Broncos forced into awards night act after rival’s shock NRLW rise

The Broncos are in an unfamiliar position in being the underdogs heading into the NRLW finals series, but one move by the team before the club’s awards night sent a clear message as to why their rivals should not underestimate them.

Since the league’s inception in 2018, the Broncos and the Roosters have dominated the competition, together winning six of the eight premiership titles.

The Knights are the only other team to lift the premiership trophy, but players from that winning team have largely dispersed to represent the Roosters or Broncos in more recent years.

Debate around whether the league had turned into a two-horse race due to the dominance of the Roosters and Broncos has been loud, although the Titans have since silenced some critics with their impressive rise to finish second on the ladder.

But league greats have made clear that while the extensive list of representative stars in both the Roosters and Broncos starting line-ups cannot be overlooked, it is the fitness and commitment from the club to the team that has helped establish both playing groups well above the rest of the competition.

Nine’s journalist Adam Jackson revealed the Broncos playing group did a recovery session at the venue before their club’s awards night on Monday. They would not have had to do so if they had qualified straight through to the preliminary finals and earned a week off.

While that was not the official presentation evening for the women’s team – as their end of year celebration is planned to take place at a later date – Jackson applauded the commitment of Scott Prince’s group heading into the finals.

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“They were so dedicated to their recovery that they did it before the official function,” Jackson revealed on Wide World of Sports’ QLDER.

“Forever in the NRLW they have been the hunted. They’ll have to come from a different route to what they usually do in finals football.

“Maybe they will thrive with the underdog tag.”

If the Broncos are to defeat the Knights this week and advance to the preliminary final, the club will take on the roaring Titans in hopes of making another grand final.

Queensland great Darius Boyd recognised the confidence boost the Broncos also would have received in defeating the Warriors by 34 points in the final round.

The importance and impact of key stars like Ali Brigginshaw, Julia Robinson, Tamika Upton and Jesse Southwell in that match was enough for Boyd to believe that the Broncos are still a strong chance to win the premiership.

“It was a game they needed to win to gain a little bit of confidence heading into the finals,” the newly appointed men’s Queensland coach said on QLDER.

“Jesse Southwell has been a great acquisition for the Broncos this year. When you’ve got Southwell, Upton, Brigginshaw and Robinson out wide - there is some special talent there that I wouldn’t be writing them off.”

The Titans have averaged 31 points per game since their first round defeat to the Roosters, who finished undefeated at the end of the regular season.

While the Titans did have “class all over the park”, Boyd believes that coach Karyn Murphy is largely to credit for the team’s rapid rise to success this season.

“She has a great presence at the club,” Boyd added.

“She has built a lot of confidence in this group. They lost in round one but then they’ve gone on this massive run. They are playing with a lot of confidence.

“They have had some injuries along the way so it has not been perfect, but she’s got them really firing and performing at the right time.

“They’ve got a big chance to go and win this premiership.”

The Titans will learn who their preliminary final opponent is when the full-time siren sounds at the end of the Broncos and Knights clash on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers and Raiders will face off on Friday in hopes of securing a spot in the other preliminary final match against the Roosters.