Looking over a few stats ahead of tonight’s match, one really leapt out at me.
The Brisbane Broncos have won just one of their past nine games - that was a Round 26, 2012 win over the Panthers. Really, a team with the attacking capability of the Broncos, I’d figured they’d have won more than one of their last nine.
Hell, we managed to win four of our last nine and I think it’s safe to say we weren’t exactly setting the world on fire last season.
Still, it’s a fair cop to point out that last season’s results don’t matter all that much right now. And it’s also hard to tip a winner based on one round’s worth of games - but hey, it’s not like I’m going to tip against the Dragons this week, is it?
So yeah, just like every other week, I reckon the Dragons will win. Why? Well, because I think they showed some signs of decent attack against the difficult-to-crack Storm last week - it was only their handling and a few long-range against the run of play efforts that truly cruelled it for us.
The Broncos did play well in the first half of their match against the Sea Eagles, leading 14-6 at the break. Then they fell asleep in the second 40, letting Manly score 16 unanswered points.
If the Dragons attack like they did against the Storm, they’ll be sure to find some gaps in the Broncos defence. And you’d have to think the Red V would be incredibly unlucky to find itself on the wrong end of some more ‘‘against the run of play’’ tries this week.
For mine there are only two things the Dragons need to really watch out for. One is how they deal with the short turnaround from Sunday’s match - that was a hot day against the Storm and one hopes their bodies are over that strain.
Then there’s the big one - consistency. Last year the Dragons would lift for the big sides, putting in very impressive efforts, only to slacken off a week later. If the Dragons avoid that tendency here they’ll win.
And, if they avoid it this year, they’ll go much better than many have tipped.