Fox Sports Lab: Brisbane’s brilliant attack is led by departing centre Herbie Farnworth

In the opening two rounds of the NRL, the Broncos have scored the third-most tries and have scored more tries from kicks than any other team.

Brisbane has shown they’re willing to take chances to unlock sides renowned for their defence like the Panthers and Cowboys. With 12 attacking kicks per game (the second-most in the competition), using the silky feet of Adam Reynolds is going to be a key tactic.

While occasionally that results in errors – with nine per game, they average the second-most in the NRL – every so often it creates something spectacular.

Being steadfast in defence has given them more opportunity to play expansive attacking footy.

Across the final six rounds of last season, as the Broncos tumbled out of finals contention, they conceded an average of 35 points a game. Against the Panthers and Cowboys, they have more than halved that figure, conceding just 14 points on average.

The Broncos haven’t changed many other things about the way they attack. For the key stats such as run metres, line breaks, offloads and tackles in the red zone, they sit around the middle of the competition in each category.

Centre stage

One of the highlights for the Broncos to start 2023 has been the form of Herbie Farnworth at left centre.

He missed half of last season after rupturing his biceps muscle in June.

The Englishman has scored two tries and run for more than 135 metres against both the Panthers and Cowboys, two strong defensive sides.

It will be the final season Farnworth plays in a Broncos jersey after signing a deal to join the Dolphins in 2024.

However, his fast start this year poses the question whether Brisbane should have put up more of a fight to keep the 23-year-old, particularly as Kotoni Staggs has had a slight drop-off in form over the past 12 months.

Since the start of 2022, Farnworth has scored double the tries of Staggs, despite playing 11 fewer matches.

He also has four more runs per game on average, running for nearly 40 metres more per match. That yardage can be invaluable for the Broncos, particularly when they’re working the ball out from their end.

Farnworth also averages 39 post-contact metres per game in the past two years and has a quarter of the errors of Staggs.

The reason for Farnworth’s dominance so far this year is the Broncos have preferred to attack down their left edge.

No team has scored more than Brisbane’s five tries through the left channel to start 2023. They’ve only scored one try down the right channel.

With the combinations in their spine between Reece Walsh, Ezra Mam and Reynolds continuing to grow, they will likely keep going left and find Farnworth with room to move.

However, there are areas where Staggs’ bigger build benefits Brisbane.

The one-time NSW representative gets through more work in defence, averaging seven more tackles per match. In their first two games, the Broncos are yet to concede a try down Staggs’ channel with Selwyn Cobbo.

Staggs also offloads the ball more frequently, creating opportunities for the players around him.

Keeping it up

Despite their fast start, there are key areas that the Broncos need to clean up to become even more potent going forward.

At 21.3 tackles inside the opposition’s 20 metres per try, they have the second-worst red zone conversion rate in the competition. They’re getting the ball into positive attacking scenarios regularly but need to slow things down to make sure they convert.

They also have the worst average in the competition for kicks that go dead. It’s a small sample size over two rounds, but it’s an easy area to improve.