For a side so close to ultimate glory last season, 2024 couldn’t have gone any worse for the Brisbane Broncos.
Kevin Walters’ side was 20 minutes away from breaking the Broncos’ 18-year NRL premiership drought only to be undone by a stunning performance from Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary.
Fast forward 12 months and they missed the top eight, a staggering result for a side boasting one of the game’s biggest superstars in Reece Walsh as well as several top line talents Adam Reynolds, Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan and Selwyn Cobbo.
The Broncos collapsed during the second half of the season to slip from fifth in Round 11 to 12th in Round 27. It was a slide that ultimately cost Kevin Walters his job.
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CEO Dave Donaghy wasted no time appointing a replacement with veteran coach Michael Maguire unveiled just days after an emotional Walters fronted a press conference to confirm his time had come to an end.
Maguire has a proven track record, winning a premiership at Souths, leading New Zealand to their record win over Australia last year and being at the helm as NSW claimed an Origin series win 2024.
The big question heading into 2025 is can he take a roster that is brimming with stars and turn them into a contender once again.
RECORD: 12th, 26 points (10 wins, 14 losses)
GRADE: D-
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Settled the coaching noise
Whether you agree with Kevin Walters’ sacking or not, the reality is that it ended the noise surrounding the former Broncos’ coach’s future.
Walters was undeniably under pressure at the back end of this year, and that pressure would’ve intensitifed in the opening rounds of 2025 if the Broncos form slump continued into the new year.
Veteran journalist Phil Rothfield told the Big Sports Breakfast earlier this season, prior to Walters’ sacking, that if “we get halfway into next year and they are struggling like they did on Saturday (Round 26), I think it will be time for the Broncos to act.”
Interestingly, Rothfield said if Walters “can’t get them to play better football, I think they’ve got to get someone like Michael Maguire.”
Maguire was appointed at the Broncos before the end of 2024 and while some, including Gorden Tallis, disagreed with the process, the decision at the very least quietens some of the noise surrounding Red Hill.
This in turn may allow the club to slip through pre-season seamlessly, without the added pressure of their coaches future potentially being on the line, and get them primed for a big 2025.
Maguire was appointed at the Broncos before the end of 2024 and while some, including Gorden Tallis, disagreed with the process, the decision at the very least quietens some of the noise surrounding Red Hill.
This in turn may allow the club to slip through pre-season seamlessly, without the added pressure of their coaches future potentially being on the line, and get them primed for a big 2025.
Another bright spark to come from the Broncos’ 2024 season was the emergence of two of the club’s hottest prospects – Blake Mozer and Xavier Willison – as first grade ready footballers.
Mozer, a naturally gifted No.9, is expected to take over as the club’s first-choice rake sooner rather than later, and was even labelled a potential “another Cameron Smith” by Scott Sattler last year.
WHAT WENT WRONG: A grand final hangover & injuries, among other things
In a season like the Broncos, where performances fail to meet sky high expectations, there was plenty that went wrong.
Adam Reynolds and Patrick Carrigan’s pre-season stink was an early indicator of fractures in the Broncos’ ranks, something James Graham addressed on Triple M in the build up to the 2024 grand final.
“For (me), the Broncos biggest issue is I don’t think they’ve gotten over this time 12 months ago. I think that’s still on the minds of a number of players,” he said.
“They looked like a fractured group. They didn’t look like they were too connected with one another.”
This belief that the grand final hangover majorly derailed the Broncos’ 2024 season is not isolated to Graham. Fox League’s Matty Johns said as much at the end of the season.
“Last year’s success and the expectation that came with that success poisoned the well,” he told the Matty Johns Podcast.
“A lot of teams will get to a grand final and get beaten and there’s two ways of thinking. You either go away filthy and say ‘we failed’ or you can go off training and say ‘we didn’t win it but we had a fantastic season’ – I think with the Broncos it was the latter.”
The 1997 premiership winner added the club have “a lot of self-assessment if they’re going to go anywhere.”
In amongst a myriad of factors that derailed their season, Cooper Cronk feels the club simply weren’t as concentrated on emulating, and even exceeding, their levels from 2023.
“You could go attack, defence, discipline, errors, whatever it is, but the thing that underpins that whole thing is the Broncos last year as individuals and as a team had a real laser focus to improve and get better,” he explained.
“I don’t think they had that this year and it’s ultimately why they missed out on the finals.
“I don’t think they worked hard enough individually to improve their game.”
There were of course some mitigating factors that go some way to explaining why the Broncos’ form dipped.
Before a ball had been kicked this season the club were already without three key pillars of their run to the 2023 grand final: Tom Flegler, Herbie Farnworth and Kurt Capewell.
Club great Gorden Tallis believes the loss of those three “probably hurt them a little more than they saw coming.”
Corey Jensen, Selwyn Cobbo and Brendan Piakura were tasked with placing the trio, with only Jensen playing more than 20 games this season.
Cobbo played 19 games but struggled with the transition to a first grade centre, while Piakura played 18 without setting the world alight.
There is of course the other factor that defined Brisbane’s season: injuries.
Reece Walsh suffered a fractured face in Round 3 against Penrith, a game Reynolds also missed, and would not play until Round 6. He then suffered a concussion in Origin I, as well as a mid-season hand injury.
In total the Broncos’ dynamic fullback played just 14 games this season, managing 14 tries in a widely perceived underwhelming year.
Walsh’s 14 appearances in 2024 was one better than skipper Adam Reynolds, who had an injury ravaged campaign. In Round 9 the No.7 ruptured his bicep, ruling him out for months.
In the Broncos’ eight games while Reynolds was sidelined with his bicep injury the club won just twice, against Parramatta and Manly, and recorded shock losses to the Titans and Souths.
And while Jock Madden is a solid first grade halfback and he won three of his first four games as the Broncos’ No.7 this season. However, he then lost five straight before suffering a hamstring injury against Penrith in Round 18.
Reynolds and Walsh weren’t the only Broncos to suffer injuries this season, with Ezra Mam, Payne Haas and Piakura all spending stints on the sidelines. Cobbo missed some footy due to personal issues while Carrigan missed a chunk of the season with Origin commitments.
So many key injuries were a key reason why Tallis felt the Broncos’ season was “disappointing.”
“There were injuries, they didn’t perform, some guys (in their) second year didn’t (perform) up to where they were last year. That’s blokes like Ezra Mam, Reece Walsh didn’t have the same year as what he did the year before, Payne Haas, he had a lot of off field dramas,” he said.
WHAT THEY NEED: A good Reynolds back up
Like all sides, Brisbane are significantly weaker without their general. But, unlike all sides, Brisbane don’t have any answer for the absence of their No.7.
Take Penrith, for example, who’ve been able to slot Jarome Luai or Sean O’Sullivan into halfback and continue seamlessly through their season.
The Cowboys were able to call upon Jake Clifford when their form dipped, the Knights have a wealth of halves riches, while the Dolphins brought O’Sullivan in when Isaiya Katoa’s performance levels dipped.
Brisbane just didn’t seem to have that this season. Madden was injured and failed to impress in the latter half of his No.7 tenure while Mam isn’t yet the player who can seamlessly transition from five-eighth to halfback.
In an ideal world the Broncos would dip into the market for a halfback to either replace Reynolds when his contract expires at the end of next season or someone to serve as the 34-year-old’s deputy in 2025.
There are slim pickings in terms of halfbacks off contract in 2024, but if the club hold fire until November 1 there is every chance they can land a No.7 of serious consequence.
Daly Cherry-Evans, Tom Duffy, Toby Sexton, Jackson Hastings, Ben Hunt, Sean O’Sullivan, Jonah Pezet, Daniel Atkinson, Te Maire Martin and Braydon Trindall all hit free agency in the coming months and could be potential Broncos targets.
COMING: N/A
GOING: Jordan Pereira (retired), Tristan Sailor (St Helens)
For a side so close to ultimate glory last season, 2024 couldn’t have gone any worse for the Brisbane Broncos.
Kevin Walters’ side was 20 minutes away from breaking the Broncos’ 18-year NRL premiership drought only to be undone by a stunning performance from Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary.
Fast forward 12 months and they missed the top eight, a staggering result for a side boasting one of the game’s biggest superstars in Reece Walsh as well as several top line talents Adam Reynolds, Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan and Selwyn Cobbo.
The Broncos collapsed during the second half of the season to slip from fifth in Round 11 to 12th in Round 27. It was a slide that ultimately cost Kevin Walters his job.
VIEW ALL SCORES
CEO Dave Donaghy wasted no time appointing a replacement with veteran coach Michael Maguire unveiled just days after an emotional Walters fronted a press conference to confirm his time had come to an end.
Maguire has a proven track record, winning a premiership at Souths, leading New Zealand to their record win over Australia last year and being at the helm as NSW claimed an Origin series win 2024.
The big question heading into 2025 is can he take a roster that is brimming with stars and turn them into a contender once again.
RECORD: 12th, 26 points (10 wins, 14 losses)
GRADE: D-
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Settled the coaching noise
Whether you agree with Kevin Walters’ sacking or not, the reality is that it ended the noise surrounding the former Broncos’ coach’s future.
Walters was undeniably under pressure at the back end of this year, and that pressure would’ve intensitifed in the opening rounds of 2025 if the Broncos form slump continued into the new year.
Veteran journalist Phil Rothfield told the Big Sports Breakfast earlier this season, prior to Walters’ sacking, that if “we get halfway into next year and they are struggling like they did on Saturday (Round 26), I think it will be time for the Broncos to act.”
Interestingly, Rothfield said if Walters “can’t get them to play better football, I think they’ve got to get someone like Michael Maguire.”
Maguire was appointed at the Broncos before the end of 2024 and while some, including Gorden Tallis, disagreed with the process, the decision at the very least quietens some of the noise surrounding Red Hill.
This in turn may allow the club to slip through pre-season seamlessly, without the added pressure of their coaches future potentially being on the line, and get them primed for a big 2025.
Maguire was appointed at the Broncos before the end of 2024 and while some, including Gorden Tallis, disagreed with the process, the decision at the very least quietens some of the noise surrounding Red Hill.
This in turn may allow the club to slip through pre-season seamlessly, without the added pressure of their coaches future potentially being on the line, and get them primed for a big 2025.
Another bright spark to come from the Broncos’ 2024 season was the emergence of two of the club’s hottest prospects – Blake Mozer and Xavier Willison – as first grade ready footballers.
Mozer, a naturally gifted No.9, is expected to take over as the club’s first-choice rake sooner rather than later, and was even labelled a potential “another Cameron Smith” by Scott Sattler last year.
WHAT WENT WRONG: A grand final hangover & injuries, among other things
In a season like the Broncos, where performances fail to meet sky high expectations, there was plenty that went wrong.
Adam Reynolds and Patrick Carrigan’s pre-season stink was an early indicator of fractures in the Broncos’ ranks, something James Graham addressed on Triple M in the build up to the 2024 grand final.
“For (me), the Broncos biggest issue is I don’t think they’ve gotten over this time 12 months ago. I think that’s still on the minds of a number of players,” he said.
“They looked like a fractured group. They didn’t look like they were too connected with one another.”
This belief that the grand final hangover majorly derailed the Broncos’ 2024 season is not isolated to Graham. Fox League’s Matty Johns said as much at the end of the season.
“Last year’s success and the expectation that came with that success poisoned the well,” he told the Matty Johns Podcast.
“A lot of teams will get to a grand final and get beaten and there’s two ways of thinking. You either go away filthy and say ‘we failed’ or you can go off training and say ‘we didn’t win it but we had a fantastic season’ – I think with the Broncos it was the latter.”
The 1997 premiership winner added the club have “a lot of self-assessment if they’re going to go anywhere.”
In amongst a myriad of factors that derailed their season, Cooper Cronk feels the club simply weren’t as concentrated on emulating, and even exceeding, their levels from 2023.
“You could go attack, defence, discipline, errors, whatever it is, but the thing that underpins that whole thing is the Broncos last year as individuals and as a team had a real laser focus to improve and get better,” he explained.
“I don’t think they had that this year and it’s ultimately why they missed out on the finals.
“I don’t think they worked hard enough individually to improve their game.”
There were of course some mitigating factors that go some way to explaining why the Broncos’ form dipped.
Before a ball had been kicked this season the club were already without three key pillars of their run to the 2023 grand final: Tom Flegler, Herbie Farnworth and Kurt Capewell.
Club great Gorden Tallis believes the loss of those three “probably hurt them a little more than they saw coming.”
Corey Jensen, Selwyn Cobbo and Brendan Piakura were tasked with placing the trio, with only Jensen playing more than 20 games this season.
Cobbo played 19 games but struggled with the transition to a first grade centre, while Piakura played 18 without setting the world alight.
There is of course the other factor that defined Brisbane’s season: injuries.
Reece Walsh suffered a fractured face in Round 3 against Penrith, a game Reynolds also missed, and would not play until Round 6. He then suffered a concussion in Origin I, as well as a mid-season hand injury.
In total the Broncos’ dynamic fullback played just 14 games this season, managing 14 tries in a widely perceived underwhelming year.
Walsh’s 14 appearances in 2024 was one better than skipper Adam Reynolds, who had an injury ravaged campaign. In Round 9 the No.7 ruptured his bicep, ruling him out for months.
In the Broncos’ eight games while Reynolds was sidelined with his bicep injury the club won just twice, against Parramatta and Manly, and recorded shock losses to the Titans and Souths.
And while Jock Madden is a solid first grade halfback and he won three of his first four games as the Broncos’ No.7 this season. However, he then lost five straight before suffering a hamstring injury against Penrith in Round 18.
Reynolds and Walsh weren’t the only Broncos to suffer injuries this season, with Ezra Mam, Payne Haas and Piakura all spending stints on the sidelines. Cobbo missed some footy due to personal issues while Carrigan missed a chunk of the season with Origin commitments.
So many key injuries were a key reason why Tallis felt the Broncos’ season was “disappointing.”
“There were injuries, they didn’t perform, some guys (in their) second year didn’t (perform) up to where they were last year. That’s blokes like Ezra Mam, Reece Walsh didn’t have the same year as what he did the year before, Payne Haas, he had a lot of off field dramas,” he said.
WHAT THEY NEED: A good Reynolds back up
Like all sides, Brisbane are significantly weaker without their general. But, unlike all sides, Brisbane don’t have any answer for the absence of their No.7.
Take Penrith, for example, who’ve been able to slot Jarome Luai or Sean O’Sullivan into halfback and continue seamlessly through their season.
The Cowboys were able to call upon Jake Clifford when their form dipped, the Knights have a wealth of halves riches, while the Dolphins brought O’Sullivan in when Isaiya Katoa’s performance levels dipped.
Brisbane just didn’t seem to have that this season. Madden was injured and failed to impress in the latter half of his No.7 tenure while Mam isn’t yet the player who can seamlessly transition from five-eighth to halfback.
In an ideal world the Broncos would dip into the market for a halfback to either replace Reynolds when his contract expires at the end of next season or someone to serve as the 34-year-old’s deputy in 2025.
There are slim pickings in terms of halfbacks off contract in 2024, but if the club hold fire until November 1 there is every chance they can land a No.7 of serious consequence.
Daly Cherry-Evans, Tom Duffy, Toby Sexton, Jackson Hastings, Ben Hunt, Sean O’Sullivan, Jonah Pezet, Daniel Atkinson, Te Maire Martin and Braydon Trindall all hit free agency in the coming months and could be potential Broncos targets.
COMING: N/A
GOING: Jordan Pereira (retired), Tristan Sailor (St Helens)
