Super Freak
International Captain
Forum Staff
- Jan 25, 2014
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LEADING Broncos stars insist they can replicate Brisbane’s 2006 title heroics and break a 10-year premiership drought regardless of whether they make the top four.
Brisbane stabilised their teetering premiership campaign with a crucial 12-8 defeat of the Dragons on Thursday night in a wet and wild slugfest at WIN Stadium.
The gutsy win keeps Brisbane in the top six, but home clashes in the next fortnight against Parramatta and fifth-placed Canterbury will largely determine their top-four fate.
Fullback Darius Boyd believes Broncos players have found “trust” again after Origin trio Matt Gillett, Sam Thaiday and Josh McGuire terrorised the Dragons in their return from injury and suspension.
Boyd and Thaiday are survivors of Brisbane’s fairytale premiership win a decade ago and both are adamant the Broncos can recover to win the title from anywhere in the top eight.
“I don’t see why we can’t win it from outside the top four,” Boyd said.
“It would be nice to play home finals and all that sort of stuff, but once you make the playoffs it’s about momentum.
“It’s more important to be playing well. This (beating the Dragons) is a good start. We have four more games to really identify what has been going wrong and if we get to the finals we can challenge any team.
“Hopefully we can do what we did in 2006. That was a long time ago and it was a totally different team, but we were down on confidence at that time and it took just one win to get that self-belief again.
“Our defence (against the Dragons) was back to what we’re used to. There’s a bit of trust back in the group now, but we have to back it up against the Eels this week, we can’t just think it will happen.”
Thaiday spearheaded Brisbane’s fightback. The Maroons veteran set the tone at WIN Stadium with a rampaging run in his first hit-up on his way to 196m in his comeback from suspension.
Thaiday challenged the Broncos to prove their premiership bona fides over the next fortnight by disposing of the Eels and Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium.
“It (winning a premiership) is still a big dream, but if we string a few wins together and be in the mix in the finals, we’d love to shake things up,” Thaiday said.
“The next fortnight is crucial for us, we are coming up against two big forward packs in the Eels and the Bulldogs.
“But the beauty of that is we are at home for both games so it gives us a chance to settle at training now that we have the majority of our rep players back.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to belief. You need a belief in the team, in your structures and this was a step forward towards believing we can go all the way.
“There’s a couple of smokies in the top eight at the moment. Teams like the Sharks, Melbourne and the Cowboys are technically very good, but if we get to the finals, wherever we finish, we have the personnel to make something happen.”
No Cookies | The Courier Mail
Brisbane stabilised their teetering premiership campaign with a crucial 12-8 defeat of the Dragons on Thursday night in a wet and wild slugfest at WIN Stadium.
The gutsy win keeps Brisbane in the top six, but home clashes in the next fortnight against Parramatta and fifth-placed Canterbury will largely determine their top-four fate.
Fullback Darius Boyd believes Broncos players have found “trust” again after Origin trio Matt Gillett, Sam Thaiday and Josh McGuire terrorised the Dragons in their return from injury and suspension.
Boyd and Thaiday are survivors of Brisbane’s fairytale premiership win a decade ago and both are adamant the Broncos can recover to win the title from anywhere in the top eight.
“I don’t see why we can’t win it from outside the top four,” Boyd said.
“It would be nice to play home finals and all that sort of stuff, but once you make the playoffs it’s about momentum.
“It’s more important to be playing well. This (beating the Dragons) is a good start. We have four more games to really identify what has been going wrong and if we get to the finals we can challenge any team.
“Hopefully we can do what we did in 2006. That was a long time ago and it was a totally different team, but we were down on confidence at that time and it took just one win to get that self-belief again.
“Our defence (against the Dragons) was back to what we’re used to. There’s a bit of trust back in the group now, but we have to back it up against the Eels this week, we can’t just think it will happen.”
Thaiday spearheaded Brisbane’s fightback. The Maroons veteran set the tone at WIN Stadium with a rampaging run in his first hit-up on his way to 196m in his comeback from suspension.
Thaiday challenged the Broncos to prove their premiership bona fides over the next fortnight by disposing of the Eels and Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium.
“It (winning a premiership) is still a big dream, but if we string a few wins together and be in the mix in the finals, we’d love to shake things up,” Thaiday said.
“The next fortnight is crucial for us, we are coming up against two big forward packs in the Eels and the Bulldogs.
“But the beauty of that is we are at home for both games so it gives us a chance to settle at training now that we have the majority of our rep players back.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to belief. You need a belief in the team, in your structures and this was a step forward towards believing we can go all the way.
“There’s a couple of smokies in the top eight at the moment. Teams like the Sharks, Melbourne and the Cowboys are technically very good, but if we get to the finals, wherever we finish, we have the personnel to make something happen.”
No Cookies | The Courier Mail
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