Darren Lockyer says the Broncos style "changes from week to week" and agrees with Billy Slater's assessment that the Red Hill team still hasn't figured out its identity.
Michael Maguire's men endured a rough patch of form before winning five games on the trot - and two byes along the way to boost their points tally - to sit sixth on the NRL ladder with only half a dozen rounds left in the season.
But a shock two-point loss to lowly Parramatta on Friday night has the critics coming back out of the woodwork to question the team that missed finals last year.
On Nine's The Billy Slater Podcast on Monday, the Queensland coach said the Broncos don't "understand who they are and what they're trying to do".
Club legend Lockyer couldn't argue.
"I get what he's saying, because if you ask people 'How do the Broncos play?' people would struggle to answer it, because it changes from week to week," Lockyer said on Wide World of Sports' QLDER.
"We talk about Reece (Walsh) running it; you look at the (other) players there - Ezra Mam, Ben Hunt at hooker - I think if they have that mentality, particularly those two, of running the ball more, creating some ruck speed, and just play off the back of that rather than have set plays all the time.
"You need to try build momentum and create space, create opportunity and play off the back of that.
"If you go back to that first half against the Bulldogs at Suncorp (in round eight), when they blitzed them, that's the blueprint - drop your forwards under, keep ploughing down the middle of the field, make them tackle and wait for the opportunities to come."
Glamour fullback Walsh has been targeted most in the days since Parramatta's shock win.
While he's known for being one of the most entertaining players in the game, he has a habit of making errors with the ball and on Friday night he bizarrely let an Eels bomb bounce which directly led to a try.
He's been accused of looking for the big play too often, and Lockyer agrees the gun No.1 needs to rein in his attack.
"I think it's just simplifying your game," Lockyer said of Walsh.
"As a fullback you have to think run first. You've got to have a focus on getting the ball on the full as much as you can, so positional play is important. Get back into the defensive line as quick as you can - (Penrith fullback) Dylan Edwards does that really well, and Connor Tracey at the Bulldogs does the same thing.
"When you're coming out of trouble, just to simplify it, just follow your forwards. Just be ready for an offload or push up with your forwards.
"Then when you get into good ball, do the same thing early in the set but then come out to the edges later in the tackle count, and think run first - I think Reece thinks he has to come up with that magic pass.
"Just run first and wait until it presents itself.
"When you look at the try he set up for Billy Walters, if he's hanging around the ruck area and he gets an offload that is what he's capable of doing. So having a mindset around attacking the middle of the field first with your running game and then looking to spread it."
The Broncos have a relatively easy run home, taking on the struggling Rabbitohs, Knights, and Cowboys, as well as the hot-and-cold Dolphins.
They do, though, face the Storm twice in the space of five weeks.
WWOS
