Mass staff cuts brought about by COVID-19 were beginning of the end for Brisbane Broncos

Brisbane endured one of the worst seasons in its history, but why did the wheels fall off?

Former Bronco Jharal Yow Yeh was a victim of COVID staff cuts at the club. Picture: Jono Searle

The Broncos fell so far so quickly this year it was hard to make sense of the reasons why.

Yet, as the dust settles and perspective forces its way through the debris, it is becoming clearer that one of the genuinely unsettling influences was the massive staff cuts, some of which were handled well, others recklessly.

Every club copped some COVID cuts but, as a public company, the Broncos were forced to go deeper and quicker than other clubs.

By mid-April they had made 22 staff redundant and others followed.

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Yow Yeh, with fellow ex-Bronco Justin Hodges, was a popular figure at Brisbane. Picture: Jono Searle

Of course, none of this excuses the genuinely miserable effort from the players, but it was quite clear the club was wobbling on its foundations off the field as well as on it.

Jharal Yow Yeh, the former winger who had been an off-field ambassador to the club since his career was brutally ended by a leg injury, was one of the early ones to leave.

His departure may not have made major headlines but just having someone like that floating around the club was a reminder to the current players of how fortunate they were simply to be playing, a fact that many self-indulgent lost sight of as the season from hell played out.

Certainly Yow Yeh missed the place.

“To be honest I still feel a bit lost not being with the Broncos because I was there from when I was 17,’’ Yow Yeh said in the We Are Human podcast in which he also detailed his spiral to near oblivion when he retired in 2014.

“There is a piece of me that is missing that is the Broncos.’’

Ben Cross’ departure turned ugly for the Broncos. Picture: AAP

Former Broncos assistant coach Ben Cross this month had his application for unfair dismissal rejected by the Fair Work Commission but it was a messy episode and the detail said much about where the club was at the time.

Cross was made redundant as a defensive coach, then Peter Ryan was hired, even though Cross thought he had been told he would be put back on if a chance arose.

He had relocated to Brisbane for his initial role under the impression it would be long term and, when he was put off, he even offered his services at a reduced price.

Lords know the Broncos could have done with a decent defensive coach in a season in which they would not have tackled a ham sandwich.

The commission agreed Cross had a right to being “upset, annoyed and indeed angry’’ over being sent screen shots of Ryan’s appointment with no notification from the club. But it did not believe it was unfair he was sacked in the first place.

The whole episode showed how badly the Broncos spun out of control during the season.

Among people to lose their jobs were three or four veterans whose departure did not create headlines but they were valuable for their ability to pull players into line in a way coach Anthony Seibold never felt totally comfortable doing.