I tend to agree it's the classic case of a team forgetting how to win. Some of the tries the Broncos gave up tonight were so symptomatic of a team that was struggling that even when they were winning as a fan I just felt so frustrated.
Take the Mulitalo try for instance. Brisbane on the front foot, Staggs takes on Talakai and thinks he has him beat before Siosifa gets him with a good tackle. Instead of just swallowing his pride, Staggs throws a loose intercept that happens to sit just right for Mulitalo and he runs all the way. Then to really rub it in, Flegler actually grabs a hold of him, but the jersey rips and Mulitalo escapes against the run of play.
Then right before half-time, Brisbane score a nice try to give themselves all the momentum heading into the break. All they have to do is play the set out and Kennedy turns the ball over meekly. The defence is at sixes and sevens and the Sharks score a fairly commanding try just before half-time that gives them all the momentum heading into the break.
Then with 10 to go, Dearden comes up with the right play to earn the six again and play the game deep down their end. Naturally Cronulla were always going to go for the short kick-off, so players had to be ready. All Ofahengaue had to do was jump and take it, something he would have been trained to do at an earlier age but he offloads the problem to a 19 year old. Dearden still should have taken it, but he just let the situation get to him. I need to see a response from him because you can't have a half who completely falls apart in these moments.
Brisbane had the better of Cronulla in most of the key stats tonight. I've seen all sorts of hidings this year, this was the first time I saw them as the better team lose the game. It's just so frustrating from their perspective and I can't see anything in the way of solutions.
