Eyes on the prize for Broncos after past finals fizzle

Broncos captain Ali Brigginshaw has her eyes on another NRLW title and takes no comfort from the fact her side topped the ladder at the end of the season for the fifth time in their history.

Brisbane host the Sharks in their semifinal on Sunday and despite having form on their side after winning seven on the trot, Brigginshaw said the side were working hard to avoid any chance of missing out on another grand final appearance.

“We acknowledged that, we celebrated as a team, but we put that to bed straight away," Brigginshaw said.

“It's something that we cannot (dwell on); we’ve been minor premiers before, and we lost in the semis to the Roosters (in 2021).

“So it's something that's not going to get you through to grand final day.

“As a team, we celebrated it, we applauded ourselves for getting there, but we have got a long way to go.

“(Against the Roosters) we started well in that game … we were 16-0 up and then they came back to beat us.

“That was purely on how we played; the errors and just the learnings (we could take from that), we have girls that were playing their first year of rugby league, and now they're playing their third year.

“So we've definitely learnt from those experiences, but we still have lapses in our game, so we're not ignoring that. 

“We need to be better.”

After a slow start to the season, the Broncos have built into their season, with Brigginshaw – who has overcome a sternum complaint to play – saying the secret to the turnaround in form was simple, but they’d have to be on their game against the Sharks despite beating them already this year.

“We were just making too many errors and our discipline was really off, so it was just working on those little things," Brigginshaw said. 

“Once we tidied that up, we were able to score points.

“We've got a very talented team, it was just the little stuff letting us down.

"Against the Dragons (in Round 9), we started poorly and that's been in our games throughout the year, so it's really just refining that and making sure we're not playing like that on the weekend.

“(The Sharks) have got a big forward pack, Ellie Johnston's been playing awesome, Quincy Dodd around the middle, but, Emma Tonegato, she's a bit of an X factor there, she's someone that's played in big games and can play at that high tempo, so we're expecting a big game from her.

“But to be honest, it's on us, it's how we play, we've got to be better.

“And that's something we'll get right during this week."

Being played at a sold out Totally Workwear Stadium, Brigginshaw’s fellow Queensland Maroons and Australian Jillaroos teammate Julia Robison said she was looking forward to having the home crowd support against a tough opponent.

Robinson has lit up the competition with her athleticism this year and finished the regular season with nine tries to tie with Knights back Sheridan Gallagher on top of the try-scoring ladder.

“We're really excited to have a home final, we haven't had that for a very long time," Robinson said. 

“I feel like we get all our energy from our fans.

“I guess we have had a lot of success at Totally Workwear as well, so we can't wait to go play out there … we love playing out there, it's got such a homely kind of feel, we get a lot of families come and watch us support us every time we go out there, so it's a perfect size for us.

“We feel like the crowd’s just right there, we can hear them, so I can't wait.”