Predicted Finish: 9th
Actual Finish: 16th
To say I had this wrong is an understatement. Surely no one saw that fall from grace coming? The Broncos had the squad, and started well enough to push for a spot in the top eight. Instead they were reduced to whipping boys and finished with a deserved wooden spoon.
Highlights
- Rise of young players: 2020 saw Broncos youngsters rise and become rep level players. Xavier Coates continued his incredible trajectory and played two games on the wing for Queensland.
Payne Haas is a future megastar after playing big minutes in a largely beaten forward pack all season, whilePatrick Carrigan is still only 22 despite captaining the side in 2020 and emerging as a future Origin player.
Katoni Staggs would have played Origin if not for injury. He was an absolute beast in 2020 and won a spot in the Dally M team of the year despite being injured for extended periods of the season. An absolute weapon and a rare highlight in almost every game he played.
- Coaching Future Sorted: Finally, FINALLY the Broncos have their future sorted. Anthony Seibold is out and former Queensland mentor and Broncos superstar Kevin Walters has been announced. It took many months longer than it should have but the fact is it's done.
Walters now has control and the club can plan for a complete rebuild. The months of speculation were nothing but a negative distraction for the Broncos and their fans. They can now relegate that to the rear vision mirror, thankfully for everyone involved.
Lowlights
- Losing David Fifita: This was a stake in the heart of the Broncos and their fans. Fifita and Haas were meant to be the two young forwards the club was going to build around for the next decade.
Fifita has decided to head south and play for the Titans. The Broncos supposedly moved heaven and high water to secure their star back rower's signature but couldn't get it done. Huge loss.
- Stars Below Par: Anthony Milford is an Origin-level player on the better part of a million dollars yet had a season that would embarrass most rookies. Darius Boyd, despite an incredible career, was reduced to memes and Benny Hill backed video clips after a horror season.
Jack Bird again missed the season after an injury in the pre-season and has left the club. Corey Oates played well below what is expected of the former Origin winger. Jamayne Isaako went from superstar rookie to forgotten about.
The revolving door of failed options in the fullback role summed up their season. Issac Luke's season was one he'll hope to forget.
- Pretty Much Everything Else: I could make this a multiple paragraph entry but Broncos fans have already suffered enough in 2020. Everything that could go wrong, did.
Star Player: Payne Haas
The Origin prop narrowly pips Staggs and Carrigan here as the team's star in 2020. Outside of those three, who all had brilliant personal seasons, there wasn't much in terms of competition.
Haas played 80 minutes at prop an incredible eight times across the 20 rounds of 2020. He averaged 175 metres per game and tackled at over 95% efficiency. Those are incredible stats for a young man who is yet to hit 21 year's of age or 50 NRL appearances.
Throw in an eye watering 1300+ post contact metres and 61 tackle-breaks and Haas earned every dollar he was paid in 2020, and many, many more.
Unfortunately the giant was forced to play a lone hand on more than one occasion but can be supremely proud of his incredible efforts across the season.
Season Grading: F
If there was a grade lower than F, the Broncos would have "earned" it. To say they were deplorable in 2020 is a gross understatement. They actually started the season with back-to-back wins over the Cowboys and Bunnies, which delivered false hope.
Post the COVID-19 break they would only win one further game, a 26-8 victory over the equally awful Bulldogs, despite playing 18 games. A loss to the Sharks reserve grade side, a 48-0 loss to the Tigers, and a 16-point loss to rivals North Queensland whilst trying to avoid the wooden spoon shows how far this club has fallen.
There were occasional, individual highlights, from the likes of Staggs, Coates, Haas and Carrigan. Apart from that though, everything about 2020 was negative.
The Seibold saga that approached comedic levels at times, dragged on for many months and proved a major distraction. The fact Fifita walked to their nearest rival was a shot to the mouth to say the least.
Well over a million dollars was tied up in a halves combination of Milford and Croft, which I am comfortable in saying was a bottom two or three combo in 2020. Considering the pedigree of both, that's just not good enough.
I hate to sink the boot but there was very little in terms of redeeming qualities for the Broncos this year. They'll always be the first squad to "win" the wooden spoon for the club.
Looking forward they have a new coach and therefore new hope. Unfortunately, to date they are yet to add anyone to a horribly out of form squad, but surely it has to be better in 2021? It can't be any worse.
