NRL Almanac: The Wonder Years
I loved The Wonder Years growing up. For whatever reason, other kids making the simple things in life seem quite difficult resonated strongly. Kevin Arnold was neither especially cool nor especially outcast by the social set – after all, anyone who could date Winnie Cooper was doing alright for himself. His regular sidekick Paul Pfeiffer was a different story though. Paul was the nerd of nerds. He struggled with popularity, with women, with sports… frankly, it would be easier to list the aspects of life which weren't a trial for poor old Paul.
In season four, one episode featured their high school basketball tryouts. Amazingly, Paul made the team. Kevin, being Kevin, could not comprehend this and tried to prove to Paul that he was not good enough to gain a spot on Coach Cutlip's team. One-on-one home games of hoops were always Kevin's domain, racking up 790 straight wins against his bespectacled best friend. But with his ire sufficiently drawn out, Paul broke the duck and put one over his once dominant opponent. Kevin finally acknowledged that his friend may have some talent and switched to the role of ardent supporter. Everyone learned a life lesson, as would appear to be required by law for all episodes of TV shows aimed at children.
The first 16 games between the Cowboys and Broncos failed to yield a single victory for the Townsville faithful. They were becoming the Paul to Brisbane's Kevin. Four wins in the next six encounters started to balance the ledger, before the Broncos bounced back and won eight of the next nine. Entering 2012, the overall head to head record stood at Brisbane 24, North Queensland 5, drawn 2. Only the defunct Bears (no wins in five games) and Reds (no wins in four games) had proved more troublesome for the Cowboys. Even after 17 season in the competition, 'big brother' continued to dictate terms.
In 2012 though, the Paul Pfeiffer-esque Cowboys looked a premiership contender, just missing out on a coveted top four position and beating Brisbane twice along the way. The Broncos stumbled into eighth, winning just one of their final seven games. For once, the Broncos looked eminently beatable; to the point where I didn't hesitate to lay the 6.5 points start for my boys.
They didn't disappoint, making all of the early running and racing out to an 18-0 lead at the main break. Josh Hoffman had made some costly mistakes at the back and the home side had made them pay, as good sides are wont to do. The Broncos threatened to make a charge in the second half, closing the score to 18-6 before a penalty goal and try seemed to put the match beyond doubt at 26-6. Brisbane refused to go quietly and banged on two quick tries of their own to put my bet in jeopardy at 26-16, but the third and final try to Mick Morgan snuffed out any hope for both the visitors and my friendly bookie.
The final siren also ushered in the retirement of Petero Civoniceva. Such a fine stalwart of the front row 'engine room' for club, state and country over many years deserved a better curtain call, but only the chosen few are lucky enough to conclude their career with a victory lap on Grand Final day. His career encapsulated plenty of glory days for both the Broncos and Maroons (less so the Panthers), so it was difficult to feel especially sorry for him.
Defeating Manly in Sydney next weekend may be a far more challenging proposition, but irrespective of that outcome, I'll always look back on 2012 as a season where 'Kevin' had little choice but to tip his lid and concede that he was beaten fair and square on the day.
North Queensland 33 (Morgan 3, Bowen, Tate tries; Thurston 6/7 goals; Bowen field goal)
Brisbane 16 (Norman, Thaiday, Copley tries; Wallace 2/2 goals)
Crowd: 21,307
Votes: 3- Matthew Bowen (NQ), 2- Matthew Scott (NQ), 1- Michael Morgan (NQ)
