Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan criticised for hogging ball in Broncos’ underperforming attack

Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan are two of the NRL’s leading metre-eaters, but the Broncos superstars have been urged to sacrifice their statistics if they want to help ignite Brisbane’s misfiring attack.

Broncos superstars Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan have been urged to sacrifice their statistics and stop being ball hogs to ignite Brisbane’s misfiring attack.

The Broncos head into Sunday’s clash with the Dragons at Suncorp Stadium under pressure following a dreadful month which has them teetering on the edge of the top eight.

Apart from a 42-18 thrashing of the Bulldogs last month, the Broncos have failed to reach 20 points in four of their past five games. They have lost all four of those matches.

It has been a dramatic fall for a team stacked with some of the NRL’s most potent attacking weapons.

While Brisbane’s defensive resolve has been questioned, particularly after last week’s shock loss to the Rabbitohs, the Broncos’ attack has also been haphazard.

Origin bookends Haas and Carrigan have been racking up big numbers in the front row, averaging a combined 36 runs and 310m per match.

Pat Carrigan and Payne Haas have been criticised for not sharing the load enough in Brisbane’s forward pack. Picture: NRL

But there is a school of thought that the metre-eaters are doing too much and not giving Brisbane’s other players an opportunity to strike.

Lock Kobe Hetherington has been criticised for his output, averaging eight runs for 65m a game, while backrower Jordan Riki is only having 10 touches per match.

“Patty and Payne are so good at what they do but I want to see them making fewer hit-ups and running some decoys,” Broncos legend Corey Parker said.

“There’s no doubt they are great players. Any team would want Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan. But I don’t want to see them doing 20 hit ups each every game, every week.

“The Broncos pack needs more variety. Can you imagine an opposition defence if they had to face Payne, for example, running a decoy?

“I’d like to see Payne and Patty running as decoys every now and then that will put the defence in two minds.”

Broncos coach Michael Maguire has identified off-the-ball movements as an area his team can improve.

The Broncos have previously targeted 50 decoy runs per game being the benchmark figure. They only had 34 against the Rabbitohs.

Returning five-eighth Ezra Mam will inject some spice into Brisbane’s attack, but Parker believes the Broncos need to get back to the basics that helped them to the 2023 grand final.

“There has to be more buy-in around doing the little things that successful teams do,” he said.

“I don’t buy this stuff about ‘Madge’ (Maguire) working players too hard. Do you think the Panthers haven’t worked hard to win four premierships in a row? That’s nonsense.

The Broncos have been rocks and diamonds in 2025. Picture: NRL Photos

“They are lacking in the finer details at the moment. The Broncos don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but they need to be more diligent in those finer smaller areas of the game.

“If that means Payne and Patty doing four less runs each and running some decoys, then that’s what they need to do.

“There’s no doubt they are still getting used to his coaching but they are 10 rounds in now.

Most of their issues against Souths were around execution and effort.

“The year they made the grand final, Jordan Riki was the best kick chaser in the comp.

“I want to see Brisbane players doing smaller things like leading the kick chase down the field. The things that show the commitment of a team.

“I don’t see the guys on the same page at the moment.”

With veteran five-eighth Ben Hunt (hamstring) sidelined for a month, the onus will be on halfback Adam Reynolds to lead the show.

The Broncos have lost tight contests to the Warriors and Rabbitohs in recent weeks and England Test great James Graham said they had to improve their game management.

“The Broncos’ inability to close out tight games is an issue,” he said.

“They had that game over in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago (lost 20-18). They botched that opportunity to win that game.

“They allowed Souths back into the contest. You have to give credit to Souths for taking their opportunities but at 14-12, it’s disappointing from the Broncos’ key playmakers not to take control of that game. Twice now it has happened.

“The times I watch the Broncos, even against the Dogs they demolished them in the opening 40 minutes but they fell away a little bit.

“It’s becoming a habit for the Broncos. They are lacking concentration.”

Originally published as Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan criticised for hogging ball in Broncos’ underperforming attack