BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

It is a lifetime from the days of the imperious Brisbane Broncos of the 1990’s and 2000’s under Wayne Bennett and a cavalcade of superstars but on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium the Broncos found their spirit. If nothing else, their victory against Gold Coast Titans was for their fans.

At full-time, with the crowd roaring, Broncos legends Petero Civoneciva and Allan Langer shared a joke on the sidelines. Fellow Maroons icon Steve Walters, brother of coach Kevin, was there too. You couldn’t steal the smile of big Petero’s face.

Who cares what happens next week.

The Broncos fired up and dragged themselves back from an impossible 22-0 deficit.

You could count on one hand how many people in rugby league cared about Brisbane’s woes in recent times.

They have dominated the sport and won so many premierships that rival supporters started to enjoy how badly they were going.

But on Friday at Lang Park, the Broncos found their ego again.

And everyone actually enjoyed it.

It’s been painful watching the new coach trying to get the best out of this team.

But he got it tonight.

It may not last long but it had the most anti-Bronco viewers pumping their fists in front of televisions across Australia.

Good on ’em.

Rugby league is about the underdog.

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And the Broncos are exactly that.

But it wouldn’t have happened without a battler from Redcliffe that didn’t even start his NRL career at Red Hill.

From the moment new halfback Tyson Gamble ran onto the field, you knew he was up to something. You could see it on his face. This was his chance and he was taking no prisoners.

On his first clearing kick, Titan Jarrod Wallace came through and gave him a bit of hassle. Gamble fought back and wrestled the big forward off him. Later, in the thick of things again, he got Gold Coast flyer AJ Brimson sin-binned. But that wasn’t enough. He got up and gave it to Brimson.

Much better than what we’ve seen from the robotic Brodie Croft and Anthony Milford so far in 2021.

But back to Gamble.

The Brisbane boy who had to drag himself to Wests Tigers in Sydney for a game.

He got one and that was in 2018.

Thank heavens he went home.

On Friday night at Suncorp, he gave the Broncos a bit of spice. The kind of attitude you would have seen from Justin Hodges or Wendell Sailor back in the day. Gamble knew this was his big shot and he slam dunked it. The Broncos are a long way from where they should be but Gamble reminded the club of what they should be.

Then there was fullback Jamayne Isaako.

What about his night?

It started at Centrelink and ended on yacht with Jeff Bezos – sipping champagne from a diamond-studded boot.

Everybody should be happy for Kevin Walters and the Broncos tonight.

@woodward_curtis