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Brisbane skipper Darius Boyd says the Broncos fear nobody as they attempt to end their finals drought
September 7, 2018
BRONCOS skipper Darius Boyd has fired a warning shot at NRL title contenders, declaring his side fears no-one as Brisbane attempt to defy 110 years of history to win a fairytale premiership.
On the eve of Sunday’s Broncos-Dragons sudden-death finals blockbuster at Suncorp Stadium, Boyd says Brisbane have cultivated the belief to break the longest premiership drought in the club’s 30-year history.
In an ominous sign, Brisbane enter the playoffs with the best win-loss record against top-eight teams, having won a league-high eight of 12 clashes against the remaining finals clubs.
However, Brisbane’s shaky defence — they have leaked a whopping 500 points this season, the worst record of the top-eight teams — threatens to derail their premiership push.
Since 1908, just three teams — Wests Tigers (575 in 2005), Penrith (527 in 2003) and Newcastle (639 in 2001) — have conceded in excess of 500 points in a season and managed to win the competition.
Boyd concedes Brisbane need to find a harder defensive edge, but is backing the Broncos’ formidable record against the NRL’s big guns to clinch the club’s first title in 12 years.
While the Broncos have lost both games to premiers the Storm this season, they have twice beaten top-four heavyweights Cronulla and Souths and minor premiers the Roosters.
“If we play our way, I know we can go all the way,” said Boyd, a survivor of the Broncos side which pulled off a boilover of Melbourne in the 2006 decider.
“It’s about momentum and confidence at this time of the year and we have both.
“To be honest, no team really scares us.
“We have a really good record against the top-eight sides. We’ve beaten Cronulla twice, we’ve beaten Souths twice and we’ve beaten the Roosters twice so if we’re playing to our potential, we can match it with anyone.
“We have won three games in a row but it’s a new competition now, so we have to get the job done against the Dragons.”
Of Brisbane’s six premiership teams, the class of 2006 was their worst defensive side, conceding 392 points, still vastly superior to the 500 leaked by Bennett’s troops this season.
Even the Broncos’ vanquished 2015 side, which lost to the Cowboys in the dying seconds of that year’s grand final, gave up 379 points, building their season on desperate tryline defence.
The Broncos have conceded an average of 20.8 points per game this season and Boyd insists Brisbane must display the defensive steel of their 22-8 defeat of the Roosters a fortnight ago to lift the trophy.
“Defence is what wins premierships in my opinion,” he said.
“We have leaked a lot of points this year for different reasons.
“In the games we’ve lost, the scoreline has really blown out, but our last three weeks have been really good, especially against the Roosters.
“That defensive display is where we expect our standards to be set and we have to continue that if we want to win it.
“The good thing is the belief is back in the team.”
Source: Courier Mail
