With a sold out crowd expected and playing for pride in his jersey and for his culture, Broncos leader Kotoni Staggs said motivation was high to face the Warriors.
A proud Wiradjuri man, Staggs said playing at home at Suncorp Stadium for Indigenous Round added a special layer of meaning to play well - not just for himself but for his community.
“I love taking part in these games and they're very special to myself because I'm not only representing myself, I'm representing my family and my community as well back home," Staggs said.
“I always stand proud and stand tall for who I am and where I come from.
“I carry that with me no matter where I go, I'll make sure that people know that I am a very proud Indigenous man, a Wiradjuri boy as well and I'm always proud of where I come from and who I am as well.”
As well as being part of this special round, Staggs said despite it being a “frustrating” season where they could not mount a title defence following last year's stunning premiership victory, the squad were working hard to send out some club legends as winners.
Representative forward Payne Haas is leaving to rejoin Wayne Bennett at the Rabbitohs while captain Adam Reynolds, who is set to miss a number of weeks with a calf injury suffered at training this week, is hanging up the boots.
“We look at our games, what we could have done here, what we could have done there,” Staggs said of being out of finals contention.
“It's very sad not getting to where we wanted to get to in the finals again and chasing another trophy.
“But at the end of the day, we've got four more games left and we've got players that aren’t going to be with us next year and we want to send them off on a high.
“Reyno’s retiring, Payne's leaving and what Payne's done for this club, he deserves to be sent off with a few wins under his belt, so we're going to do everything we can to get the wins for them.
“We're still not going to give up, we've got things to play for and we'd love to be playing for another grand final, but we've still got other things to do.”
Coach Michael Maguire said the side were looking forward to the occasion ahead, with many of his younger players also set to give a glimpse into the club’s future next year.
In the absence of Reynolds, Tom Duffy is partnering Ezra Mam in the halves, while rising forward Va'a (VJ) Semu gets another opportunity from the bench the impress.
“They've been upbeat and ripping in training," Maguire said.
“Obviously, they know the task that's in front of us and we're playing against a high-quality team, so the boys are looking forward to a really good clash.
“Tommy's jumped in. I've said that earlier in many of these press conferences that I've been really impressed with Tommy.
“He grabs the team, he knows what he wants, so I'm really looking forward to him growing each game that he plays.
“Every time I see him train with the group, he's getting better and better, so looking forward to having that into the future and obviously VJ, he's growing in himself as well.
“When you're in the middle of the park, it's a pretty tough position to play.
“You learn things and he's obviously got people like Payne and Patty and those guys around to be able to learn from.”
The Broncos play as part of a double header at Suncorp Stadium with the club's NRLW team taking on the Roosters in the top-of-the-table clash.
Match: Broncos v Warriors
Round 24 -
home Team
Broncos
16th Position
away Team
Warriors
3rd Position
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
