Time for 'very good' Broncos to become 'greats'

Brisbane have many good players but for the Broncos to break a 13-year premiership drought they need several key men to become great players.

If you were listing an all-time great Broncos side, Darius Boyd is the only member of the current squad that would be in the conversation.

I have noted with interest that new coach Anthony Seibold has mentioned on several occasions he wants to see incremental improvement in the players and for the team to close the gap between their best and worst performances.

If halves Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima can improve and become genuine Broncos greats, that would be a start.

The side did improve as the season went on last year but it is not acceptable for the Broncos to get towelled up in a home final like they did against the Dragons.

Melbourne did the same to Brisbane in the preliminary final the previous year.

You'd like to think Seibold has spoken to them about the fact they haven't got near the mark set by this great club.

They made a grand final in 2015 and blew it against the Cowboys. They really need to learn how to win those big games.

That is what all the hard work from pre-season to September is about. You are prepping for it and you need to be up for it.

Wayne Bennett left the squad in good shape ... I think Anthony Seibold can reap the rewards this year.

NRL columnist Steve Renouf

Even though Milford was Brisbane's player of the year last season I still  think he needs to make a massive improvement in running the team and being dominant on a consistent basis.

Kodi is a player that loves running the ball. That works every now and again but I think those two halves need to play more of a team game and work better with their outside men.

That is where Allan Langer and Kevin Walters were so good. They created plenty for themselves but also set the rest of the team alight. This is where Kodi needs to step up and get James Roberts the ball he needs.

I thought Matt Lodge had a breakout season for the Broncos last year and I’m looking forward to him taking the next step. This is a young pack and the challenge for Seibold will be to get their heads right to not only start the season well, but then to hang onto that form so they can produce when times are tough.

Over the next three weeks of trials, we will get a sense of Brisbane's "game model" that Seibold has been instilling into the side but the real test will come when the NRL season gets underway.

Wayne Bennett left the squad in good shape. I'm sure he would have wanted to have his hands on this team for another year because he could see something special coming.

I think Seibold can reap the rewards this year.

He will bring something totally different to what Wayne was doing, and you expect that from a new coach. 

What he did at Souths was bring more flair and spark to their attack and hopefully we will see more attacking footy from the Broncos across the board.

Brisbane did score plenty of points last year but they were also predictable in that attacking space.

There will be high expectations on the new coach to deliver success to the Broncos but he walked into the same scenario at Souths. He would have felt the pressure down there in Sydney, but he seemed to handle it.

I spoke to James Roberts, David Fifita and Jack Bird before Christmas and they seemed very positive about the changes Seibold had brought to training.

If he can get the improvement he is seeking from the team and we have four or five players on their way to being true ‘greats’ then they will be there or thereabouts in September.