Brisbane Broncos humiliated 48-4 in NRL trial loss to New Zealand Warriors

BRISBANE have less than two weeks to get their house in order for the NRL season following a huge 48-4 loss to the Warriors.

BRISBANE have less than two weeks to get their house in order for the NRL season, but it is difficult to see where they will find the bricks and mortar after a humiliating 48-4 trial loss to the Warriors in Dunedin.

Kodi Nikorima of the Broncos and Glenn Fisiiahi of the Warriors compete for the ball.

This was the final dress ­rehearsal before the big show, and the Broncos were terrible.

The Warriors were everything Broncos fans would have been hoping to see from Brisbane in the last trial: sharp, disciplined, structured, creative.

The Warriors appeared settled and confident, looking for one final run-through before the serious stuff begins.

Brisbane were like strangers awkwardly trying to dance along in a flash mob.

Whatever questions coach Anthony Griffin had going into the game, it is doubtful he left it with too many answers.

Before the match, he said his only wish was for no injuries. He didn’t even get that, with Josh Hoffman (ribs) ­departing after a big hit in the 57th minute.

Griffin has also had his hand forced on playing Ben Barba at five-eighth for the start of the season, given Ben Hunt, Kodi Nikorima, Hoffman and Zach Strasser all had time in playmaking roles without impact.

Brisbane were devoid of creativity, other than just working their way to the 20m line, putting up a bomb and hoping for the best.

Corey Parker of the Broncos.

It paid dividends once, in the 10th minute when Nikorima snaffled a fortunate crumb from a Warriors mistake to allow Jack Reed to score.

But putting it high and waiting for an error is not going to work against a quality fullback like Warriors star recruit Sam Tomkins, any more than it will against Billy Slater or any other No.1 in the NRL.

More worrying was Brisbane’s performance in defence.

The ease with which the Warriors scored must have had Griffin grinding his teeth into powder.

Coaches say “defence is all about attitude” so often these days, it is almost cliche.

But they say it so often because it is true.

On the basis of what was dished up, you would have to say Brisbane’s attitude to tackling stinks.

The Warriors are a hard side to defend, no question.

But the Broncos were guilty of clean misses, bad reads or just standing back and watching as attackers passed through Brisbane’s line like an afternoon breeze through a screen door.

Brisbane didn’t so much leak as take on water like the Costa Concordia, particularly on the port side.

The Broncos tried to stuff some gauze into the wound by posting Corey Parker onto the left edge in the second half, so the Warriors scored down the other side instead.

Shaun Johnson on the attack.

New Zealand’s chief conjurer, the mercurial Shaun Johnson, was taken from the field in the 50th minute with the score 28-4. Even with him gone, Brisbane conceded a further four tries.

“It was very disappointing,” Broncos head of football Andrew Gee said afterwards. “We’ve got two weeks to get it right. Nothing really went right. We were on the back foot from the start.

“We didn’t have too much ball and we found ourselves getting rolled.”

TAKE PART IN OUR SUPERCOACH CHALLENGE!

Gee is dead right. Nothing went their way. It didn’t deserve to.

With trial form at 80-12 for-and-against from two games, it would be optimistic at best to write the game off as a bad day at the office.

Yes, the Broncos were missing Justin Hodges. But most of Brisbane’s problems were on the left side of the field, not on the right where Hodges stands.

Yes, they were missing Ben Barba. But Barba won’t make a difference to the mountain of tackles that were missed, or the glut of offloads and clean line-breaks conceded.

Brisbane were like a graffiti-covered laneway: if you looked hard enough, there were glimpses of colour, skill and effort.

But standing back and looking at the wider picture, it looked like a mess.

WARRIORS 48 (G Fisiiahi 2, K Hurrell 2, S Johnson, C Gubb, C Tuimavave, D Fusitua, S Tomkins tries; S Johnson 4, C Townsend 2 goals) d BRONCOS 4 (J Reed try) in Dunedin.