NEWS Courier Mail interview: Te'o for two

McHunt

McHunt

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Aug 25, 2018
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24 hours out from his first game for the Broncos since 2012, Ben Te'o dares to dream of a second NRL premiership:

“To be honest, there is unfinished business for me at the Broncos, I want to win a premiership for the club. For all I’ve been lucky to achieve, winning an NRL premiership is No.1 and a lot of guys will back that up. It’s a dream to play Origin and Test footy and Test rugby, but winning a premiership is the most special thing."

“It’s everything that goes into it over the season. The pre-season, the trial games – every player has their personal highs and lows. You have fights at training. There are confrontations. It’s the journey that makes you a family and when you get to the summit, when you win that premiership, you look back and say, ‘Wow, that was all worth it’.“ Anyone who has won a premiership in the NRL will understand my emotions and that’s what I want for these young guys at the Broncos.”

GettyImages 1066176692

Slumming it

“I managed to experience that at Souths and now I want that for this club. I am really nervous, I won’t lie about that. I am nervous purely for the fact that it has been so long out of the game for me and so much in the NRL has changed. But I think muscle memory will kick in and I felt that the other day at training. I felt my league instincts coming back. They won’t be perfect and as long as I do things with intent, I will be all right."

“I am willing to get out there and do my best and contribute where I can and essentially hold the fort. I would have loved a pre-season to be ready for this but sometimes you don’t have time. I just want the Broncos fans to know I will rip in ... I want to go out there and show with my actions that I can still play the game.”

Te’o played 75 games for the Broncos between 2009-12, but it's Brisbane’s 2011 knockout in the preliminary final that sticks in his mind:

“I always think about that year. I honestly believe that 2011 season was the club’s missed opportunity. It was Locky’s last year and that was the year the Broncos should have won the premiership. When he smashed his face in that finals game against the Dragons (the week before), he won that game for us, but when he couldn’t play the following week against Manly, all the air went out of us and I felt it was a golden chance blown."

“That’s part of why I’m back. I just love Brisbane as a club and coming back, yes, it’s a bit risky, but I feel like I want to make a difference and have another crack for the Broncos. I really believe in this squad. I know right now it is hard to fathom premierships after what happened last week (59-0 loss to the Roosters), but I believe in this group and I know the best 17 here can beat any team in the comp on their day.

“People love fairytale endings. I could have just sat at home for three months, or I can come in and help these young guys out, knowing these talented young kids here need some guidance. There’s no pressure on me, I will just give the Broncos everything I’ve got.”

On Tom Trbojevic:

“When I left the NRL no one really knew about Tom. During my time overseas, I kept hearing his and his brother’s name (Jake), everyone was talking about these ‘Turbo’ siblings. I looked at Tom’s highlights and thought, ‘Wow, this guy is a special athlete’. He reminds me a bit of Greg Inglis, he has X-factor, he can score tries and create something out of nothing and save tries as well."

“The NRL will always produce phenomenal athletes, Semi Radradra (former Eels winger) was outstanding in the NRL and then he was the best player in French rugby, but Tom looks like something special.”

On tomorrow night:

"My role this week will be simple. I will play around 20 or 30 minutes off the bench. I have been looking at other teams and a lot of people are carrying forwards who are playing smaller minutes. Hopefully I can have a taste this week and then build on my minutes."

“I am getting familiar with my movement patterns and what is important. I feel some things coming back quickly and other areas will take more time. I am focusing on the small things to make sure I don’t let anyone down. It’s not about individual stuff for me, I just want to fit into the Broncos team.”

McHunt

 
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Reads like a feel good story in the leadup to another grim evening to me. Te'o is not going to be anywhere near full effectiveness for at least another 2-3 weeks

If Teo has his head in the right place, as per article, it will help. We desperately need heads in the right space with experience right now.
 
he would probably actually do better at no.4 than the current no. 4.....
 
I just hope he brings a bit of stability and calm to the team. Rugby league is a funny game, when you don’t know what to do, you can still run and tackle hard and have a serious go. You might not win, but at least you can hold your head up and not be embarrassed. We haven’t been doing that.

Te’o won’t have all the finer parts of the game down pat, but he can put the ball under his arm and run hard and he can smash blokes who run at him. If he can do that for 20-30 minutes and if our other forwards see him doing that, hopefully they will follow...

I can’t see this in any way being a bad thing for us. It works okay, our forwards have a bit more confidence with him there, or it doesn’t and we get Glenn and TPJ back next week...
 
If teo wants to win a premiership with the broncos he had better be prepared to play until he’s 40 if necessary.
 

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