig further into their kit bag to give themselves a chance to break down the best defensive team in the competition.
“That’s instinctive (the offloads), it’s pretty off the cuff but that's how we like to play our footy. It's a Bronco brand of footy and these young guys are great at it,” he said.
“So we’ve just got to work harder on creating more opportunities for Reece and make sure we're giving him the ball, in the best spot possible.
“But you've got to use everything in your bag to beat Penrith. Their defence is the best in the comp and we'll be using everything in our kit bag to try and break it apart.”
Capewell was an integral part of the Panthers rise to become the NRL powerhouse, having helped the club lift to their first grand final campaign since 2003 before moving to Red Hill last season.
Joining the Brisbane club just 12 months after they fell to their first-ever wooden spoon, Capewell was signed as part of Brisbane's rebuild plan and the Maroons representative said he can feel a similar success story brewing in the Sunshine State.
“I only got here last year but the amount of improvement we have made in that first year is amazing,” he said.
“And then to come out in this second year I've been here and be in the grand final is incredible.
"Particularly the boys that have come through the system together here have been building for a while and it's awesome to see it all starting to click for the club.”
NRL.com
