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WALLY Lewis, the first Broncos captain sacked, says Sam Thaiday's leadership was not to blame for the club's worst ever season.
Thaiday was relieved of the Brisbane captaincy on Friday, 24 years after the King was dethroned by Wayne Bennett.
Lewis, Queensland's greatest ever player, was dumped as Broncos skipper in October of 1989 despite being the incumbent Origin and Test captain, replaced by Gene Miles. It remains the biggest shock in the club's history.
Fast-forward nearly a quarter of a century and Thaiday's axing, while nowhere near as seismic as that of Lewis, has again rattled the club.
Lewis feels for Thaiday, knowing as few others would how gutted Big Sam would be.
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And while he has a high opinion of Anthony Griffin as a person and coach, the King of Queensland football admits he was left bemused that the Broncos hope to arrest their form slump by having a different player leading them down the tunnel.
"I don't think Thaiday's leadership last year was the problem for the Broncos," Lewis told The Sunday Mail.
"His individual form wasn't helped by what was going on at the Broncos.
"They were changing things around and I don't think playing in the front row helped him, but that is the coach's decision.
"People start looking for excuses and blame in times like that and it is unfortunate Sam has to deal with that because he had a fairly handy year.
"Whenever he played for Queensland or Australia he was sensational.
"I find it difficult to see a reason why Sam (is no longer the captain), I mean surely he couldn't be blamed.
"However, when you are steering the ship you are often questioned when you don't pull into the right port.
"I'm sure Sam, while he won't like it … this will give him a direct challenge to make him play better."
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Griffin used hard evidence in the form of statistics to show Thaiday that he performed best when he was not captain of the team.
Similarly, Bennett stood before the club's board 24 years ago and used a series of graphs to show how Lewis's form fell away after the representative season.
Lewis broke his arm before the '89 season while playing for Australia, and it affected his form which ultimately led to Bennett's decision.
Thaiday was forced to play in the front row for 14 of his 21 club games last year and it severely affected his form.
Lewis was initially reluctant to revisit one of the most painful periods of his life when contacted by The Sunday Mail about his axing as Broncos captain.
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While he has alluded to the incident previously, he refused to discuss it directly until now.
"I have broken the rule. This is the first time I have spoken about it since that time," Lewis said.
"As soon as you called I knew what you would ask.
"Mate, it wasn't the best time.
"It is certainly not the favourite day of your life.
"I broke my arm that year. So when I had a bad season it was an extremely bad season.
"If this is the coach's decision - as it was Bennett's decision - then Hook (Griffin) will hang his hat on this.
"One way or another, the change in leadership will get marked.
"If there is success, then a lot of people will question whether it could have happened without changing captains.
"It is a massive challenge for Hook. He is one of the game's great gentleman though, and he will hang his hat on this and be prepared to blame himself if it doesn't work."
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