Pivotal role boosts Boyd's confidence after defending like a demon

New Broncos five-eighth Darius Boyd concedes he may never play fullback again but after a superb defensive display in the 18-18 draw with the Warriors he is confident his best football in his new position is yet to come.

Boyd told NRL.com last week he was ready to have a crack at making a success of the No.6 jersey with Anthony Milford switched back to fullback.

If any moment in the draw with the Warriors epitomised that determination it was a try saving one-on-one tackle that Boyd made on Isaiah Papali’i late in the first half which saved a certain try.

The Brisbane veteran made 32 tackles, with just one missed, in the front line. Coach Anthony Seibold said it was  Boyd’s physicality in those tackles that was a feature, which the Brisbane captain conceded was a much-improved display from the one against Newcastle.

"I felt a lot more confident tonight and that will give me a lot of confidence having a better performance there," Boyd said.

"There are no excuses in the Newcastle game but I did get shifted around a bit. I wanted to get involved early, defend well and do my role for the team and I thought it worked well.

"I have always liked defence and backed my defensive ability. I know there has been a bit of criticism around that of me personally this year but not through lack of effort.

"I have looked over some tapes to why I made those misses or wrong reads. Defending is one of my strong suits I think so I think I can build on tonight’s performance."

Boyd also ran for 109 metres and scored a crucial try in the second half off a Milford grubber, pouncing on an Issac Luke fumble.

Milford’s performance was immense: he ran for 219 metres and put in 15 kicks which gained 580m for his side.

It was put to Boyd that not many players change positions after playing 300 games and his days in the No.1 jersey were over.

"I suppose, yeah. Seibs wants to keep this [positional switch] moving forward and I don’t look at it in a negative way," he said.

"It is a cool challenge for me, to be honest. I have played 300 games, mostly at fullback with a bit of wing and centre. I had never played five-eighth before [this year] in the NRL except in a trial game. I thought my game was good tonight and I think I can build on that.

"Milf has done some amazing things as a five-eighth but he has only played fullback twice this year and in both games he has been strong. We ask him to do a lot  because he is returning kicks and putting kicks in general play in as well. He is only going to get better and has all the ability to play fullback at rep level too if Kevvie [Walters] and Mal [Meninga] think he is best for the job."

Boyd said he couldn’t recall playing in a draw but he said sharing the one competition point at the end of 10 minutes of extra time was the right way for such a game to be decided.

"It is a tough one, but I don’t mind it to be honest," he said.

"There were some moments where we could have been better definitely. When we were up by two we got the ball stripped and then we went for a strip and gave away a penalty. We had a couple of chances to ice it with a field goal."

Boyd said the Broncos, with five of their next eight games at home, still had a firm eye on making the finals.

"If we perform like that most weeks, and having those home games and the crowd behind us, we give ourselves every chance," he said.