Broncos captain Adam Reynolds has declared under-siege coach Kevin Walters is the only man to orchestrate another salvage mission, after the glamour club’s season was officially brought to an end.
Brisbane’s 40-6 capitulation against the Dolphins ended any chance of squeezing into the finals, with a clash with Melbourne still to come – a far cry from the performance that made them grand finalists last year.
Six straight defeats throughout the State of Origin period shattered their prospects, and in six of their past 12 outings they have conceded at least 30 points, putting Walters under the blowtorch.
While Walters inherited a squad coming off a wooden spoon and took them within a Nathan Cleary masterclass of a title, Brisbane does not tolerate failure and the heat will be on after three missed finals campaigns in four years.
Reynolds, however, declared Walters still had the dressing room.
“I’ve never seen anyone more passionate about the club. I don’t believe there’s another man for the job,” Reynolds said.
“We believe in him and he’s done a fantastic job. I will back Kev whenever I need to.”
The numbers behind the fall
For a second straight season, the Broncos have committed more errors than any side. Last year, however, they displayed a defensive resolve to make amends and had the attack clicking to overturn those mistakes.
In 2023, Brisbane scored more tries and made more linebreaks than any team.
They played with energy, coming up with the third most support plays, fourth most decoy runs and second most offloads, and ran with such vigour that only the premiership-winning Panthers finished with more post-contact metres, tackle busts and total run metres.
Everyone on the field was moving with purpose.
This year, the strengths which unleashed their arsenal faded, and they shot themselves in the foot with the competition’s worst set completion rate (76 per cent).
Their mistakes often directly conceded points – defeats to Cronulla and the Gold Coast the leading examples – and they lacked the same intent to fight back.
But when asked if too many players were just waiting for someone to produce magic, Walters replied, “I don’t agree with that.”
And Reynolds dismissed suggestions the side had bought too much into their hype.
“It’s completely irrelevant to last year. A lot of people keep drawing it back to that, but it’s a different team,” Reynolds said.
“Everyone on the outside’s got opinions, but the opinions have come from people who aren’t even down here watching training or within the four walls.
“We’ve been leaking way too many points, but we’re not last year’s team. Every season’s a new season and different scenarios get tossed up.
“We faced a bit of adversity, but we should be good enough to defend those errors.”
Injuries and recruitment
When asked if he regretted losing grand final quartet Thomas Flegler, Kurt Capewell, Herbie Farnworth and Keenan Palasia, Walters replied, “that’s not a discussion for today”.
As for whether they needed a roster overhaul: “We’ll look at that at the end of the year ... [but] I don’t think that’s the problem.”
There were few recruitment moves Brisbane could make to replace the departing class. Lucrative extensions were tabled to Payne Haas, Ezra Mam and Pat Carrigan, while Reece Walsh, Kotoni Staggs and Selwyn Cobbo are free agents from November 1.
Then the injury carnage kicked in, something the Broncos avoided in 2023 as their grand final starting team all featured in at least 20 games.
Jesse Arthars, Haas, Walsh, Mam, Cobbo and Reynolds all missed significant chunks of this season, impacting the side’s cohesion without the same quality cavalry to replace them.
But the salary cap will only allow for so much wiggle room, and Reynolds said he was in no position to say whether personnel changes were needed.
“I believe in the club we’ve got,” Reynolds said.
“We had a completely different season last year, we didn’t have the same amount of injuries or distractions away from the field. You can use that as an excuse, but for us, we just simply weren’t good enough this year.
“We can draw on a bit of the hurt that we’re feeling. It’s going to be a long preseason, and it’s one we’re going to need to go through.”
The future
It should be remembered how young this Brisbane squad is. The average age is roughly 24 – a figure boosted by veterans Reynolds (34), Martin Taupau (34) and Jordan Pereira (31).
Last year the Broncos had the luxury of being able to blood young talent at opportune times. This year, Xavier Willison, Brendan Piakura, Deine Mariner and Josiah Karapani were thrown into the furnace.
They will get the chance to build on that platform, given Brisbane have currently only lost Tristan Sailor (St Helens) and Jordan Pereira (retirement) for 2025.
“They belong in that arena,” Broncos veteran Corey Jensen said.
“Xavier’s been a big one, he’s played a lot of games this year – probably more games that he thought – and he’s been outstanding and held his own.
“They always say as a middle forward you tend to find your feet a little bit longer than the outside backs, and you hit your potential later on in your career.
“They’re probably five more years from hitting their straps, but they’ve been outstanding this year and are only going to be better next year.”
Sydney Morning Herald
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