Looking superficially at the closeness of our five game run, it's easy to dismiss us as being lucky as many critics in Aussie tend to do. All this complaining about our p/d is case in pt. How can a team with p/d of +5 be 2nd? That's a common question that the Aussie commentators are asking on a weekly basis now.
Now If we were winning a couple of games by 1-2 pts but had also lost a couple by the same margin, I'd understand. But if we consistently win all those tight games (8 now), then I'd suggest it's no longer luck but a systematic pattern. It's no accident that teams tend to have their worst games against us. Dolphins last week completely at 90%+ but this week essentially completed at the 60% level for most of this game. Their usually silky attack that put 40+ on Melbourne and 30 on Canberra was nowhere to be seen. Cows were flying before they played us. Now they've turned to s***t. I'd argue that in many ways the Broncos form slump really began with their loss to us.
None of this is flukey or accidental. As Phil Gould said last week, we are the hardest team to play against because of the relentless pressure we place teams under over the entirety of the 80 minutes. Eventually the pressure takes its toll and the idiot genes of the opposition playmakers are activated. Walsh's extra time shenanigans is case in point.
Of course we'd like a stronger p/d. But if we keep winning and other teams continue to win and lose on a more sporadic fashion, it's not going to matter in the end because we'll get so far ahead of the chasing pack pts wise. We're already 4 pts ahead of 4th, 6 pts ahead of 6th and 8 pts ahead of the chasing pack (8th-12th). If we knock off the raiders this week at home, we'll also be 4 pts ahead of 3rd and secure in 2nd place.
Now If we were winning a couple of games by 1-2 pts but had also lost a couple by the same margin, I'd understand. But if we consistently win all those tight games (8 now), then I'd suggest it's no longer luck but a systematic pattern. It's no accident that teams tend to have their worst games against us. Dolphins last week completely at 90%+ but this week essentially completed at the 60% level for most of this game. Their usually silky attack that put 40+ on Melbourne and 30 on Canberra was nowhere to be seen. Cows were flying before they played us. Now they've turned to s***t. I'd argue that in many ways the Broncos form slump really began with their loss to us.
None of this is flukey or accidental. As Phil Gould said last week, we are the hardest team to play against because of the relentless pressure we place teams under over the entirety of the 80 minutes. Eventually the pressure takes its toll and the idiot genes of the opposition playmakers are activated. Walsh's extra time shenanigans is case in point.
Of course we'd like a stronger p/d. But if we keep winning and other teams continue to win and lose on a more sporadic fashion, it's not going to matter in the end because we'll get so far ahead of the chasing pack pts wise. We're already 4 pts ahead of 4th, 6 pts ahead of 6th and 8 pts ahead of the chasing pack (8th-12th). If we knock off the raiders this week at home, we'll also be 4 pts ahead of 3rd and secure in 2nd place.
