The 1st of October, 2006, was the last glorious moment of one great footballing dynasty and a mere stumbling block to another that was about to, in some people's eyes, better it.
When Brisbane Broncos legends Shane Webcke and Darren Lockyer both lifted the 2006 Premiership, after beating those upstarts from Melbourne, it sure felt like normal service was resumed in the National Rugby League, after a few scares.
The Broncos, who had won five titles in 13 years prior to that point (when you include the Super League in 1997) had been off the winner's podium since 2000.
Sounds like nothing doesn't it? Five years without the one trophy on offer!
But this, back then, was actually the biggest Premiership drought in the Broncos' short history.
They played their inaugural season in 1988, and won their first title in 1992. Oh, how, 19 years later, the Broncos fans wish it was only four or five years between drinks these days!
Melbourne went on to win the title in 2007 (yes, I know it was taken off them later, but you get my point).
Not only that, they have collected plenty since, and who would bet against them winning yet another in the next year or two, two decades on?
Just like their Queensland-based forefathers, the Melbourne Storm have been the side that has cemented itself in the NRL's finals berths year-on-year. Just like the Broncos used to.
And - as if that wasn't enough - they did it with the likes of Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Israel Folau, and others who had plied their future trades as juniors under the Broncos noses in Brisbane.
Where as Lang Park and Suncorp Stadium used to be locations others feared, AAMI Park in Melbourne's inner city sporting precinct was to become the place where opponents mostly suffer.
When the Broncos announced the arrival of their latest CEO, former Storm boss Dave Donaghy, there was enough chat to suggest it was aimed at bringing north some of the successful practices that had been successful in Melbourne.
Oh, how the rugby league worm had turned!
The last three decades or so have seen nearly all clubs copy at least one element of the Storm recruitment model, that is, to scout significantly from Queensland!
During this time, the Sunshine State, once the sole domain of the Broncos when they were the only NRL team in Queensland and under the excellent eye of top scout, the late Cyril Connell, has suffered an increased raid on its playing stocks from South of the Tweed.
The North Queensland Cowboys arrived in 1995, but it would take them some time to cement their development structures in place. Plus, as the Northern-most outpost, it is still too far and too hot for several would-be recruits, 30 years on.
What could be seen as a fatal blow to those Brisbane-ites clinging to the past is the inclusion of the Gold Coast Titans in 2007. Is it a fluke that the Broncos haven't won a competition since they were introduced?
What I can tell you, is that, when I arrived to coach in South East Queensland in late 2012, it became very obvious that the best kids in the schools and club competitions in the region had signed for a number of different clubs - not many were signing at Brisbane and more were signing for the Titans.
When I started and built two of the biggest and successful schoolboy programs in the country over the next decade, right on the Broncos doorstep, I can remember only two players telling me they'd had approaches from the club that was previously pride of the league in those parts.
At the back-end of that period, the Dolphins were slated to enter the competition, and the stakes were raised once again. Two years before their arrival in the NRL, the absolute best kids in the area seemed to already be signing at the Dolphins.
The tide has turned somewhat in recent years, when you think of the likes of Pat Carrigan, Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam to name just three who have stayed in Red Hill, but it's a long way off the heights of 2006. Not only that, their recruitment full-stop has been the talk of the game for years. The first-grade roster has seemed unbalanced for several seasons and Michael Maguire is dealing with this right now (more about his appointment, later)
In terms of analysis of their playing squad, famous and uber-successful Soccer coach Sir Alex Ferguson has said several times, words to the effect that any sports team needs to be a three-way equal split between young guns with their best years ahead, players in their peak and players who are at the experienced end of the scale.
Although a roundball man, Ferguson's formula makes sense, is very straightforward, and if that is the guide, then the Broncos have got this balance all wrong over recent years.
When the majority of this current squad was built, they used to explain their approach by saying that they were building a squad for the future. The coach that was hired in 2019 to start the re-birth of the โnew' Broncos, Anthony Seibold (zero titles), used to take delight in describing his side as the โyoungest in the competition'.
So, hardly following the Ferguson (13 titles) mantra, then.
Yet the vultures were constantly circling around those talented youngsters. Their gun back row David Fifita had heaps of cash waved at him elsewhere, and eventually left. Reece Walsh left, then came back. Future 2025 Queensland Origin Game 2 savior Tom Dearden left, and they very nearly lost Alex Glenn to another club at one point because their contract offer was less than widely expected, yet they made him captain.
In the important 9, 6, 7, and 1 positions, the Broncos originally had players that Ben Ikin described in 2020 as โhaving experience, combination and a good understanding of the clubs' history and culture, traits the coach seemingly didn't value.โ They were then replaced by players who are a lot less experienced and very early in their careers.
If their spine is close to sorted these days, other elements of their team have inherited these problems, instead.
Another big part of the problem with the Broncos is managing modern expectations.
The club may be one of the richest, but it plays in a salary-cap sport and, as evidenced earlier, is no longer the only show in Queensland.
Yet the club still has an โexpectation' that it is to finish top-four every year. And coaches have paid the heavy price of that expectation.
When Wayne Bennett, the man who had brought them so much success, was unceremoniously shown the door in late 2018, it was a pretty open secret and widely alleged in the game that Anthony Seibold was the man that the Broncos would hire to replace him all along.
What's fascinating to note is that the other interviewees at the time were reported to be:
Michael Maguire โ the current coach!
Kevin Walters โ the last coach!
Maguire has won trophies elsewhere and in terms of success, is and was the standout candidate, but back in 2018, they instead plumped for a man who had been coaching for just over a decade in various roles when Anthony Seibold was chosen.
As a Head Coach, Seibold's record was far more questionable, even before the wooden spoon at the Broncos and his current escapades. His record prior to arriving in the big league was, at best, average. At worst, terrible.
The appointment of Seibold was thought of as a departure from the Bennett era, which included heavily a man called Kevin Walters, both in a playing and coaching capacity.
Walters, who played and coached under Bennett, was then appointed when Seibold failed.
So, from that original 2018 coach interview, is it fair to assume they went to their second-choice coach? And does this make Michael Maguire their third choice?
Thinking about their coaching appointments in this context is baffling!
Overall, the reasons for the Brisbane Broncos' longest-ever Premiership drought are three-fold:
- They don't have the monopoly on junior recruitment anymore, and they have only shown brief recent signs that they have got some control over their backyard again. It took them nearly two decades to do that.
- Their roster management has been poor for a long time, and it's still causing headaches for current leadership at the club.
- They have never found a coach to replace Wayne Bennett.
Do you think we will be saying the same things about Melbourne Storm in 2045?
Lee Addison is a former club coach at the Sea Eagles and Panthers, and the founder of rugbyleaguecoach.com.au. His recently published book โRugby League Coach' is available now on Amazon and www.rugbyleaguecoach.com.au
