Pat Carrigan moment singled out as NRL greats expose damning truth behind Broncos struggles

The Brisbane Broncos are copping backlash left, right and centre after Saturday's embarrassing NRL season-ending thumping by the Dolphins. And club great Gorden Tallis says one moment with rep star Pat Carrigan sums up what many critics believe is at the heart of the Broncos struggles this year.

Coach Kevin Walters is under the pump, with veteran league reporter Phil Rothfield suggesting he has 12 games next season to turn around the club's fortunes or potentially face the axe. And skipper Adam Reynolds has been forced to respond to a lashing from Tallis over his decision to replace Billy Walters on a weekly radio segment for Triple M, after his teammate quit in response to the constant criticism of the Broncos coach.

Tallis was among those to argue that Reynolds should have presented a show of unity with his coach and teammate and turned down the invitation to appear on radio. Many critics have pointed out that the Broncos players don't seem to be on the same page in 2024 and have questioned the attitude of a star-studded playing group that has underperformed this season after coming so close to winning last year's grand final.

And three-time Brisbane premiership-winner Tallis highlighted a moment involving Carrigan against the Dolphins that told him something was not right at the club. With the Broncos needing to win to keep their season alive and the game very much still in the balance, Carrigan crossed for a 24th minute try to pull Brisbane within six points of the 12-man Dolphins.

But rather than seeing his teammates all rush in to celebrate with the forward, Carrigan was only greeted with a subdued pat on the back from a couple of his teammates. Tallis told NRL 360 it suggested there was a major issue around team harmony at the Broncos, with host Braith Anasta also noting that Brisbane's players got behind one another much more last season.

“When Patty Carrigan scored, one player ran over to pat him on the back,” Tallis said. The footage suggested the Carrigan try was more like a consolation four-pointer than a potentially pivotal moment in Brisbane's season. And Anasta said the muted celebrations from the Broncos players were in stark contrast to the energy within the playing group last season, during their charge to the grand final.

Corey Parker says Broncos squad has 'no cohesion' in 2024

“Last year they were buzzing, high fiving (and) all over each other,” Anasta said. “It’s visible there, isn’t it?” The suggestion was that cracks have been evident in the Brisbane squad this season, with another former club great Corey Parker also taking note of the incident and insisting there has been "no cohesion" amongst the playing group in 2024.

“Jamayne Isaako scores in the right hand corner (for the Dolphins) and I reckon 13 players on the field jumped on him,” Parker said on SENQ. “They were elated and there was emotion. I think there were two players (for the Broncos) who celebrated when Pat Carrigan scored.

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“The score at that point was 12-0 and that was to make it 12-6 so they were still well and truly in the game. There’s a lot of things you can look at from body language, emotion and that was one of them. When you see the Penrith Panthers celebrate every piece of success to the point where they get a bit of criticism the other way.

“I’d rather the carry on than not have any jubilation or emotion shown from your teammates. When the team isn’t going any good, of course you dissect it and ask yourself why. There’s no cohesion and you start to see examples like that. That was glaring and alarming.”

Rothfield says Brisbane's grand final run last season has bought the coach 18 months of good grace and that his job is not under immediate threat. But the veteran league reporter warned that a club as big as the Broncos - with the talented roster they have at their disposal - simply won't tolerate a poor start to next season if Walters can't get the team firing.

“I reckon a coach who makes a grand final buys himself 18 months and even if he’s (Walters) had a shocking year with that roster he’s had this year, I think the fact that they went so close to winning that title buys him the first half of next season,” Rothfield said on NRL 360.“If they’ve not recovered by then, it is probably time to look at other options.”