HOOK’S FINAL BRONCOS REVENGE

DRAGONS coach Anthony Griffin can exact the ultimate revenge on the Broncos by sinking their NRL finals hopes eight years after being sacked by Brisbane.

The Broncos must beat the Dragons at Kogarah on Saturday night in the last-round fixture to have any hope of playing in the finals series.

A win will keep Brisbane’s dream alive ahead of Sunday’s Tigers-raiders game, however a loss will almost certainly end any hope of the Broncos featuring in 2022 playoffs.

“Hook” Griffin, 56, coached the Broncos for four seasons from 2011 before being shown the door in 2014 to accommodate the return of Wayne Bennett to Red Hill.

He only missed the finals once in four years and wasn’t embarrassed as head coach of Brisbane, finishing with a winning record of 53 per cent from 101 games in charge.

But it wasn’t enough as Bennett indicated a desire to return to Brisbane and duly took the Broncos to the 2015 NRL grand final, losing to North Queensland.

Griffin went to the Panthers (2016-18) and then to the Dragons since last year.

Now, the Broncos are preparing for St George Illawarra to come out firing as they look to end Brisbane’s season.

“Hook gave me my debut against the Broncos, ironically,” said Brisbane fullback Te Maire Martin, a former Panther.

“He is real tough on defence and attitude and they will come out firing. He will remember the last game we had against them at Suncorp (Broncos win 32-18) and they will be using that as motivation.

“Hook will be getting them up and they will be looking to knock us out and end our hopes of scratching into the eight.”

Griffin isn’t the only ex-bronco looking to sink Brisbane.

The Dragons are stacked with former Brisbane players, with the likes of Tautau Moga, Ben Hunt, Josh Mcguire, Jaydn SU’A, Jack Bird and Andrew Mccullough all preparing to take the field in St George Illawarra colours.

Mcguire, SU’A, Bird and Mccullough were shown the door by Brisbane while under contract, adding another layer to the rivalry. Despite the backroom machinations, Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs said there was no bad blood between the players.

“I have good relationships with the previous Broncos that were here,” Staggs said.

“We got one over them already and I am looking forward to going out there and getting a win for the team and the Broncos fans and members. They deserve it as much as we do.

“Everybody plays their best footy against the Broncos, but I’m looking forward to a good clash on Saturday night.”