NRL 2022: Brisbane Broncos need more from Kotoni Staggs

Kotoni Staggs is one of Brisbane’s most potent attacking weapons, but the $700,000 centre has been below his best and coach Kevin Walters wants more.

Ezra Mam was a favoured target of Nelson Asofa-Solomona. Picture: NRL

Kotoni Staggs has been put on notice as coach Kevin Walters challenged the misfiring Broncos star to deliver Brisbane a finals berth.

Staggs is stuck in a six-game try-scoring drought and has gone missing in recent weeks as the Broncos tread a finals tightrope.

One of Brisbane’s highest-paid players on about $700,000-a-season, the Broncos splashed huge cash on Staggs last year to remain at Red Hill.

Now they need their most potent attacking weapon to fire against Parramatta at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night, with the Broncos needing to win at least one of their last two games to guarantee a finals appearance.

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Kotoni Staggs needs to lift against the Eels. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Staggs, 23, has only scored five tries in 21 games this season, well below his returns from previous years (11 tries from 24 games in 2019, 10 from 14 games in 2020).

He started the year strongly to earn a NSW State of Origin debut at centre but was dropped after Game One and has had mixed form since.

Following the withdrawal of fatigued wing partner Selwyn Cobbo, Walters said he expected Staggs to bounce back from a quiet night in last week’s 60-12 loss to Melbourne when the Broncos look to clinch a play-offs spot against the Eels.

“Kotoni was disappointed with his performance against the Storm,” he said.

Broncos coach Kevin Walters (R) wants more from Kotoni Staggs. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

“I expect him to bounce back. He is one of our leaders and players we look to at certain times. He needs to be that player for us and I’m sure he will be.

“This group has a lot of pride. What happened the other night really hurt so we put it in the bin and we’ve moved on.

“Kotoni would agree he needs to be better for us and he will be on Thursday night.”

The Broncos stunned the Eels when they last met in round 19, producing a 36-14 ambush at CommBank Stadium in Sydney.

Ironically, it was the last game before Brisbane’s form went off a cliff with the Broncos going on to lose three of the next four matches, including to the last-placed Wests Tigers the week after the Eels win.

Kotoni Staggs has struggled for form since Origin. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Walters said the Broncos had to get their heads right against the hot-and-cold Eels following a poor month which has put their finals hopes in jeopardy.

“It’s a mental thing, they’ve got to get their thoughts correct,” he said.

“We had Parramatta on a five-day turnaround after playing the Titans on a Saturday night then backed it up on the Thursday with travel.

“These guys will be fine, they will be up for the fight. They have been all year and I don’t see why they wouldn’t be on Thursday night.

“The Eels have come back into the fold in the last couple of weeks. They’ve been a good side for a long time now.

“They are big and physical so we need to match that with them.”

WHY WALTERS WON’T WIELD THE AXE - YET

Broncos coach Kevin Walters has thrown his support behind under-fire five-eighth Ezra Mam and refused to make mass changes as Brisbane walks a finals tightrope.

Walters will retain mostly the same 17 that was smashed 60-12 by Melbourne last week when the Broncos face Parramatta at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

Backrower Kurt Capewell (ankle) has been cleared of serious injury and will play while centre Brenko Lee and backrower Zac Hosking are likely to be the only two new faces.

After rocketing into top four contention with a seven-game winning streak mid-season, the Broncos are now teetering on the edge of the top eight following three losses from their past four matches.

The Broncos missed 52 tackles against the Storm.

Sitting eighth on the ladder, Brisbane must beat either the Eels or Dragons (away) in the last two rounds to guarantee the club’s first finals appearance since 2019.

The Broncos’ defence has crumbled over the past month and they missed a staggering 52 tackles in the Storm drubbing, conceding 10 tries.

Among the worst offenders were halves Mam and Adam Reynolds, who missed a combined 14 tackles according to Fox Sports Lab.

The NRL’s website credited Mam with a shocking 10 misses as 125kg Melbourne giant Nelson Asofa-Solomona targeted the rookie pivot.

Ezra Mam was a favoured target of Nelson Asofa-Solomona. Picture: NRL

But Walters has shown faith in the 19-year-old indigenous sensation to help Brisbane clinch a finals berth.

“I will back him,” Walters said.

“I know he can tackle, we’ve seen it in games. I am backing him 100 per cent.

“To be fair to Ezra, Nelson has done that to a lot of players in his time. Whether he’s playing through the middle or on an edge, like at the moment, he’s been quite damaging. He is a big unit and hard to handle.

“It’s all about gaining experience for Ezra and the confidence and composure. It’s the first time he’s played against someone that’s 125kg.”

Lee is pushing to return from a hamstring injury in place of Delouise Hoeter while Hosking could force his way on to the bench to provide some support on the edges.

Apart from that, Walters said he would stand behind the team that helped Brisbane back into finals contention following two lean seasons.

Kevin Walters has backed his team to bounce back. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

“There won’t be too many changes, I want to give them all another opportunity,” he said.

“I was disappointed with the result and how it all went, but these guys have been good enough all year to get us into this position. I don’t see a need for change.

“It’s a little bit of fatigue and tiredness. Defence is all mental. We’ve got to fix that up but we have been saying that for a month now.

“We’ve been good in patches but not overall. We had a seven-week block where we were really good, but for the rest of it we were a bit up and down.”

The Broncos have had a number of underperforming players in recent weeks as the toll of a taxing State of Origin period and questionable depth in key positions comes to the fore.

Former captain Justin Hodges said the Eels game would be a litmus test for Brisbane ahead of the finals.

“The Broncos have had a great season so far but this is where the real test comes at this time of the year,” he said.

“I think some of their younger guys are feeling the pinch of a long season, especially with Origin, and I’ve experienced that Origin hangover later in the year.

“I really hope they make the finals but this game against the Eels will tell us if they can recover in time to make an impact in the playoffs.”

HOW EZRA MUST AIM UP LIKE GIANT-SLAYER ALF

- Robert Craddock

The strange thing about rugby league halves is while their attack makes headlines their defence makes the man.

That’s not me talking. It’s tackling guru Trevor Gillmeister as he discussed the Broncos long road back against the Eels this week after being thumped 60-12 by the Storm last Friday.

Young five-eighth Ezra Mam was ruthlessly targeted by the mobile skyscraper Nelson Asofa-Solomona and found wanting several times but he was just one of many who struggled.

Mam can tackle but charging rhinos are easier to subdue than big Nelson in full stride.

The Broncos five-eighth missed 10 tackles on the night to leave several provocative questions hanging in the air …

Will Mam be targeted by Parramatta’s big men this week if, indeed, he holds his place in the team?

Is his confidence shot or sagging?

Halves are generally not hired for their defensive prowess but Gillmeister feels it is the thread which holds everything together.

“I have heard people say that big blokes like Nelson should not be running at him but that’s bullshit,” Gillmeister said. “The big blokes used to run at Alf (Allan Langer) and he used to tackle them.

“What I have found with the halves though is that when they are tackling well the rest of their game goes through the roof because they are like cocky roosters.

“They strut around because if their defence is right the rest of their games just flows on. They don’t have to have the same tackling style every time. Attack varies and so can defence.

“It is a confidence thing, especially with the halves. Defence builds confidence.

“There is nothing quite like defending for a few sets on your line then saying to the opposition ‘right, time to get on your bike because we are coming down your end’.”

Coach Kevin Walters built the Broncos resurgence this season on defence but there has been an alarming drop-off in the past month.

The Broncos have averaged more than 40 missed tackles a game, worse than the season average of the competition’s most frequent tackler missers, the Dragons, who average 37 per game.

No team spots a crack in the wall like Melbourne and Gillmeister lauded Storm hooker Harry Grant for picking the Broncos apart.

“Just on the edges it looked to me like one of the defenders is coming up and the other one is hovering. That’s like being passive-aggressive. You have to all be doing the same thing. You might get away with it occasionally but not against the Storm.

“It’s hard to pick one area. The whole team were pretty ordinary the other night.

“But teams can brush things off pretty quickly these days. A lot of teams had more than 40 points put on them last week. Some of them looked as if they were checked out and waiting for their end-of-season trip but that should not be the case for the Broncos because they are hanging on to a place in the eight.”

Originally published as NRL 2022: Brisbane Broncos need more from Kotoni Staggs