By HARRY CLARKE
IT’S taken only one game for Charleville product Kurt Capewell to deliver heroics for his dream NRL club, captaining the Brisbane Broncos to a first round upset against last year’s grand finalists and sealing the deal with a stunning field goal in the dying minutes.
With star recruit and newly appointed captain Adam Reynolds out with illness, it was Capewell who was appointed to lead the Broncos onto Suncorp Stadium last night for the opening fixture against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Even Queensland legend and league commentator Cameron Smith wrote Brisbane off before the game, but when asked by the Caller this morning whether he thought his battling Broncos could overcome the dominant Bunnies, Capewell simply laughed.
“Of course I did mate,” he said.
“We put in a lot of work in the off season. You can get a lot of confidence and belief out of your training, and the boys have been on fire at training.
“It’s good to see all our hard work pay off and good to put in a good performance.”
Broncos bible The Courier-Mail gave Capewell the highest ranking for the Brisbane Broncos team alongside half back Albert Kelly, with a score of 8/10 for overall performance last night.
He “tackled himself to a standstill” and “threw a lovely ball for an Oates try”, analyst Greg Davis wrote.
But it was Capewell’s sudden and stunning field goal with four minutes left on the clock, putting the Broncos virtually beyond defeat with a lead of 11 points to 4, which made him last night’s standout player.
WATCH: Kurt Capewell’s stunning field goal; for the Brisbane Broncos
“It was pretty sweet. I don’t think I could have hit it much better,” Capewell told the Caller.
“I’ve watched it back about a thousand times now and I still can’t believe it went through, so I’m very lucky.
“Not too much went through my head. First of all I just had to pick the ball up and not knock it on. I always had ‘kick’ in my brain, whether to cross field kick or go for the field goal, but instincts just told me ‘the field goal’.”
The Caller chronicled Capewell’s rise from Charleville kid to Maroons Origin star after the towering utility forward shone for Queensland in his Maroons debut at Adelaide in 2020.
He comes from a proud and successful sporting family, much of which is still based in south west Queensland, and said he visited home as recently as last weekend before his Broncos debut.
Murweh Shire Council mayor Shaun Radnedge has even unofficially changed the name of Charleville to Kurtville in celebration of the town’s proudest rugby league export.
“Every Queensland kid grows up watching the Broncos and supporting the Broncos in a way,” Capewell said.
“I played here in Under-20s, so to come back and lace up in the NRL was an amazing opportunity, and to captain them as well was very special.”
