Hope Continues To Fade
by
Saturday August 30, 2003

The already thinning hopes of Brisbane Broncos fans of a serious challenge for this year's premiership became little more than atomic after their latest defeat, 16-14 at the hands of Parramatta.  It's the Broncos' sixth loss in a row, their eighth in nine games, and their fifth straight loss at home.

The match was in the balance for the full 80 minutes, with the margin never more than four points, but the determination and commitment on the Eels faces was well and truly the difference. In contrast, the Broncos continued to look flat, disinterested. Even the normally thrilling Darren Lockyer was well below his best.

Casey McGuire and Jason Moodie scored doubles for their respective teams, with Craig Frawley and Nathan Hindmarsh scoring the others. 

On the scoreboard, the difference was field goals to Adam Dykes and Michael Witt, but the real difference was commitment. It's a difficult thing to measure scientifically, it's an emotive quality.  However, 38 missed tackles to 14 tells most of the story.  The Broncos were tackling, but they weren't tackling well enough.

The result puts the Eels just two points behind the Broncos, but still 28 points behind on for and against. What that means is that for Parramatta to make the finals at the Broncos' expense, the Broncos must lose to St George-Illawarra, and the Eels must beat Penrith by a combined margin of 28 points or more.

However, given the Broncos' recent form, even an out of sorts Dragons are a very real prospect.  If it all comes to pass, it will be the first time the Broncos have missed the finals since 1992, and their worst ever finish in their 15-year history.

The six straight losses equals the club's worst ever losing streak, which ironically was also achieved in rounds 20-25 in season 2001. Their last 9 matches also equate to the worst streak in the club's history. Just one win from 9 games eclipses the one win and one draw in the opening 9 rounds of 1999.

What coach Wayne Bennett can do to inspire a turnaround is anyone's guess, and at this stage of the season it simply seems too late.  Ultimately it's up to the players to want to win. But if on field and post game body language is anything to go by, they don't really care.  It's just a shame the fans do.