NRL: Henjak leadership boosts the Broncos

Ivan Henjak has remained unruffled by criticism. Photo / Getty Images

Two more wins and rookie Brisbane coach Ivan Henjak will have pulled off the premiership that two months ago seemed impossible.

Granted, the Bulldogs' effort to come from wooden spoon holders to premiers would be a remarkable success story for another NRL rookie Kevin Moore. And nobody would deny Daniel Anderson his due should Parramatta complete a Lazarus-like comeback after losing nine of 12 games mid-season.

But Henjak's story is a vastly different one.

His quest was written off by many before a tackle was made or a try scored in 2009.

To walk in after Wayne Bennett - arguably the greatest coach the game has produced - and win a premiership first-up under that kind of pressure not only required someone with a lot of character, but also immense courage and a belief in themselves and his players.

Brisbane had released some handy players - Ben Hannant, Michael Ennis, David Stagg and Greg Eastwood for starters, players so good they've helped the Bulldogs turn their fortunes around in just one season.

It meant as Henjak stepped into the hottest coaching job in the country several of the club's best players were walking out the door in the opposite direction.

Added to the high expectations that come with coaching Brisbane was the speculation over the future of international fullback Karmichael Hunt and young prop Dave Taylor.

Henjak was not fazed by any of it, nor was he psyched out by the thought of replacing Bennett - an intimidating task for an experienced coach - let alone a rookie.

Bennett's legacy was six premierships and 17 successive finals.

So, when the wheels fell off and the critics came after Henjak and Brisbane following their embarrassing 56-0 loss to Canberra on August 1, even hardened Broncos fans questioned whether they could make the finals.

But they have, managing to keep their proud record of making every finals series since 1991 alive, for which four-time premiership winning prop Shane Webcke believes Henjak deserves credit.

"Nobody can say Ivan Henjak's first year in charge of the Broncos has been a failure, quite the contrary, he's done a magnificent job to pull them out of the fire they were in," said Webcke.

"Regardless of what happens down there [Melbourne], Ivan's first year should be deemed a success.

"I really admired the way that during all that turmoil, publicly at least in his outer facade, he never really cracked."

A tough, non-nonsense bushie from Toowoomba who never rated himself too highly despite reaching great heights, Webcke laid the platform for Brisbane's premiership wins in 1997-98, 2000 and 2006 when he retired.

He was part of Brisbane's coaching staff at the beginning of the season, but he voluntarily sacked himself over his controversial views in his candid book Warhorse about the Broncos' handling of a nightclub incident in 2008. Webcke, who played 254 games for Brisbane, is not as close to the Broncos these days but he knows what can happen when players experience dark times.

"I'm not as aligned to the side as I used to be but Ivan obviously never let them turn on each other which is what happens when you have weak leadership," he said.

"You get fragmented, people start pointing fingers and blaming other people. Obviously Ivan didn't let that happen otherwise they would not have got out of it and be playing so well deep into the finals. That's a terrific effort.

"It shows not only what a quality person Ivan is but also what a good coach he is going to make."

- AAP