We’ll get in their faces – Walters

THE Broncos may be the team with the lightning bolt, but they have been ordered to don the blue overalls and “get in their faces’’ to win the Battle of Brisbane.

Broncos coach Kevin Walters will try to “do a Wayne on Wayne’’ by out-tackling and out-hustling the Dolphins in what shapes as a famous night for Queensland sport on Friday. With both teams unbeaten after three rounds, the stunning and often-overlooked statistic is the Dolphins have scored more points than any other team, with 84 from their three games.

Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett, who has a 40 year association with Walters, was expected to mould an honourable defensive unit but no one expected his team to be heading the points-for list after the early rounds.

Walters has responded with a Bennett ploy of making sure his defence is a key priority entering a big game, despite the fact the attacking sizzle of Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam has lit up the competition. “I think you will find we will have good line speed and get into their faces and that is what it is all about,’’ Walters said after training on Thursday.

“Certainly defence has been the key for us throughout the first three weeks and the whole off-season really. Tomorrow will be no different. We know they have some strike players so we have to be good with our defence and everything else will flow off the back of that. That is where our big focus has been this week, making sure we are working together and working hard for each other.

“They have two good halves, a good fullback and a good spine. We have to make sure we are working hard defensively to limit their opportunities.’’

“I sense this week there is a good vibe among the players.’’

If the Broncos defeat the Dolphins for their fourth consecutive win, they will be well on the way to their most successful start to a season.

Their best start was seven wins in a row in 1995 and 1997, but with the Wests-Tigers, Raiders, Titans and Eels ahead, the current side may have the chance to match or eclipse that mark. A rousing start normally triggers a strong result for the Broncos – they finished third in 1995 and won the competition in 1997. Walters has appeared relatively calm in one of the biggest coaching weeks of his career and his state of mind must surely be assisted by the robust way his side have been playing and training.

He even unfurled his Bennett impression at The Courier-Mail’s Battle of Brisbane lunch on Wednesday, and while his relationship with Bennett has been hot, cold and all temperatures between, he feels it will always endure.