After his side fell in an upset loss against the Gold Coast Titans, Broncos centre Herbie Farnworth was determined not to be undone another Queensland rival this weekend.
On Saturday, Farnworth will face off against his future club when the Broncos host the Dolphins at the Gabba in the first of their three games at their temporary new home ground, with the FIFA Women’s World Cup requiring the relocation.
“The boys are pretty upset about this one, but we will chalk it off and I think all the boys will be pretty keen to play the Gabba against next week,” Farnworth told pan66.com after the loss to the Titans.
“Obviously, I have never played there before, so, it'll be cool going there, it’ll be interesting. I'm sure there'll be a good turnout and I always love playing in Brisbane, so it will be good one.
“We'll show up thinking it's going to be a tough battle, but hopefully if we play some good footy and we can put some points on.
“The boys are confident, but we have to go again after this week.”
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In Brisbane’s loss to the Gold Coast, Farnworth was a solid performer with 157 metres run and a line break, but he and the rest of the team were disappointed by their effort, with coach Kevin Walters going so far as to question the attitude of his players leading into the match.
After impressively building up their season with 11 wins, the Titans game was the first time the Broncos have come off a bye, with Farnworth saying they would need to work on starting better in the future.
“We've got into a good flow of things and been week-in, week-out and just started playing decent footy, but I think the past couple of weeks, we sort of haven't been at our best and it's finally got us in the end,” Farnworth said.
“We'll go back to the drawing board, it's only one game and we'll be better next week for the clash of Brisbane. Obviously, we have another bye after next week, so we have to get better after the bye and come in and start training harder.”
The challenge for the Broncos became harder this week with injuries ruling out both in-form forward Jordan Riki and Thomas Flegler who is also making his way to the Dolphins next year. Star fullback Reece Walsh has also been ruled out of this match, after being handed a three-match ban for contrary conduct.
Forwards combining for try
Despite their recent hurdles, the Broncos are still firmly on track for a top four finish, with Farnworth saying he was focused on the here and now, despite being a big signing for this weekend’s rivals for the 2024 season.
“I've not even thought about going next year yet, so, I'm a full Bronco until I leave,” Farnworth said.
“I want to do something special this year with this team. We've got a really special group and we have got pretty high aims this year, so hopefully we can win the competition. This week's been a little bit of a speed bump but I'm sure we'll bounce back."