Broncos coach Kevin Walters refused to concede his side’s finals aspirations are dead after they were smashed 46-18 by the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday.
Languishing in 13th-place heading into the match, Brisbane needed to win all their remaining five games to be any hope of featuring in September but looked far from a side with everything to play for after a second half capitulation.
Some serious questions are rightly being asked of the Broncos’ stunning fall from grace after almost winning last year’s grand final before a Nathan Cleary masterclass snatched it for the Panthers in the final 20 minutes.
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Brisbane have recorded just one win from their past nine games including a six-game losing streak.
And with four games left in the regular season against the Cowboys, Eels, Dolphins and Storm remaining, the misery of 2024 may well worsen.
“I think the (top) eight is the furthest thing from my mind at the moment,” Walters said.
“We’ve got more issues than making the eight. Not issues but you know that’s disappointing there today — particularly the second 40 (minutes).”
The Broncos led 18-10 at the break to be well in the game, but their second-half surrender in leaking 36 unanswered points hammered a nail in their coffin.
Walters had no answers when quizzed on what’s gone so wrong for his side in season 2024.
“Again, it’s too close after the game to say too much but I’ll have a look at it with the other coaches and it just wasn’t good enough today in that second half,” Walters said.
“(The) second half was pretty ordinary from us really we just didn’t stay in the fight and a couple of things didn’t go our way but we just didn’t have any fight there — that’s what’s disappointing.
“That (what’s gone wrong) is not for discussion today but yeah, we have to look at it again but initially after the game we just didn’t compete hard enough and they did and they got the result.
“I thought we played a pretty good first half to get a lot of possession on their line. But no, I wasn’t concerned and I was quite comfortable at half time.”
Frustration within the Broncos camp was there for all to see and was highlighted when star Reece Walsh delivered a two-minute on-field spray to veteran Corey Oates after the fullback looked to throw a bad pass to the winger which he knocked on.
Brisbane captain Adam Reynolds defended Walsh for his outburst.
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“It’s part of learning and he’s still a young kid,” Reynolds said.
“He’s still growing into his role. He’s a competitor and he tries hard and he’s going to get errors in his game but we believe in Reece and those things happen.”
A huge off-season review surely awaits Walters and his men after putting together a harrowing year filled with poor performances.
But Walters said he won’t be waiting until the post-season to address his side’s many pressing issues.
“We’ve still got four games to go and we’ll endeavour to fix that before we get to the end of the season,” he said.
“There’s plenty to work on as you’ve seen so we’re not going to wait until next year. That’s next year.”
Meanwhile, prop Payne Haas was forced off in the 11th-minute with a suspected Lisfranc injury that could end his season, while Ezra Mam was helped from the field with an ankle concern late in the first half.
Walters said he was considering putting Mam back on and could not confirm the extend of the injuries to both his stars.
“I won’t use that (their injuries) in any way (as an excuse). We had bodies on the field that are playing in the NRL they need to do their job,” Walters said.
