Broncos' Class of '99 has message of hope for 0-3 Eels

From the delirium of a grand final berth to the despair of a 0-3 start in 2023, the Parramatta Eels head into Thursday night’s clash with premiers Penrith desperate to turn their fortunes around.

Motivation certainly won’t be an issue for Brad Arthur’s men, but if it’s inspiration they’re after then they need look no further than the Brisbane Broncos’ class of 1999.

After storming to glory in the NRL’s inaugural season in 1998, the Broncos fell out of the gates the following year, going 0-5 to start the season before recovering to finish eighth with 13 wins, nine losses and two draws.

For a club that had never finished lower than seventh in any of their 11 seasons, sneaking into eighth spot on the back of a 14-12 win over Canterbury in the last round was more of a relief than a cause for celebration, but considering where they had been after five rounds it was some sort of recovery.

Even after breaking the drought in round six with a win over Souths, the Broncos stumbled again, posting three losses and a draw in their next four games before everything clicked for Wayne Bennett’s men and they won 11 in a row between Round 11 and Round 23.

Any team boasting Darren Lockyer, Steve Renouf, Kevin Walters, Gorden Tallis and Petero Civoniceva in its ranks was always going to come good at some point and that’s what Parra will be counting on as they look to Clint Gutherson, Mitch Moses and Junior Paulo to dig them out of a hole.

On a positive note, the Eels have piled on 13 tries in their first three games and have only gone down by four points in each match, but the ‘win’ column remains empty with matches against the Panthers and Roosters to come.

“We’ve been there right at the death in all three games but we need more than just fronting up with effort, we need to execute our plan,” coach Arthur said after the 34-30 loss to Manly.

“It’s alright scoring 30 but we’re conceding six tries, five tries. We’ve scored some good tries but the tries against us are too easy. There’s some simple fundamentals we are getting wrong which is really hurting us.

“It’s a good test of our character that we stick together and don’t start looking to blame someone else… it’s a real good challenge for us to show what we’ve got.”

Just as star halfback Moses has been the centre of attention due to ongoing contract negotiations, so too Brisbane’s chief playmaker was the man making the headlines back in ’99, with Allan Langer shocking the rugby league world by announcing his retirement eight games into the season.

After 240 games and four premierships at Red Hill, the little maestro had run out of gas, and he had too much pride to play on for the sake of it and risk becoming a liability to his teammates.

"The toughest thing for players who have been lucky enough to have a long career is knowing when to end it," Langer said at the time.

No such drama is expected to derail Parra’s 2023 campaign but the protracted Moses saga coupled with the departure of key players Isaiah Papali’i and Reed Mahoney appears to have thrown the Eels off kilter.

Facing a grand final rematch this week against a Panthers side fresh off a bye, the Eels are well aware another honourable loss won’t cut it if they have designs on playing finals for a fifth straight year.

Recent history suggests a cure can be found for a grand final hangover, with 2019 premiers the Roosters losing their opening two games to the Panthers and Sea Eagles in 2020 before going on to finish fourth, and 2021 runners-up Souths recovering from a 0-2 start to make it all the way to a preliminary final in 2022.

The Rabbitohs’ turnaround began in round three when they took care of arch-rivals the Roosters 28-16 at Accor Stadium thanks to a monumental performance by skipper Cameron Murray.

For the Eels, there could be no better stage than CommBank Stadium against old foes Penrith to get their season back on track.

And just as Captain Cam led the way for the Bunnies last year, Parra’s main man Gutherson will look to inspire with his actions, just as he did against the Sea Eagles with 15 runs for 156 metres, two tries, two line breaks and a sensational trysaver on giant winger Christian Tuipulotu.

“Gutho’s effort and his want and his desire to win is there for everyone to see and it’s infectious,” Arthur said post-match.

“I don’t think anyone there tonight didn’t want to win but we need 17 players for whatever time they are on the field to execute their role and that’s where we are lacking at the moment.”

Should the Eels be unable to execute successfully against the Panthers they will slip to 0-4, the same record 1999 premiers Melbourne had after four rounds of the 2000 season.

Staring down the barrel of a fifth straight loss the Storm produced a performance for the ages, belting grand final opponents St George Illawarra 70-10 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

From there the Robbie Kearns-led Storm would win 13 of the last 21 games and slip into the semi-finals in sixth place.

A season that had started so sluggishly thanks to a grand final hangover had been resurrected… and it all came on the back of a big win over the side they had confronted five months earlier on the game’s biggest stage.

It’s got a nice ring to it for Eels fans looking for inspiration as the premiers come calling on Thursday.