00:00State of play, they've been a bit of a running theme in and out the program today, but we touched
00:05on the Sharks last time with a huge volume of players coming out of contract, and one of the big
00:10questions was where they sat in the scheme of things.
00:13They were always ultra competitive, but we weren't sure if they were able to climb the mountain.
00:18Brisbane did climb the mountain.
00:20Obviously, they've been a bit yo-yo-y.
00:21They went grand final, missed the finals, premiership, and they look in all sorts at the moment.
00:26I guess fundamentally, where's their list at?
00:29Do you think there's enough talent for them if they can get it right, maybe between the ears, if they're
00:33struggling at the moment, to bounce again, or have they got some issues?
00:38I mean, they've certainly had some injuries this year, which hasn't helped the Broncos, but it's hard to understand why
00:44they've dropped off to the level they have because they were so fantastic at the back end of last year.
00:49Obviously, a lot of that was down to Reece Walsh's form, and that creates some headaches in itself where he
00:54hasn't quite hit the level that he was in the back eight weeks of last year.
00:58However, you look at that last eight weeks of 2025 and go, well, you can't expect one player to drag
01:04you out of a hole like that over and over and over and over again, which Walsh did last year.
01:08On top of that, obviously, Adam Reynolds is another year older.
01:11He's certainly in his last year of his career and has had some injury issues.
01:15Payne Haas has spent time sidelined.
01:17So there are excuses for the Broncos, but I think the excuses don't cover the level of drop-off, if
01:23that makes sense.
01:24Yeah, it does.
01:25And I think, look, last year they were one of the first sides in, I think, three decades to win
01:30a premiership without being ranked in the top four for points against or defensively.
01:36Now, they're currently in the midst of some historic lows as well.
01:40A six-game losing streak is the worst run by a defending Premier since 2005.
01:45And also since 2005, they're the first defending Premier to lose to the bottom two within the season.
01:51And obviously, they've suffered some pretty bad losses as well.
01:54Mitch Barnett, Jonah Pezzett, obviously added in terms of the future.
01:58What sort of impact can they have?
02:00Well, Mitch Barnett, to start with, has got enormous shoes to fill because Payne Haas is leaving.
02:05He's suddenly got to try and replace the best prop in the game.
02:08He won't have to do it on his own.
02:09Brisbane do have some really good young guys coming through that system led by Xavier Willison.
02:13He's been fantastic this year.
02:15But Mitch Barnett has got enormous shoes to fill and good luck to him because I don't think he's up
02:19to it personally.
02:21Jonah Pezzett has, you know, when he was signed, there was plenty of excitement and Brisbane fans are very happy.
02:27I think that would be tempered a little bit now because he's fallen out of favour at the Parramatta Reals
02:31and we know how badly they're going.
02:33Granted, Pezzett has been injured, but Jason Rowles is now struggling to find a way to get him back into
02:37the side.
02:39I think there's actually a question around who starts at number seven next year for Brisbane
02:42because Tom Duffy has exploded and we knew he would.
02:45He's so good.
02:46He came through that North Queensland Cowboys system, couldn't get a run up there, went to Brisbane,
02:50has had to bide his time, but has been really good and looks every bit the first grade player.
02:54So I think there's a real question around what the halves look like.
02:56I think Ezra Mam comes into that conversation as well.
02:59He's on far too big money to be dropped for good, but his form hasn't been good this year
03:05and he's been dropped for the moment, hasn't he?
03:07So I think there's three in the mix there.
03:09Obviously, Mam is the out-and-out 5'8 of the trio, but I think Duffy could play either role.
03:13So it may come down to actually whether Michael Maguire next year wants to pick either Mam or Pezzet
03:19and he's starting 19.
03:21Yeah, Mam almost symbolic of sort of where they're at at the moment,
03:24someone who you think is capable and certainly is capable of a lot more
03:27and just out of favour and out of sorts.
03:30In terms of obviously some veterans, Hunt, Walters, we spoke about a little bit as well.
03:36Who's signed? Who might sign?
03:38I guess any of the other balls that are in the air for them?
03:41Yeah, well, I think you've raised an interesting point there of Hunt and Walters
03:45because the Broncos are so loaded at dummy half with Blake Moser,
03:48Corey Paye re-signing earlier this year, Cameron Bukowski,
03:50who we think is going to be excellent when he breaks through to some permanent first grade minutes as well.
03:55So there's three plus Hunt and Walters.
03:57Now, Ben Hunt has indicated he wants to play on.
04:00I'm not sure that's the right call for the Broncos.
04:02They do need some fresh blood up there and I'm not sure having five hookers on the books is the
04:06way to go.
04:07Obviously, Hunt provides cover at halfback as well,
04:10but with the Jonah Pezzet signing, we just touched on it.
04:12They've already got three pretty good halves in contention for minutes up there.
04:15So I'm not sure Hunt re-signing is the way to go.
04:17Billy Walters obviously was so good last year
04:20and actually filled in on the halves when Brisbane had major injury issues.
04:23So I think maybe they re-sign one of Hunt and Walters.
04:26I'm not sure they can afford or justify re-signing both from a squad balance point of view.
04:31I think there's other things that they need, particularly in the outside backs.
04:34You know, we're talking about losing Jesse Arthur and Gemma Shibasaki earlier.
04:38It does leave them very under strength heading into next year in that back five at the moment.
04:42Obviously, Dane Mariner, Katoni Staggs, Josiah Carapane are all there.
04:47So there are some guys that are there, but the depth is skinny.
04:51Obviously, Grant Anderson is leaving as well.
04:52He's heading to the New Zealand Warriors.
04:54So I think they need to prioritise potentially another forward
04:57because I think replacing Payton Haas is not going to be simple
05:00and another outside back rather than re-signing both Hunt and Walters.
05:04And I don't think they can do all of that.
05:05And just finally on the Broncos, what else do they need in terms of building?
05:09And are you confident that they can rebound assuming they don't recover sufficiently this season?
05:16Yeah, well, as we just talked about, outside backs and forwards are probably where they're going to need some more
05:21impact.
05:22I think the second row is also an interesting question for Brisbane.
05:24Brandon Piacura and Jordan Rickey are obviously there,
05:27but I think there's some wiggle room to potentially add another player there.
05:31I just don't know whether Brisbane – I think they overachieved last year, let's be honest, in winning that premiership.
05:36As you mentioned, as their defence was not in the top four and they won the comp.
05:40So I think there's some wiggle room for Michael Maguire to look at his squad and go,
05:45yeah, we need some extra defensive options, some defensive weapons.
05:50I don't think there's too many left on the open market for next year,
05:52which creates some headaches there if they do want to go down that path.
05:56But I think Brisbane are good enough to make the top eight even this year,
05:59and they certainly should be in the mix next year.
06:01The signing of Jonah Pezay was lauded at the time as a huge one.
06:05And obviously they've got depth in key areas, so they're certainly good enough.
06:09But Michael Maguire's got a track record of teams going like that and then going like that.
06:15Yeah.
06:15And it's certainly shaping that way at the moment with that yo-yo theme.
06:19The signing of Jonah Pezay is the only one who's going to be the only one who's going to be
06:23the only one who's going to be the only one who's going to be the only one who's going to
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06:28one who's going to be the only one who's going to be the only one who's going to be the
06:28only one who's going to be the only one who's going to be the only one who's going to be
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