Broncos leader Patrick Carrigan has been left unimpressed with his side’s performance to start the season claiming his team are taking ‘shortcuts’ after the 40-32 defeat to the Eels. Jonah Pezet spearheaded a comeback for the Eels to sink the Broncos to hand the reigning champions their second-straight NRL defeat at Suncorp Stadium to start the season.
The Broncos were woeful in defence with Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam both called out for switching off throughout the contest. Michael Maguire’s team made 12 errors and gave away 12 penalties/ruck infringements throughout the contest.
They also missed 28 tackles having conceded 40 points in a frenetic game. The Broncos failed to deliver in attack last week against the Panthers and failed to defend adequately against the Eels in week two. And Carrigan was left frustrated in his post-match interview.
Broncos leader Patrick Carrigan (pictured middle) claimed his team are taking ‘shortcuts’ after the 40-32 defeat to the Eels. (Images: Getty Images)
Speaking to former Broncos forward Sam Thaiday on Channel Nine, Carrigan cut a dejected figure suggesting the side were cutting-corners on the little efforts throughout the 80 minutes. “Defence, first and foremost,” Carrigan about where it went wrong.
“Taking little shortcuts, missing fundamental roles. Some of those tries tonight were very poor. Credit to Parramatta obviously, but really disappointing from our end. We just fade in and out of games too much, and it’s not good enough. We’ve got to be willing to make some tough choices and do it for a long period of time.
“Momentum is going to swing in this game as we’ve seen. We’ve got to be able to withstand pressure and we’re not doing that at the moment. We’ve just got to find a way. We will have some honest reviews, go back to the drawing board and put time into those effort areas in the game because we’re missing the mark at the moment and it’s biting us on the arse.”
Ezra Mam’s defence called out
The Eels continually targeted five-eighth Mam on the left edge throughout the contest with the Broncos playmaker missing a number of efforts. Penrith great Greg Alexander pinpointed this area as a place the Broncos needed to solidify.
“They’ve got the edge defence absolutely rattled,” Greg Alexander said on Fox League. “Ezra Mam is a match-winner but boy he’s been found out defensively on that side. They really have struggled defensively on that left side, Brisbane. They’re all over the place.”
Mam started in the World Club Challenge against Hull KR, but was dropped to the bench to start the NRL season against the Panthers. Mam is strong in attack, but there are concerns at the other end of the field. Maguire will have a tough choice going forward on how to improve that left-edge defence with the Broncos missing too many tackles.
Maguire agreed the team was struggling defending their goal line across the first two games. “It takes a team to have a strong defensive line,” he said after the game. “We had a few issues there on the left, but as a group and as a team, they all help each other and that’s what a defensive line is. We’re just not hitting the mark there.”