IN 2006, Darren Lockyer led Brisbane to a premiership, Queensland to State of Origin glory and Australia to victory in the Tri-Nations final.
But those were achievements the only current star named among the game's greatest 100 players couldn't envisage at the start of that season as he struggled to come back from a broken foot.
The scenario this time around is similar - Lockyer is returning from a serious knee injury which wrecked his and the club's title defence last year - and the skipper's recollection of the Broncos' 36-4 thrashing by North Queensland in the 2006 season-opener prompted Wayne Bennett to start his captain on the bench for the first time since 1996 yesterday.
Their opponents were expected to be much improved on the side that finished with last year's wooden spoon, but did little to inspire hope after crashing to a seven-tries-to-two defeat.
Even worse for the Panthers was the fact the Broncos played the majority of the match a man short on the interchange bench after losing prop Joel Clinton with a grade-two medial ligament tear in his left knee. Brisbane's other signing from Penrith, Peter Wallace, was impressive at halfback and called the shots until Lockyer finally graced the Suncorp Stadium turf in the 20th minute.
"I was pretty nervous," Lockyer said after his first appearance of the year following a knee reconstruction last July. "In 2006, when I came back from a broken foot, I probably wasn't ready because I hadn't played in any trials and my fitness wasn't great - so today, the coach thought it was best I start off the bench, and that probably was the best way to do it.
"I learnt my lesson in 2006. We had a bad day here and I guess I wasn't ready for 80 minutes of football. It was just about easing myself back into it. It's still going to take a few weeks … it's not going to happen in one game. But once you get the football in your hands or you make that first tackle, it's pretty much second nature after that … and all of those little doubts are pretty much gone now."
With the Broncos ahead 8-6 when he was thrust into the action, Lockyer had an almost immediate impact and laid on two tries as well as scoring one himself.
Wallace was in awe of his scrum-base partner after playing alongside him for the first time. "It was unreal, he's a gun," Wallace said. "As soon as he came on, he had an influence on the game. I thought we played pretty well together and we'll only get better."
Having made a successful return, Lockyer said he was now full of confidence about his fitness - but Bennett cautioned: "There's 23 games in front of us so I've still got a lot of nerves and apprehension."
But aside from the loss of Clinton, who is expected to be out for a month, the signs were all good for the Broncos, and the other newcomers - Wallace, Ashton Sims, PJ Marsh and Reece Robinson - all had strong games.
In addition, winger Darius Boyd finished with a hat-trick of tries, while second-rower Corey Parker scored 24 points from a try and 10 goals - the most kicked by a Brisbane player in the club's history.
"I don't think anyone expected us to be as sharp as we were today - least of all us," Bennett said. "[But] they've come together as a group and they wanted to go out there and play for each other."
Penrith coach Matthew Elliott was also surprised by the performance of his side - but for different reasons.
After fighting back from an early 8-0 deficit with a 15th-minute Nathan Smith try, the Panthers lost their way when Greg Eastwood scored off a Wallace grubber and Boyd crossed for an 80-metre intercept try 10 minutes later.
Lockyer extended the 22-6 half-time lead when he put Justin Hodges into a gap and backed up to score in the 45th minute, and later left no doubt about his fitness with a 40-20 kick that led to Boyd's third try in the 63rd.
"We certainly didn't see it coming and it certainly didn't reflect the way we prepared," Elliott said.
Asked what he would say to Penrith supporters who feared their team was in for another tough season, Elliott said: "I can understand where they are coming from, but we have discussed that with the boys and it's not that, 'Here we go again' syndrome. I remain confident."
