Brisbane fumble their way to dismal 38-10 loss to Parramatta

In a performance reminiscent of the horrorshow that began the season, Brisbane have stumbled and fumbled their way to a dismal 38-10 loss at the hands of Parramatta.

Darius Boyd of the Broncos (centre) and teammates react after conceding a try during the Round 14 NRL match between the Parramatta Eels and the Brisbane Broncos at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

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A bumbling, brittle Broncos have put themselves under immense pressure in their hunt for a top eight finish after another horror loss during the dreaded Origin period.

In a seven-tries-to-two carve up, Parramatta continued their run of success at their brand new home-ground in a 38-10 drubbing over a lacklustre Broncos at Bankwest Stadium.

The scoreline has now rocketed the Eels up into eighth position on the ladder while Brisbane languish way down at equal 13th alongside the Cowboys.

It was the Broncos worst loss to Parramatta since a 68-22 demolition job in 2007 which will raise concerns at Red Hill about the lack of experience to lead the team to end their premiership-winning drought.

Brisbane bumbled and stumbled their way to another defeat. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts.

The extraordinary fall from grace for Brisbane has come after they appeared to have turned their season around from their equal worst start to a season in club history.

But the Origin hangover simply won’t go away at Red Hill, recording back-to-back losses after falling to the Titans last week, just days after Game 1.

Their three-game winning streak seems a lifetime away and the rookie Broncos side will need to address their insipid starts and poor ball control before heading to Newcastle to play the in-form Knights in two weeks’ time.

Both losses have exposed worrying chinks in Brisbane’s finals’ aspirations after starting back-to-back games with a lack of energy and an error-riddled performance.

Parramatta dominated from start to finish. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts.

Last week, it was the Titans who piled on 26 points in Brisbane’s own backyard.

This time they let in 26 unanswered points in the first half alone on the back of a poor defensive effort.

A first half horror show was too much for even Broncos coach Anthony Seibold to handle, who left his coach’s box to head down to the sheds five minutes before the halftime siren.

He obviously had his halftime spray well-prepared and well-delivered because the Broncos started the second stanza in slightly better fashion, by scoring in the 44th minute.

But their effort was quashed by a dominant Parramatta side led by skipper Clint Gutherson.

The Broncos’ fans wouldn’t have been the only one with head in hands, with Queensland coach Kevin Walters most likely watching on in horror as his Maroons stars made error after error.

Brisbane are now facing a battle just to make the finals. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts.

Star winger Corey Oates was the man-of-the-moment just two weeks ago in Game 1 but last night, nothing could go his way.

And with injuries to Jai Arrow and Joe Ofahengaue, Walters would have been left sweating when Matt Gillett was taken from the field with a broken nose.

At halftime, the Broncos had made 17 missed tackles and five errors to never give themselves an opportunity build any sort of momentum to get them on the front foot.

It meant the home side had 70% of the ball in the first 40 minutes.

A first-half blitz put Parramatta in control. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts.

And they just couldn’t improve on that in the second half.

Man-giant Junior Paulo opened the scoring when he carried four Broncos over the tryline in the seventh minute to plant the ball down and it was all Parramatta from there.

Trailing 26-nil at halftime, the Broncos put in a much better effort in the second stanza to post first points in the 44th minute.

But costly mistakes (10 errors) and poor defence (22 missed tackles) gave the visitors little chance of mounting a much-needed win before next weekend’s bye round.

FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED

1) Corey Oates is likely to be named in Kevin Walters’ side for Origin Game 2 tonight but his performance would have done him no favours. The star winger made three crucial errors – one leading to a Parramatta try – and one missed tackle. Queensland fans will be hoping it was a one-off before potentially playing NSW in Perth next weekend.

2) Coach Anthony Seibold has issued a warning to his playing group to not forget about club football during the dreaded Origin period. With 12 players set to head into representative duties today, Seibold lamented on the fact that mentally, they weren’t focused on the Broncos.

3) Debutant Sean O’Sullivan had a mixed evening in his second NRL match since playing for the Roosters in Round 18 last year. The 20-year-old was found out defensively by Parramatta on the Broncos’ right hand side, finishing the match with four missed tackles. His kicking game was impressive though and relieved the pressure on Anthony Milford.

O’Sullivan struggled with the pace of the game. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts.

4) The Broncos need to address their insipid starts. In consecutive weeks, they have allowed the opposition to pile on the points in the opening half of the match. They will need to work on their defence before coming up against Newcastle next weekend.

5) Despite this carve up, Broncos enforcer Matt Lodge added yet more fuel to the argument he should be picked for NSW. In a losing side, he still ran for 124m, made two tackle breaks and led the Broncos down the middle of the paddock.

PARRAMATTA 38 (J Hoffman 2 D Gower M Jennings R Mahoney J Paulo M Sivo tries M Moses 5 goals) bt BRISBANE 10 (M Gillett C Oates tries J Isaako goal) at Bankwest Stadium. Referee: Henry Perenara, Liam Kennedy. Crowd: 16,854