Digging up some stats might help Brisbane bounce back from their record 56-18 NRL loss, according to colourful Warriors coach Matthew Elliott.
But cynics could argue Broncos coach Anthony Griffin already has an abundance of them following their embarrassing 10-tries-to-three loss to the Warriors at Suncorp Stadium on Monday night.
The 38-point loss was Brisbane’s worst at home, a club record against the Warriors and the first time they had conceded 50-plus points in Queensland.
The Warriors are proof teams can bounce back – two weeks ago, they suffered a club record 62-6 defeat in Penrith.
They have won two straight since, capped by their manhandling of the ‘Baby Broncos’ which Elliott said was inspired by a stat he had unearthed.
He said of the 21 NRL teams that had been beaten by 50-plus points in the past five years, 13 won the following week and three the next week – with only one away.
“We are the second team to do it in five years,” Elliott beamed.
“I dug up those stats and used them to show the players we had a chance to do something extraordinary.”
Asked how Griffin could help pull off a similar turnaround, Elliott laughed: “He could pull out some crap stats like I just did to inspire his team.”
But Elliott added sincerely: “I acknowledge how Anthony must feel because I was there a couple of weeks ago.
“He is a good coach and we didn’t come here without any trepidation, let me tell you.”
It remains to be seen how Brisbane (11th; 5-7 record) respond to the thumping – their fourth loss in five games.
Griffin made 10 positional changes after losing captain Sam Thaiday, Justin Hodges, Corey Parker and Matt Gillett to Origin duty.
But the shattered Broncos mentor offered no excuses when inevitably asked whether stand alone Origin matches should be introduced.
“You can talk about Origin or whatever but we have to look it square in the face and take ownership of it – myself first,” he said.
“We’ve just got to get some credibility back into what we are doing.
“We can’t be worried about the ladder at the moment. We just have to be better – starting with me.”
