The Newcastle Knights currently cling on to 8th spot on the NRL ladder with four other teams chasing them. One of those teams is the Brisbane Broncos who currently sit in 12th place on the ladder, 4 competition points behind the Knights.
A loss tonight would see the Broncos fall 6 points behind 8th spot with just five games remaining. Mathamatically they would still be in the race, but realistically they would need so many teams in front of them to crash and burn that any hope of a finals place would be all but gone.
It has been a tough season for the Broncos but one you could see coming from a mile away.
The Broncos got off to a solid start this season but the State Of Origin period turned it into a disaster by Broncos standards. It prompted talk that Broncos coach Anthony Griffin would be shown the door at season end, something the club has since denied. Ironically one of the people linked to the Broncos job was Wayne Bennett, Griffin’s opposition coach tonight.
The biggest problem the Broncos have faced this season is with their halves. As a halves combination Scott Prince and Peter Wallace have been terrible. Wallace has been told by the Broncos to look elsewhere while Prince is probably going to be taken to a glue factory all old Broncos players visit at some point.
The form of the halves hasn’t been helped by some of the players the Broncos invested their future in not kicking on and playing at a higher level.
The Knights meanwhile have had an underwhelming season.
While they sit in 8th place on the ladder at no point have they ever looked like they might be a title contender.
If the Broncos manage to win tonight they are right back in the finals race. They will need to fight hard to win their way into that 8th place, but its at least a case of having their destiny in their own hands. A loss ends their season though, I think these is little doubt about that.
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