Forgotten men, rising stars chasing NRL jobs<\/a><\/p>\nAdam Reynolds is out with a hamstring injury.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a huge turnover with their roster and in fact they\u2019ve added probably one of the best utilities in the game in Ben Hunt to the roster, who came with great experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not surprised, Brisbane are where they\u2019re expected to be. I mean Brisbane should be in the top four with that roster and that\u2019s the expectation. Big club, great roster, getting key players back at the right time. <\/p>\n
\u201cBrisbane absolutely should be one of the dark horses to win the competition, there\u2019s no question.\u201d <\/p>\n
O’brien content with time at Knights | 15:45<\/p>\n
However, the loss of Mam and Reynolds and the lingering concerns around Payne Haas and his workload has put a dampner on the Broncos\u2019 title charge, but Ennis backed them to go all the way if they can just get enough players back by the time the sudden death games kick off. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe big thing for Brisbane is that they need to get to the finals healthy,\u201d Ennis said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got the individuals that have experienced finals footy, they\u2019ve felt the heartache of a Grand Final loss and that doesn\u2019t leave you. <\/p>\n
Ben Hunt is a massive bonus for the Broncos.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThat loss in fact, it just reignites the fire and it just rages until you get yourself back there to turn that around. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe roster\u2019s incredible at full strength but the key factor for Brisbane is they have to get to the finals with Adam Reynolds healthy. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey have to get there with Reece Walsh healthy, which in recent weeks the knee is improving in the way that he\u2019s moving and he has looked as good as he\u2019s ever looked. <\/p>\n
\u201cCarrigan needs to be healthy, I think he\u2019s a huge factor for them through the middle of the field. <\/p>\n
Panthers not chasing slim top 4 chances | 02:26<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then the other one, I think is Ezra Mam because we saw just what he can do in the big games, what we saw in that 2023 Grand Final, three tries and was marching himself towards a Clive Churchill Medal before Nathan stole it from under his feet.\u201d <\/p>\n
While the Broncos\u2019 roster is the envy of most teams in the finals, Ennis warned they still haven\u2019t produced their best footy with their first choice spine. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s their greatest luxury, but it\u2019s also the biggest question mark around Brisbane heading in to the finals, is the fact that when you look at their roster on paper, with the current salary cap, the depth in key positions is phenomenal,\u201d Ennis said. <\/p>\n
Reece Walsh is in career best form.Source: The Daily Telegraph<\/p>\n
\u201cTo think that you can lose Mam and Reynolds and have the quality of Hunt go to halfback, have the luxury of having Billy Walters, Cory Paix, these types of guys in your side, to hold the fort until you get those other blokes back is crazy. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut then at the same time, the issue, I think for Brisbane has been, when they\u2019ve had the majority of the top spine together at times it looks like there\u2019s too many cooks in the kitchen. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo when Reynolds and Mam come back, the side then has to readjust to Hunt going to hooker and Walsh has to readjust to having two key playmakers back and that he can\u2019t do everything.\u201d <\/p>\n
‘Why would you not come to work?’ | 10:11<\/p>\n
Maguire\u2019s team\u2019s greatest strength is their depth, which is helping them whether their injury storm, but Ennis warned their biggest challenge could come when they get some players back on deck. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the challenge for Brisbane is to get that balance right because the Brisbane side with all of them in it, can win the competition,\u201d Ennis said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just whether they can combine together and get their best performance by all pulling in the same direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s Madge\u2019s biggest challenge because their forward pack will handle the final series no problem and their outside backs are absolutely elite. <\/p>\n
\u201cKotoni Staggs has had the best season that he\u2019s had. Shibasaki\u2019s been one of the stories of the season he really has. <\/p>\n
Tino demands accountability from Titans | 01:13<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then again that depth whether it\u2019s Cobbo, Mariner, Karapani, the list goes on. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are so well placed, but it\u2019s just can they all pull together in the same direction and can this spine connect to all get their best game on, without pulling in different directions and unsettling their attack and all trying to do their own thing. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the challenge and I think that\u2019s where they need Adam Reynolds because his experience, his calmness, his composure and his captaincy is absolutely critical.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Broncos have definitely improved from 2024 in their first season under Maguire, but anything less than a preliminary final would be a failure, according to Ennis. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think the expectation regardless of whether it was Kevvie (Walters) coaching or whether it\u2019s Madge coming in, the expectation for Brisbane at the moment with that roster is to win a competition,\u201d Ennis said. <\/p>\n
Ciraldo responds to Crichton claim | 00:43<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the cold hard facts of it. There are so many other coaches out there in the competition that would kill to have that Brisbane roster or the quality of individuals in it. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo doubt that they have those aspirations to win it, but I think a pass mark would have to be to get to the preliminary final because then it just comes down to the occasion. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou give yourself a shot of the Grand Final and it\u2019s sport, things are unpredictable, things may not go your way and sometimes they do, but with Brisbane I think they\u2019d be extremely disappointed if they don\u2019t give themselves a shot of the Grand Final, so that then tells me that the prelim is the pass mark for Brisbane.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Ennis believes the Broncos\u2019 season will be a failure if they don\u2019t make at least the preliminary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[7189,18743,64,63,21686,14868,4428,74444,7618,74445,13485,74443,74446,21683,74447,61783,47915,4612,11288,38438,45123,4517,68833,52609,74441,74440,4746,32917,6407,761,762,158,16228,13390,4598,10383,74197,13391,72588,765,7889,85,4546,74442,53259,38446,4737],"class_list":["post-102807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-adam-obrien","tag-adam-reynolds","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ben-hunt","tag-brandon-mychal-smith","tag-brisbane-broncos","tag-broncos-expectations","tag-cameron-ciraldo","tag-choice-spine","tag-darcie-mcdonald","tag-death-games-kick","tag-demands-accountability","tag-ezra-mam","tag-final-series","tag-finals-footy","tag-finals-spot","tag-gold-coast-titans","tag-grand-final","tag-grudge-match","tag-hamstring-injuries","tag-hamstring-injury","tag-injury-storm","tag-key-factor","tag-key-hurdle","tag-losing-star-playmakers","tag-mark-st-john","tag-michael-ennis","tag-michael-maguire","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-pass-mark","tag-payne-haas","tag-penrith-panthers","tag-points-differential","tag-preliminary-finals","tag-reece-walsh","tag-rising-stars-chasing","tag-run-home","tag-salary-cap","tag-sports","tag-stephen-crichton","tag-sudden-death-games","tag-tino-fa","tag-title-charge","tag-trent-robinson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}