Broncomania sweeps Brisbane as coach Kevin Walters backs team to ride wave of support

• Gallery: Fan frenzy at Broncos training

Broncomania is sweeping the city with a record number of fans descending on Red Hill for Brisbane’s captain’s run on Friday in a manic preamble to the 52,000 who will flock to Suncorp for the grand-final qualifier.

Gallery: Fan frenzy at Broncos training

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Brisbane’s training session witnessed scenes usually reserved for AFL teams in grand-final week, with more than 1000 Broncos fans screaming the names of their 17 heroes hungry to snap the club’s 17-year title drought.

A 100-metre line of Broncos supporters snaked along the fenced perimeter, while some grassed seating on the opposite side of the field, usually occupied by a handful of fans, was packed to the rafters.

When Brisbane finished last in 2020, not a single fan turned up to watch training, with club staff forced to pick up 150 wooden-spoons that were thrown on to their Red Hill paddock.

Just three years later, Red Hill is rocking and rolling, amplifying pressure on a Broncos team to break the longest title drought in the club’s history, but Walters is confident his youthful side will not choke in the sudden-death showdown with the Warriors.

“We have handled it (the pressure) well all season, really,” said Walters, who was blown away by the tidal wave of Broncos supporters.

“Everyone has been waiting for us to fall off a cliff and implode but we haven’t.

“If anything, we have gone again.

“I still believe our best football hasn’t been played yet and that is what excites me about this game.

“When we play our best football it is at a very high level.”

Of the fan fever, Walters said: “It’s amazing, even with the amount of people that showed up, we’re very grateful for their support.

“It’s now about transferring that support into a good performance against the Warriors, which I believe we are ready for.”

But Warriors chief executive Cameron George has put the Broncos on notice, saying the resurgent Kiwi outfit is plotting a Brisbane boilover on the back on in-form halfback Shaun Johnson.

“We are not coming to Australia to make up the numbers,” George said.

“Sure, the Broncos are a very good side and I know a lot of people think we won’t win, but that doesn’t exist within our building or within New Zealand.

“The Broncos have been the form team all year, but we’re going there very confident.

“We haven’t got here by luck. Our big guns, led by Shaun Johnson, have played in big games.

“We won’t be overawed by the occasion. We have a shot at the title and that’s what we are going to do.

“We believe we can ambush the Broncos, 100 per cent.”

Added Warriors coach Andrew Webster: “Wherever we go in Australia, we get a Warriors chant. If we’re not everyone’s favourite team, we’re their second favourite team.”

The Broncos will start 1-17 after completing a drama-free training session and Walters says Brisbane are not yet satisfied as they chase the club’s first grand-final appearance since 2015 and first title since 2006.

“We are not to where I am satisfied,” Walters said.

“Not so much me, but the rest of the playing group and everyone here is after one thing this year.

“We have to get it right against the Warriors, but that (a Broncos premiership) opportunity can present itself.

“It’s a big game and a sold-out crowd.

“If you are dreaming, this is the dream game to be involved in.”

Originally published as Broncomania sweeps Brisbane as coach Kevin Walters backs team to ride wave of support