'Success poisoned the well': NRL greats deliver verdict on awful Broncos season

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Matty Johns and Cooper Cronk have handed down a harsh verdict on the Brisbane Broncos disastrous season, with Johns saying their success in 2023 "poisoned the well."

After being minutes away from winning a Grand Final last year, many predicted the Broncos to kick on and be a premiership threat once again, yet they crashed and burned under the weight of expectation, injuries to key players and underperformance in many key areas.

Speaking on The Matty Johns Podcast, Johns said there would need to be an off-season of introspection at Red Hill if the Broncos are to ensure this awful season is a one off.

"The [2023] success, and the adulation and expectation that came with that success, poisoned the well," Johns said.

"As far as next season is concerned, the bottom line is they need a lot of self-assessment if they [are to] go anywhere."

Despite a couple of losses early on, the Broncos sat in the fairly comfortable position of 5th after 11 rounds, before a six game losing run (not including bye rounds) saw them tumble out of the eight and into a battle to make it to the finals.

Injuries played a big part - Reece Walsh, Adam Reynolds and Payne Haas all missed big chunks of the season - but their ultimate downfall was their defence, which conceded more than 600 points for just the third time in the clubs history.

Particularly galling were a 46-18 defeat to the Titans, and back-to-back losses against the Dolphins and Storm where they conceded 40 and 50 points respectively at the end of the season, with the former being a must win game to make the finals.

Cronk believes the defensive frailty and other issues within the way the squad played this year can be found in a loss of focus.

"You sit there and sift through the football reasons why [they lost] - attack, defence, discipline, errors - but the think that underpins that whole thing is I think the Broncos last year, individually and as a team had a laser focus to improve and get better," Cronk said.

"I don't think they had that this year, and that's ultimately why they missed out on finals.

"I don't think they worked hard enough individually to improve their game and ultimately collectively to do it."

The pair also discussed the mindsets of teams after losing Grand Finals, referencing how the Panthers rebounded to create a dynasty, and how South Sydney and Parramatta flopped badly after devastating losses in the big dance.

"There are two ways of thinking, you either go away filthy that you didn't win it, or you go off and say 'we didn't win it, but what a fantastic season', I think with the Broncos it was the latter," Johns said.

Cronk added: "Penrith got beaten by the Melbourne Storm in that Grand Final, and they came back that offseason, started working harder and look what they've done, they've improved every year.

"Parramatta got beaten in a Grand Final, and bang. Brisbane got beaten in the Grand Final, went bang. If they don't work work hard enough to improve [they will do the same]."

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Just started listening to the latest Matty Johns podcast with Cronk because of this thread and I've already been annoyed twice in 10 minutes. Firstly, claiming Ponga's game on the weekend was the best from a player in a losing team (Surely Ezra's GF game was better). And Matt just listed people in his greatest ever conversation and left out Lockyer. Disrespectful.

Ohh 11 minutes in I'm annoyed again. Johns is trying to say how much Melbourne loves League and how much the city embraces them. The Storm could exist literally anywhere else and get similar numbers to a game and probably have more juniors from their own state. The NRL never actually expanded to Victoria, they just put a team there and got them to take everyone else's players.
 
Just started listening to the latest Matty Johns podcast with Cronk because of this thread and I've already been annoyed twice in 10 minutes. Firstly, claiming Ponga's game on the weekend was the best from a player in a losing team (Surely Ezra's GF game was better). And Matt just listed people in his greatest ever conversation and left out Lockyer. Disrespectful.

Ohh 11 minutes in I'm annoyed again. Johns is trying to say how much Melbourne loves League and how much the city embraces them. The Storm could exist literally anywhere else and get similar numbers to a game and probably have more juniors from their own state. The NRL never actually expanded to Victoria, they just put a team there and got them to take everyone else's players.

I swear to god Matt Johns says exactly what the NRL tell him to say sometimes.
 
Good good keep it coming. It’s true every bit of it. Our players are entitled soft *****. That feel sorry for themselves when things aren’t perfect.
 
Just started listening to the latest Matty Johns podcast with Cronk because of this thread and I've already been annoyed twice in 10 minutes. Firstly, claiming Ponga's game on the weekend was the best from a player in a losing team (Surely Ezra's GF game was better). And Matt just listed people in his greatest ever conversation and left out Lockyer. Disrespectful.

Ohh 11 minutes in I'm annoyed again. Johns is trying to say how much Melbourne loves League and how much the city embraces them. The Storm could exist literally anywhere else and get similar numbers to a game and probably have more juniors from their own state. The NRL never actually expanded to Victoria, they just put a team there and got them to take everyone else's players.
Melbourne, as a Melbournian, don't care about rugby league. AFL is a religion here. ARL will never get a foothold in this state. In my 18 years of living within the CBD, it's a footnote on the news. Nobody cares about league in Victoria. Correct me if I'm wrong Sproj?

Everything else he said is 100%, Broncos can not defend. Leak points like Melbourne's weather. Structurally unsound club.
 
No one in Victoria cares one bit about the Storm. Melbournians do love sport though and so some will got to the game just for something to do but that's it. Numbers of fans will be bloated for the prelim because they will give away 2-1 tickets and because that weekend, there will be no AFL games on but other than that, it usually gets maybe a 2 minute spot in the news cycle. NRL will never catch on here because no one cares about league AND the team just feels like it is a Qld side parachuted in to Melbourne, there is no connection with the side. No one cares about it.
 
If Melbourne didn’t have a 70% winning record they’d average like 10k if they were lucky
I have always believed this. Will never get to test the theory out while Bellyache and that management is there however, annoyingly well managed.
 

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