No one doubts the record of the mighty Brisbane Broncos. Having a whole city to draw on was helpful but also the State of Queensland was there to be tapped into. Not that the Broncos were the only side to do so but being the local club must have helped.
The success came but then so did other Queensland clubs although the city of Brisbane still only has one team. That should have been enough to stay very competitive but it's not enough to have talent on hand. It has to be found and nurtured. Having too much choice can be a negative too.
In the year 2000, the Broncos won the league competition, named the Minor Premiership. Wayne Bennet was the coach then and a very successful one too. However, as you can see below, while the club was regularly making the top eight and therefore the finals series, there was a gradual decline in where the club finished.
The timeline along the bottom of the graph shows Wayne Bennett's tenure came to an end in 2008. In came Ivan Henjak, who lasted two seasons, the second of which the team missed out on a top eight spot. After him came Anthony Griffin. An immediate spike up to third in 2011 was a short lived shot in the arm. A poor 11th in 2013 was followed by an improved 2014 but he went anyway.
In came Wayne Bennett for another stint, this time four years. They made the finals each season without actually winning the minor premiership. That ended with Anthony Seibold taking charge in 2019. A solid first year gave no indicator of a wooden spoon the following season.
Now past player Kevin Walters has taken charge for 2021 but the losses have kept coming. A review of all operations and personnel of the club was undertaken. How that was to unfold and whether it would see a return of better days was uncertain.
However, 2022 saw an improvement and one place short of a finals spot while 2023 had the team coming second. The improvement since 2020 has been nothing short of amazing.
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