‘There are no excuses’: bumbling Broncos embarrassed by Tigers

Brisbane’s revival lasted one week. Then, the bumbling Broncos were back. Hapless and hopeless.

Billy Walters celebrates after scoring a try for Wests Tigers in their 48-0 thrashing of Brisbane Broncos at Leichhardt Oval on Friday night. Picture: Getty Images

Brisbane’s revival lasted one week. Then, the bumbling Broncos were back. Hapless and hopeless. Not for the first time this season, they embarrassed the jersey.

State of Origin players are making schoolboy errors. Having snapped a six-game losing streak with a win over Canterbury, the Broncos were bashed 48-0 at Leichhardt Oval on Friday night by Wests Tigers.

They were woeful. The discipline problems that have blighted their season were back on show.

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The Broncos will get Matt Lodge, Kotoni Staggs and potentially Jake Turpin back next week.

It won’t be enough. Nowhere near enough based on what we saw on Friday night. Halves Anthony Milford and Brodie Croft were powerless and the Broncos were rudderless. Surely the time has come for Thomas Dearden to get a chance.

As for Anthony Seibold, this performance will do nothing to ease the pressure on the coach.

He sat ashen-faced in the coaches box, bemused by what was unfolding before his eyes. Something has to give. Generally, as we saw this week at the Bulldogs, it is the coach who pays the price.

Seibold has a five-year contract – six if you listen to some – but said he would walk away if he was not the right man for the job. Asked if that was the case, Seibold replied: “It is pretty raw after a performance like that. I have nothing else to say about that.

“I just walked out of the room.”

He added: “If we keep performing like tonight it is nowhere near good enough. There are no excuses. It is my responsibility as a head coach, it is the players responsibility in regards to them doing their job, we are down on troops but that is no excuse for a performance like that. I have tried to stick solid, I have tried to show belief in the group, but we can’t keep throwing up performances like that.

“I don’t know how I can defend that performance. I am not feeling that great to be honest.”

The Broncos digest a shocking performance against Wests Tigers on Friday night. Picture: Getty Images

The Broncos’ night was compounded when backrower Corey Oates broke his leg with 15 minutes remaining.

“Corey has had to go in the ambulance,” Seibold said. “It appears he has a compound fracture of his femur. It is a very serious injury. He is in a fair bit of pain. He will need to stay in Sydney.”

The game was over by halftime as the Tigers ran riot in the first half. The rot started in the 11th minute as the Tigers capitalised on a Broncos error to open the scoring. The try was a picture of simplicity. They just went wide from the scrum and David Nofoaluma cruised over in the corner to take a 6-0 lead.

Three minutes later, Harry Grant slipped out of dummy half and embarrassed the Broncos’ defence as he strolled over himself.

Grant grew up a Broncos fan. He worshipped at the altar of Darren Lockyer but he was in no mood for sentimentality.

In the blink of an eye the score was 12-0. The Tigers were running riot. Billy Walters, son of Broncos legend Kevin Walters, was the next to rub salt into Brisbane’s wounds as he put Luciano Leilua through a hole.

“I should mention Billy Walters,” Tigers coach Michael Maguire said. “I thought he was outstanding.”

Maguire made some big changes when he dropped Luke Brooks to the interchange bench and it proved a masterstroke. Suddenly it was 16-0. Tigers fans had barely regained their seats when their team were in again, Benji Marshall racing away when the call came loose from Jamayne Isaako.

It was getting embarrassing and it only got worse. The halftime break temporarily stopped the pain. Unfortunately for the Broncos, the game still had 40 minutes to run and it only took three of them for the Tigers to score again. The Tigers were awarded a penalty, ran a backline play and score in the corner.

Soft and simple. They were merciless.

“We have a group there that can’t handle any chaos or anything going against them,” Seibold said. “That is so far off where we want to be and can be. The players have to take responsibility for their performance. I take responsibility for the coaching staff.”