‘I am the banana man’: Broncos bend it like Flegler

Joel Gould | September 1, 2023

Brisbane fans toasted popular prop Thomas Flegler with raised bananas against Melbourne and the fiery forward embraced it by bending his back and leading the team with distinction.

The 24-year-old hails from a banana farming family in Tully in Queensland’s north. He captained the side and wore the No.8 in the 32-22 loss to Melbourne on Thursday night in what was his last regular-season match with the club before joining the Dolphins next year.

His house mate was behind a ‘Bananas Up for Flegs’ campaign where supporters were asked to bring bananas and hold them aloft in the eighth minute.

“He’s actually sleeping on the lawn tonight. Just joking,” Flegler said of his friend.

“He started it, but it’s definitely worked out for the better now.

“So, I am the banana man.

“I guess the stars just aligned and it started out as a joke, but everyone jumped on board with it.”

There were fans in the crowd dressed up as bananas as well. Flegler went bananas on the field and had a superb game. He came off after 23 minutes with what appeared to be a foot injury but brushed that aside and went back out.

“I didn’t come off with injury. I was a bit gassed. I just had to put a bit more strapping on and I was good. No injuries,” he said.

“It was awesome. Not too many people get to be captain of such a renowned club like the Broncos so it was really special. I am all good for next week. I learnt a lot out of that game. We started well but we didn’t finish that well. We got beaten by a better side.

“Obviously we didn’t get the win, but it was a great learning curve.”

Brisbane, temporarily in first until Penrith play North Queensland on Saturday, will host two NRL finals starting with next week against either the Warriors or Storm.

“Extremely exciting to have a home final,” Flegler said.

“Obviously, there’s going to be a little bit of outside pressure, but we’ll just stay in our little bubble and prepare like it’s another game.

“Things need to go up another notch, seeing there’s a lot on the line but I’m confident if we have a good week of training it can put us in good stead to help us win the game.”