I do quite like cricket but at the end of the day, I’m a Rugby League man and for me, come this time of the year and I am simply cricketed out.
Who can’t wait for the ball to be kicked off in March for this 2024 NRL Season? Last year’s Grand Final has left a wanting more taste in my mouth like few other years I can recall.
But the thing is, the taste left in the mouths of the Broncos players will be something very different that they will not want to experience again in their careers.
That taste of devastation they got a mouthful of at fulltime in the 2023 Grand Final was definitely something they did not see on Coach Kevin Walters game plan or menu.
The players simply over-cooked the result themselves.
It was both a brilliant and a sad game, depending whose camp you were in, but there is no doubt in my mind, even taking into account the magical ability of the Panthers main man, Nathan Clearly, that should have been a victory for the Brisbane Broncos.
They simply blew it!
Now, this year the four Queensland teams – Broncos, Dolphins, Cowboys and Titans are all very serious contenders for the finals this year! They each have a coach of outstanding talent but it will be the Titans head coach Des Hasler who will create the most interest.
Des is a unique character and a very unique coach. I watched Dessie closely when I coached him at Manly in the early 90’s and then saw him through a different lens when I was back at Manly as their CEO 2010/11.
Dessie is quite simply a brilliant coach, and he will certainly get the Titans playing better than they ever thought they could.
Todd Payton at the Cowboys is another very good coach, if he can get his team to play the brand of game he likes, they will take some beating.
What can I say about Wayne Bennett that hasn’t already been said. To put it simply, he has proven he is the best in the business over a very long time.
When I first came to Australia to coach Norths in the Brisbane competition way back in 1979, Wayne was coaching Brothers. Wayne’s success and longevity as the games leading coach has not surprised me a bit.
But it is the Brisbane Broncos and their head coach Kevin Walters that excites me most about this year. Many have Kevin as the best coach in the NRL at the moment, its not easy to argue against that.
