Broncos send out a warning to Storm
RESERVED is not a term that comes to mind when seeing Craig Bellamy in a coach’s box.
But the passionate Melbourne Storm mentor claimed he would think twice before spraying referees at press conferences after a wakeup call from Todd Greenberg.
The NRL boss called a press conference this week to tell coaches to “grow up” after Cronulla’s Shane Flanagan and Manly’s Trent Barrett were fined a total of $ 50,000 for venting over referees as they bowed out of the finals. The Storm coach, who has not been known for keeping his emotions in check, said Greenberg’s address had made him “sit up and take notice” about his responsibility to set a good example.
“I just thought Todd handled that really well,” he said.
“When you’re heavily involved in the game ... you know the grassroots - the kids and their coaches - they’re all watching. Sometimes we forget that we should be setting an example for our game.
“Whether you’re a player, coach or administrator at NRL level we’ve all got a responsibility to the game.” BRISBANE have set up a pulsating grand final qualifier against mighty Melbourne after the braveheart Broncos last night overcame more casualties to bury the Panthers 13- 6 at Suncorp Stadium.
In an epic sudden- death semi- final before 38,623 fans, the Broncos prevailed, summoning every scintilla of courage to muzzle Penrith with a defensive desperation that wins premierships.
Already missing star skipper Darius Boyd, the Broncos were left with one man on interchange in the final 12 minutes after Corey Oates ( 21st), Jai Arrow ( 55th) and Sam Thaiday ( 68th) left the field with head knocks.
Amid the carnage, the Broncos held their nerve, leading 6- 0 at halftime before a sizzling try from James Roberts ( 47th minute) and a calm one- pointer from Jordan Kahu 10 minutes from time ended Penrith’s season.
Now Everest awaits. The Storm juggernaut are unbackable favourites to win the premiership, but on Friday night in Melbourne they face the Broncos club that famously broke their hearts with a boilover in the 2006 grand final.
That just happens to be Brisbane’s most recent premiership, but the Broncos will believe they have the heart to break their 11- year title drought after outlasting a plucky Penrith outfit.
History is against Wayne Bennett’s troops. The Broncos have won only four of 23 games against Melbourne in the past decade, but last night’s performance is evidence Brisbane will go down swinging.
The Panthers hammered Brisbane’s line, having 35 tackles to eight in the oppo- sition red zone. But the Broncos’ brick wall that inspired their 2015 grand final charge is back, broken just once when Regan Campbell- Gillard crashed over in the 64th minute to set up a thrilling finale.
No other top- eight team has leaked as many tries as Brisbane in the opening 20 minutes this season, but there was no first- quarter siesta from the Broncos last night.
The reward for their early industry came after seven minutes, winger Oates scoring a superb 55m solo try after hitting a Ben Hunt pass at speed and torching Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards.
By rights, Penrith should have led at halftime. They had all the field position at the back end of the first half.
Incredibly, they had 20 attacking plays in the red zone compared with Brisbane’s two.
Brisbane will be sweating on the return of fullback conductor Boyd to bring some composure to a playmaking spine that did a serviceable job last night.
Aside from fluffing one high kick, Kodi Nikorima was solid filling Boyd’s shoes.
Benji Marshall played with better control at halfback, while Anthony Milford needs to be more consistent, mixing some dangerous darts with a number of misdirected passes under pressure.