Broncos prop Pat Carrigan says club is on a mission to exorcise grand final loss demons against Penrith

Pat Carrigan admits the pain of Brisbane’s shocking 2023 grand final collapse drives him, saying he and several Broncos stars won’t be satisfied until they break the club’s long premiership drought.

Pat Carrigan admits the pain of Brisbane’s shocking grand final collapse drives him and says he and several Broncos stars won’t be satisfied until they exorcise their Penrith demons by winning a premiership.

The ghosts of the worst grand-final implosion in NRL history will swirl around Carrigan and Brisbane’s big-dance survivors when they face Penrith in a grand-final rematch on Sunday on Suncorp Stadium.

Confronting the Penrith juggernaut always stirs deep emotions for Carrigan, who concedes he still wonders how Brisbane blew a 24-8 lead to lose the seemingly unlosable grand final against the Panthers in 2023.

Two years on, Penrith’s title defence is seriously teetering as they enter Magic Round dead last with a 2-6 record, opening the door for a Broncos side rated a bona fide title contender this season.

Pat Carrigan during the club’s 2023 grand final loss to Penrith. Picture: NRL Photos

Far from being broken by their gut-wrenching loss, Carrigan says the psychological scar tissue is fuelling his desire to win a maiden premiership ring - and break Brisbane’s 19-year title drought.

At age 27, Carrigan has won Origin series and a World Cup with Australia. The final frontier is lifting the NRL trophy to reawaken the Broncos as a title juggernaut.

“I still don’t have a premiership ring and that’s a driving factor for me,” Carrigan said ahead of Sunday’s Magic Round showdown with their grand-final nemesis.

“I still sometimes think about that game (the 2023 grand final).

“It really did hurt.

“I’d be lying if I said it never crosses my mind, but it has made me more motivated to get there.

“There’s a lot of ‘ifs’ when you look at that game, but I try to learn lessons from that night and it’s motivation to get better as a side.

“That’s the end goal for all of us in the team, we want to get back there, feature in a grand final and be on the other side of it as premiers.

“That game has made me more hungry and motivated.

“I know we have the roster to do it.”

Carrigan is a leader in the pack once again this season. Picture: NRL Photos

Ten Broncos on Sunday are survivors of the grand final horror show at Homebush.

Carrigan is one - and he will never forget his split-second mistake that helped ignite Penrith’s fightback.

The Broncos lock made a regulation hit-up in the 67th minute. The ball came loose for a moment as he hit the turf near halfway. Knock on.

Trailing 24-14, the Panthers got a lift from Carrigan’s error and shifted gears.

Sixty seconds later, Stephen Crichton scored to whittle the deficit to 24-20, giving Penrith the dramatic momentum shift that saw Nathan Cleary scored four minutes from time to break Brisbane’s hearts.

“I don’t remember much of the last 20 minutes,” Carrigan says.

“I actually copped a head knock a bit earlier and I lost that ball.

“They started to build pressure and we had a few errors, one of those was mine, and those errors stick in your head a bit.

“You think of a few ‘what-if’ scenarios, but we’ve just had to move forward.

“I’d like to think if we get in the same position again (in a grand final), we won’t make the same mistakes and we will nail it.”

The Broncos started the season rated as third favourites with bookmakers to win this year’s premiership and an emphatic disposal of the Panthers on Sunday will fire a statement to the rest of the league.

Queensland and Australian ironman Carrigan doesn’t hide from the expectation. He relishes it. He believes Brisbane are firmly in a premiership window and have the squad to deliver the club’s first title since 2006.

“To be honest, the Broncos, given the size of our club, we should be up there in that position,” he said.

“We’re not complacent at all.

“Internally, we know we have a lot of work to do and the core of that grand-final squad is still here.

“That’s the reassuring thing, if we can get our game on and really play to our capabilities, there’s no reason why we can’t feature in those conversations again.

“There’s a lot of hard work to be done, but I believe we can get back there.”

Carrigan is wary of a desperate Panthers riposte but says new Broncos coach Michael Maguire can instil the hard edge to get Brisbane over the hump.

“’Madge’ (Maguire) is very clear about his expectations,” Carrigan said.

“The boys are resonating with that.

“Hard work underpins everything that he is about.

“We have seen this year a number of boys working hard this year and getting an opportunity. Guys like Cory Paix, Gehamat Shibasaki, Xavier Willison have been rewarded and are playing well.

“Madge is tough but he is fair and he is the right coach for our club right now.

“They (Penrith) are dangerous, 100 per cent. They have been counted out year after year and they always prove why they are champions.

“Internally, we aren’t taking them lightly.

“We know what they are capable of just looking at the names in that team.

“We have to be at our best, that’s for sure.”

Originally published as Broncos prop Pat Carrigan says club is on a mission to exorcise grand final loss demons against Penrith