SAM Thaiday is a fan favourite up in Queensland, and it’s easy to see why.
The man whose personality is as big as his hair has won supporters for his laid-back nature and ability to turn matches in both attack and defence.
Everyone who came to Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night cheering for the home team would have left happy after the Broncos thrashed the Dragons 26-0, and it was Thaiday who would have picked up a few more admirers.
Speaking in a post-match interview with Channel 9’s Brad Fittler, he showed he might be able to pursue a career as a stand up comic once his playing days are over. It all started when Fittler asked how he managed to fall over when he got the ball off the kick off.
“I tripped over my own shoelaces. I went to run and I felt it, my tags got caught in my shoelaces and I fell over,” said Thaiday.
“I’m a bit clumsy sometimes, like a baby giraffe.”
If that was the warm up, his best material came when the premiership-winning five-eighth asked him about being denied a try when he was held up over the line.
“It was like almost losing your virginity. That’s what it was like. I was so close but I didn’t get there.”
“Just doesn’t count?” asked Fittler
“Nah it doesn’t count,” replied Thaiday.
While he could have so easily talked about everything his side did right in their victory, he had the humility to direct one line at the St George fans who had just seen their team fail to score a point for the second match in a row.
“Thanks to all of our members and all of our fans who showed up tonight, and all the St George supporters too. Stay strong, stick by your team, they’ll come good,” said Thaiday.
Funny and classy — well played Sam.
"Like a baby giraffe," @samthaiday.#NRLBroncosDragons#NRL https://t.co/L36IHcHggb
— NRL (@NRL) April 7, 2016
The Broncos barely moved out of first gear on Thursday night but did more than enough to demonstrate the huge chasm in class between themselves and the error-riddled Dragons in front of 29,869 fans.
It is the first time an NRL team hasn’t scored in consecutive matches since Cronulla’s three-match drought in 2014.
And this Dragons loss can’t be blamed on Benji Marshall, the veteran halfback who was in the gun after their nightmare loss last weekend to North Queensland.
Marshall was a late withdrawal for the Dragons due to a hamstring strain he picked up in the Cowboys match, and his teammates were unable to ignite their attack in his absence. It is Brisbane’s fifth win of the year, third in a row and puts them clear on top of the ladder above second-placed Melbourne, who host Canterbury on Monday.
Coming off a tough five-day turnaround, the Dragons completed just nine of their 17 sets in the first half and were fortunate to go into the sheds only 12-0 down.
Corey Oates opened the scoring for Brisbane just three minutes in as the recipient of a mesmerising cut-out ball from the in-form Anthony Milford.
A Corey Parker penalty soon afterwards gave Brisbane a 6-0 lead, and then Alex Glenn slammed down a grubber from Ben Hunt in the 29th minute to widen the margin.
Even when the Dragons did generate openings, they were discovering brand new methods of self-sabotage.
Lock Jack de Belin looked certain to end a two-week wait for a St George Illawarra try when he brought two Brisbane defenders with him over the line in the 18th minute, but replays showed his own arm was stopping him from grounding the ball.
Then early in the second half, winger Peter Mata’utia was played into a yawning gap just three metres out from the line — only to infuriate Dragons fans further by knocking on.
The Broncos duly made them pay as heavy legs began taking over late in the match, with Milford scoring in spectacular style right on the dead ball line in the 72nd minute, before a Hunt flick pass unleashed Jordan Kahu two minutes later.
— with AAP
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