Darius Boyd appeals for calm as Brisbane look to rebound from shock loss to Parramatta

BRISBANE have suffered two hammer blows to their title aspirations and must now create history to win the premiership.

Darius Boyd of the Broncos talks to his teammates during the round 25 NRL game between the Brisbane Broncos and the Parramatta Eels at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Thursday, August 24, 2017. (AAP Image/Jono Searle) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

BRONCOS captain Darius Boyd has appealed for calm as Brisbane confront the reality of having to create rugby league history to win this year’s NRL premiership.

The Broncos’ title hopes suffered another blow on Friday when prop Korbin Sims joined hooker Andrew McCullough (knee) on the sideline for the remainder of the season with a broken arm.

Sims suffered the injury in the dying stages of Brisbane’s 52-34 loss to the impressive Eels at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

If leaking nine tries a fortnight out from the finals wasn’t enough of a concern for coach Wayne Bennett then surely this will be.

According to Fox Sports Lab, no team in the 109-year history of the game in Australia has won a first grade grand final after conceding 50 points in a match during the season.

Korbin Sims has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

If defence wins premierships then Brisbane has some work to do before the finals arrive in a fortnight but Boyd said there was no need for panic at Red Hill.

“There is no need to be stressing out now,” he said.

“We’ve had a good year. It was one of those bad nights.

“There is no dramas or worries. No one has to lift or do anything special.

“It’s not a problem. We didn’t have a good night and that happens.

“We played Melbourne earlier in the year (42-12 loss) and didn’t have a good night. Every team has it. Parramatta had it against Newcastle.

“We’re still in second or third place. There is no need to panic just yet.”

The Broncos have had little trouble crossing the try-line this season and lead the competition for points scored (577).

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But there has been question marks over two areas of their game which are set to be tested even further — defence and middle forward depth.

Brisbane had dealt well with the loss of McCullough but Sims’ absence will be tough to overcome given the Broncos’ susceptibility in the big forward ranks.

Joe Ofahengaue will make a timely return from suspension for next Thursday’s final round derby against the Cowboys in Townsville while Tevita Pangai Jnr (hamstring) is also in contention.

“We’re a strong, tight-knit group,” Boyd said.

“We trust each other. We’ve done a great job this year on the back of working hard for your mate and a lot of trust. That hasn’t gone anywhere.

“Wayne, the coaching staff and leadership group need to run that a bit and make sure everyone knows it was one of those games that doesn’t go your way.

Can Brisbane turn things around following their heavy loss?

“Things don’t pan out and sometimes you’re a bit off. That happens. You can’t be up for 26 rounds.

Forward Alex Glenn, who was one of Brisbane’s best on Thursday, said the best way for the team to get back on track ahead of the finals was through a good honesty session.

He expects the team will be made to face the music at on Sunday.

“It’s a hard pill to swallow at the moment but we have to bounce back from this,” Glenn said.

“It is hard. It definitely shatters your confidence. But the great thing about this squad is that we’re very tight. We know it’s only going to take ourselves and our efforts to get out of this.

“There will be (hard truths) on Sunday and there needs to be so that this doesn’t happen again.

“We have to face the harsh reality that we didn’t play to our potential and we didn’t execute. We’ll be training on Sunday and doing our reviews of where we went wrong.”