Corey Parker has labelled the Broncos embarrassing after they conceded over 100 points in the last two weeks to leave their finals hopes on thin ice heading into the final round.
The Broncos now need to beat the Dragons in the final round and hope the Raiders don’t win their final two games by a better points margin or Brisbane will miss the finals after sitting in the top four in Round 19.
“For the Brisbane Broncos and where they are and the magnitude to which they have lost the last two weeks is quite simply . . . and there is no other way to put it, embarrassing,” Parker said on Fox League.
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“60 points against Melbourne Storm last week and 53 points the week after.
“One thing I do know in the NRL is you genuinely get what you deserve and whilst the Broncos have done really well at different points in the year, I go back to the Titans game in Round 18 that is where they started to lose their grip.
“Yes they won and they beat the Eels in Round 19, 36-14, but then it was just on a decline.
“It was on a decline with some of the habits I was seeing defensively. It was on a decline with some of the effort areas.
“They got away with it against the Eels. They played the Tigers and Roosters and fell over the line against the Knights. Melbourne absolutely gave them a bath and it was going to be their litmus test.
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“The noise coming out of the Broncos after that Melbourne game was, oh well we have got a week to turn it around and see where we are at.
“Well they came up against the Eels and it was 31 points in the first half. So that demonstrates and that is the evidence of where they are at.
“So while some people might get a little hot under the collar that some ex-players are coming out and saying some things because that is what our job is, I don’t see any other evidence.
“That’s the evidence I am seeing. 189 points conceded in five games. They are averaging 37.8 points a game.
“This is from a team that at one point going back to Round 19 were sitting in fourth spot.
“So there is no doubt they got ahead of themselves as a club and individuals and off the back of that you get taught some really hard lessons very quickly in the NRL.”
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Gorden Tallis believes the Broncos were guilty of reading their own hype, but he still thinks they are ahead of schedule in their rebuild.
“I reckon they are ahead of where I thought they were going to be,” Tallis said.
“At the beginning of the year no one said they were going to play finals footy. So they went on that run and they got to the top four.
“They were overachieving. They used to train across the road and I watched how soft they were training.
“Under Kevvie they are training hard and I reckon they are running out of batteries a little bit.
“You look at Payne Haas. You look at Cobbo being rested. The guys haven’t done the work.
“That’s why they are getting rested and I just see a tired footy side, that there was so much pressure on them to play finals footy, that I think once they got somewhere around it, they thought the pressure was off.
“But it is never off when you play for the Broncos and I think they are going to learn a valuable lesson.
“They have got one more week, but it is out of their hands now, so that’s the disappointing part.
“Six weeks ago I was thinking they are overachieving here. If they finish in the top four that is amazing from where they were a couple of years ago because it takes a while to turn it around.
“The players have dropped the ball a bit. It is attitude.”
Tallis believes the Broncos are struggling without some of their best players on the field and they need to be at full strength against the Dragons to have any chance of making the finals.
“Carrigan comes back and he does tidy up a bit,” Tallis said.
“Losing Adam Reynolds didn’t help. But they are not excuses. Losing two to HIA. Flegler, who I thought was having a go and trying to lead and Payne Haas is a little bit off the pace.
“So with those guys not playing the way they were, it is a really young squad out there and if you look at their spine against a Parramatta side that had to win and were on fire and we watched what they did to Penrith. They blew Penrith off the park in the first 20 minutes as well. They blew the best side off the park.”
Tallis believes the Broncos have shown how hard the NRL is to be successful without their best players and they need everyone to return in Round 25.
“They don’t have the players,” Tallis said.
“When you lose Adam Reynolds. They have got to hope that all hands are back on deck (against the Dragons).
“I thought they were overachieving and with the players down, you saw where they were a couple of years ago. They couldn’t get the job done.
“Now they were starting to get the job done and they need everybody on deck. Everybody needs everybody on deck. That’s how hard the NRL is.
“Take Cameron Munster out of the Melbourne Storm and what would they do? See where they are going to go.
“They just can’t compete. The NRL is tough. And when you have got to play Melbourne, who are the best side in the competition right now and Parramatta pulled the whip, so it is tough.
“But they are exactly where I thought they were going to be.”
