Brisbane Broncos captain Darius Boyd has put his team's huge 54-0 win over the Gold Coast Titans down to one thing – good old-fashioned hard work.
The win broke a number of records, with it being the Titans' biggest ever loss in their history and the Broncos' biggest ever victory away from home.
The 54-point haul was the most Gold Coast have conceded at home and Brisbane's highest score since 2007.
But despite the scoreline the result did not come easy for Brisbane, with the Titans piling on the pressure in the first 20 minutes as the Broncos defended their try-line time and time again.
Gold Coast had 63 per cent of possession in that period and when Neil Henry's men could not turn field position into points their heads dropped.
Brisbane then capitalised to pile on the points but it could not have been done without their early defensive effort.
It was particularly pleasing for coach Wayne Bennett after his side had conceded 28 points against the Parramatta Eels the week before in a disappointing display.
Boyd praised his side's defensive turnaround, saying a huge effort during the week had put the team in a good position to turn their form around.
"I said to the team in the huddle after the match that [our defensive effort was] why we put a score on the board like we did," Boyd said.
"We worked hard. Nothing comes easy. You have to work hard and get the results after that.
"It wasn't us last week and we spoke about that through the week. We had a pretty tough training week and it worked wonders for us tonight."
The win was the second time this season the Broncos have kept a team to nil, with the previous occurrence taking place in their 36-0 win over the Wests Tigers in Round 11.
Boyd said the defensive effort was more pleasing than cracking the half-century in points scored.
"They are both pretty pleasing, but once the scoreboard starts getting away that (keeping a side to nil) does become a bit of a goal," he said.
"There were a few of us talking out there saying that zero is the number and that zero is the key. To keep a team to no points is a pretty special effort."
There were special efforts all round the park from the Broncos, with the likes of Ben Hunt, Kodi Nikorima and Anthony Milford running a muck after Brisbane's early defensive display.
It was running rugby league at its best from the three Broncos stars, with their skill even wowing their experienced fullback.
"It's always a tough game against the Titans. I can't remember any easy ones. We can only control our performance and I thought we took it away from them early," Boyd said.
"We defended well and we have a lot of skilled guys in the team. You saw some of that [skill] on display."
