The secret to beating the 2025 Brisbane Broncos is out - but can NRL rivals continue to execute

Canberra’s perfectly executed ambush of Brisbane has provided the bash and crash blueprint to beating the Broncos - but there remains a major caveat for their NRL rivals.

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Canberra has provided the bash and crash blueprint to beating the Broncos but a Brisbane legend has questioned whether rival teams - Penrith aside - have the fire to follow suit.

The Raiders 32-22 win over the Broncos, featuring extraordinary passion and commitment from their big forwards, rattled Brisbane with a powerful fast moving defensive line keeping metre-eaters Pat Carrigan and Payne Haas in check and harassing playmaker Adam Reynolds.

Broncos forward great Trevor Gillmeister says rival teams would have noted the finer points of the Raiders methods but planning is one thing, executing such a high voltage ambush is another challenge altogether.

The Broncos are $1.16 favourites to beat the Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium on Friday, where the threat of an out-of-form North Queensland pack should be manageable.

Have NRL rivals figured out the Broncos?

“I can see where teams would think the way to beat Brisbane is to ruffle their feathers but that takes a lot of effort and many of the teams are struggling to play two good games in a row,’’ Gillmeister said.

“They put all their energy into one game and struggle the next. Look at Manly and Penrith and the Broncos this week after their wins (in the first round). I am loving the evenness of the competition.

“I know that coaches playing the Broncos will now say “you have to go out and intimidate them’ but saying it is one thing. Doing it is quite another.

“That Canberra performance was exceptional. They put all their eggs in one basket and it came off. Josh Papali’i was back to his best and Corey Horsburgh played what was probably the best game of his career.

Reece Walsh was well contained. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

“But I am not sure how many teams can play like that. Penrith can. They go out to hurt you. They physically dominate every team. They are not interested in making friends. Other teams cuddle you and try and slow down the play the ball.’’

Former State of Origin star Billy Moore lauded the Canberra game plan but said the fact that Brisbane were not beaten by a landslide margin would hearten them.

“The Canberra blueprint absolutely worked,’’ Moore said. “They jammed the Broncos in the middle. They had three or four in every tackle. They got stuck into the two halves (Reynolds and Ben Hunt) and tried to tire the old boys out. That is the blueprint.

“But as good as the blueprint was - and I thought Canberra for 70 minutes played the best they had since their halcyon years - Brisbane still only lost by 10 points. Brisbane were poor - Reece Walsh was poor - but they were still okay.

“It will be very hard for teams to play like Canberra did against a rampaging Haas and Carrigan.’’

The Cowboys have had bad losses in the opening two rounds and third against Brisbane would put extreme heat on coach Todd Payten.

Originally published as The secret to beating the 2025 Brisbane Broncos is out - but can NRL rivals continue to execute