LONDON BRONCOS coach Mike Eccles has told his makeshift team to take real heart from their spirited tilt at Toulouse.
The survival-seeking capital side might have lost 24-16 at Stade Ernest Wallon, where an 18-14 win on their previous visit, for the Championship Grand Final of 2023, sent them up to Super League.
The Broncos’ various challenges since then have been well chronicled, and now Eccles is working to steer up the table a side put together against the backdrop of a tight budget and limited time in the wake of the loss of top-flight status and owner David Hughes’ backing.
While there are hopes of an injection of fresh finances, the team chief knows wins are needed sooner rather than later if there if there is to be an escape from involvement in the planned ‘eights’, which at this stage will determine the final make-up of the bottom two of the three divisions for next year.
“I thought the performance was a massive step forward,” said Eccles, who handed a debut to centre Brandon Webster-Mansfield and brought back another Australian, halfback Connor O’Beirne, after injury.
“It was a genuine building block, because we matched a very good team for the most part.
“Three of their (four tries) were off kicks, and defensively, we were only compromised once in terms of our systems.
“There was a massive effort in terms of application of the game plan, and having spoken about how we could get at them and trouble them, we carried that through.
“Having Connor back really helped us offensively, and for large parts of the match, I thought we were the better side. Now we have to build on the performance.”
Having had their second bye round of the year, the Broncos have twelve regular-season fixture remaining, starting with Sunday’s visit to Hunslet.
After that come to ‘on the road’ home games at Ebbsfleet United Football Club, against Halifax and Doncaster.