The blowtorch has been put on the Broncos following their shock loss to the Eels with questions being raised over whether they’re star-studded roster is underperforming.
Between Payne Haas, Reece Walsh, Adam Reynolds and Pat Carrigan, the Broncos have some of the game’s most elite on their books but are sitting sixth and were just upset by a team that’s going through a rebuild.
That’s why veteran journalist Phil Rothfield believes anything less than a top-four finish should be considered a disappointment.
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“I think with the roster they have they’re entitled to be in the top four… I think if they make the eight that’s a satisfactory season but that’s all,” he said on NRL 360.
“You know as well as I do that’s a roster that can make the top four, you know I’ve had doubts about them all year.”
Rothfield referenced comments made by Queensland Origin coach Billy Slater to back up his argument that something is amiss at Red Hill.
The comment from Slater that Rothfield referred to was — “I don’t think the Broncos understand who they are or what they’re trying to do.”
Fellow veteran journalist Brent Read, however, believes there needs to be patience with the Broncos and that they are on the right track.
“I think the thing with Brisbane was that it was always going to take some time,” he said.
“‘Madge’ (coach Michael Maguire) came in and blew the whole joint up basically so it was always going to take some time for them to embrace what Madge does and how he operates.
“I think we’ve seen the fruits of that in the past month — that loss on the weekend was a setback for them — but they’ve been better.”
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Gorden Tallis believes though Maguire should allow room for his x-factor players to do what they do best., rather than turning them into the style of team he likes.
“Those players don’t play Maguire’s style of footy. So you’re going to have to change the whole roster now,” he said.
“Reece Walsh is getting punished for all his passes but I watched him play the Titans the week before and if he don’t play they don’t win.
“So those players that are flamboyant, who play those speccy balls — they’ve got to wind it back a little bit — but that’s the style of footy that got them close to beating Penrith (in the 2023 Grand Final) when he and Ezra Mam started expressing themselves.
“They’ve just got to defend their mistakes.”
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Braith Anasta agreed with Read in that the Broncos are tracking in the right direction but is keen to see how they fare over the final six weeks of the competition. They take on the Storm twice and Dolphins once, while also facing the Rabbitohs, Knights and Cowboys.
“That was a setback but you can allow that. In the modern game everyone can have a week like that, we’ve seen it all year,” he said.
“Overall they’ve improved a hell of a lot over the last month and I think like a lot of teams, the next couple of months is going to tell us a lot about them and their coach.”
Rothfield still was adamant that the loss to the Eels reflected very poorly on the team.
“I understand you want to give them time but they were entitled to beat Parramatta comfortably with that roster. It should not have even been a football contest,” he said.
