Could somebody please tell me how the Broncos are in the eight?

Every now and then we miss things in life. In my case, I try to avoid it being the day to day goings on in the world of rugby league.

Keeping abreast of team changes on a Tuesday, soaking up Fox League content throughout the week and spending countless hours monitoring social media is part of the journalists' gig these days.

And that is not to mention the 16 hours of football requiring full attention over the course of what is now an extended weekend.

Round 19 followed a fairly predictable pattern for me. A Thursday night match to whet the appetite saw the Sharks topple the Cowboys at the death.

The Rabbitohs did something similar to the Dragons on Friday night. Earlier, the Tigers had sneaked home against the Knights as I put together my report on all the Friday night action for another website.

Saturday saw Manly prove themselves as a serious contender with a desperate golden point victory against the Storm and the Warriors seemingly get the rough end of the refereeing stick again, as the mighty lucky Eels triumphed in a highly entertaining encounter at Western Sydney Stadium.

I was lucky enough the see the Chooks hold on against the brave Bulldogs live and caught the replay of Canberra’s impressive win against the hot Panthers at the foot of the mountains on Sunday night.

Wedged amidst all that action, the Brisbane Broncos belted the hapless Titans 34-12. I must admit to not being particularly surprised by the result. Sitting below the Bulldogs on the premiership ladder pretty much sums up the inadequacy of performance that the Titans have been displaying on a week to week basis.

Gold Coast have won just four matches in 2019 and failed to taste success since Round 13 when, in a strange quirk of fate, they toppled the Broncos at Suncorp. Prior to that, wins against the Sea Eagles, Knights and Panthers had offered some ray of hope in the first half of the season, however, things quickly went sour and coach Garth Brennan fell victim to those poor results just a fortnight ago.

Despite there being no eyebrow-raising surprise in the comfortable 22-point victory, a stunning realisation did come to pass when, by Sunday afternoon, I realised that the Broncos had moved inside the top eight.

My first reaction was akin to one of those GIF double-takes that people send to me when they disagree with something I have written.

A host of things came to mind as I stared intently at the ladder, in bewilderment as to how this average, underperforming and seemingly suspect team had somehow wiggled its way into semi-final contention.

In essence, they have achieved the feat after gathering seven points from their last available eight and not suffered defeat since the Knights dusted them up at McDonald Jones Stadium on June 29th.

Have they beaten some of the heavy hitters? Certainly not. The Titans and Bulldogs should both be looking for a rock under which to hide and the Sharks and Warriors are only outside chances of finals’ action based on their present inconsistent play.

However, the Broncos have pulled on the invisibility cloak and stealth-like, squirmed their way inside the top eight. A fair achievement after dropping five of their first six and a decent comeback for a club that only clawed itself off the bottom of the table with a Round 9 win against the Sea Eagles.

Since then, things have looked far rosier despite a certain former Bronco greats’ early scepticism around their dynamic yet somewhat inexperienced pack. Anthony Milford has copped the usual criticism around his consistency, Andrew McCullough has been labelled far too slow for the umpteenth time and the discussion and conjecture around Darius Boyd’s ponderous play was deserved and at times, cutting.

Yet Kotoni Staggs has continued to develop, Payne Haas, David Fifita and Tevita Pangai Jnr have grown into a dangerous three-pronged attack in the forwards and now Jake Turpin has slotted in nicely at halfback to partner Boyd.

Now, with seven wins and a draw from their last 11 matches, Anthony Seibold has his chargers on the cusp of what earlier in the season appeared an unlikely finals appearance.

The catch could well be the run home. The Broncos face the Storm this weekend and the Rabbitohs in Round 23. The Eels will be tricky work for them the following weekend, yet they do have winnable games against the Bulldogs, Cowboys and Panthers; matches where two competition points may be enough to sneak them into the eight.

The Broncos are as good a chance as any of the teams grappling for 7th and 8th on the ladder. They are on something of a roll and building confidence with each week.

It has been an impressive run and one that certainly crept up on me.