I was absolutely elated when Henjak was sacked. As much as he brought a creative edge to our attack, his team was the only Broncos team I saw give up early in multiple games.
I will never forget what we looked like in that 56-0 defeat in Canberra, not because of the result itself, but because it was the absolute deepest point of the utterly unBronco lack of attitude as a collective, as well as by almost all players individually.
It wasn't a one off game either. Henjak's Broncos consistently became worse under his tenure. 2010 was by far our worst season ever!
Under Griffn, we went back to the boring Bennett ball without the roster to make it work. Still, we finished 3rd and made it to the Prelims in 2011, year of Lockyer's farewell, and were it not for a Kiwi's knee, we might have gone at least one further. The 2 years that followed were cursed by Locky's huge unfilled boots and injuries to key players. Still, we weren't as bad as under Henjak and except for 2013 with one of the biggest injury tolls we ever suffered, we were at least competitive and honestly, not very dissimilar from the last 3 years under Bennett. Except no one can do Bennett ball like Wayne...
I can see Seibold bring the creative attack we so dearly need, as well as the defensive steel that makes champions. I think our roster was literally screaming for a coach like him.
P.S. I also believe the Bunnies will be very competitive. They, unlike us, have a roster that suits Wayne's football to a T.
It was always going to end in tears with Ivan. Since the moment he was brought in, management displayed little faith in Henjak, placing him on a tight leash. One of the stories that came out about 'Ivan The Terrible' was how intense and stressful he was around the players. It had an adverse effect on the younger players making it difficult for them to sustain their form.
With Henjak's vision, I'm reminded of an old question you hear in Rugby League circles. The question of 'would you rather be a finals team every year and miss out on winning premierships, or would you be happy to endure lean periods for the sake of a premiership title'. I find fans when push come to shove are split down the middle, but when it comes to the Broncos they will always lean towards the former.
It's interesting that you brought up the 2010 vs 2013 comparison because it highlights that point. On one hand, the Broncos conceded 535 points in 2010, the second most in club history behind 2009 (566). In comparison the Broncos only conceded 477 points in 2013 despite winning less points. Then on the other you've got the Broncos scoring 508 points vs. 434 points (the second lowest in club history, behind the shortened 89 season). What that tells me is if you prefer 2013 then you're somebody who prides themselves on consistensy and believe that's key to premiership success. If you're more of a 2010 person, you're happy to ride the rollercoaster and accept all the highs and lows as you're making progress.
The Broncos also had a significant injury toll in 2010, particularly early on which saw them with a 2-6 record. Over that course the Broncos had Justin Hodges, Josh Hoffman, Jharal Yow Yeh, Corey Parker, Nick Kenny, Peter Wallace, Israel Folau, Denan Kemp, Antonio Winterstein, Andrew McCullough, Matt Gillett etc. missing for various games. Somehow the Broncos were able to reverse that and had an 11-9 record before Lockyer went down with an injury, spelling the premature end of the season.
Griffin certainly had his positive qualities, but I'm not sure if he deserves all the credit for the way 2011 panned out. Henjak was in charge of the squad for the majority of the pre-season and assembled most of the talent, so he deserves partial credit for that.
What it all comes down to was the Broncos inability to escape Bennett's shadow. Henjak tried to take the club in a different direction and right as the team was coming together, he was pushed out for somebody many would describe as a Bennett clone. In contrast to the events that have taken place these past few months, I feel the club is finally ready to move on.
As an aside...
I always found it interesting how Henjak and Griffin had such different views on the QCup. I touched on it briefly how Henjak seemingly ignored the competition, but when Griffin took over there was a real influx of QCup talent to the squad. Players like Jake Granville, Brendon Gibb, Nick Slyney, Luke Capewell, Joe Bond, Delroy Berryman, Nathaniel Barnes, Liam Georgetown, Chris McLean, Zach Strasser, Justin Hunt etc. were all brought in. Just an interesting insight into the different coaches and how they view the make-up of the squad.
