Reece Walsh and Latrell Mitchell detail as extent of Broncos and Rabbitohs' hell laid bare

The Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney Rabbitohs are two of the most high-profile clubs in the NRL, but both are picking up the pieces on a season where not much went right. With Reece Walsh and Latrell Mitchell, both clubs have two of the best fullbacks in the league.

But nothing sums up their seasons from hell a much as the number of games that were lost due to injury. NRL Physio 'Brien Seeney' has compiled the total number of games that players in each team's top 30 squad missed in 2024 due to injury, and it makes for some telling reading.

The Rabbitohs are top of the list with a whopping 213 games missed, followed by the Warriors (140) and Broncos (138). Unsurprisingly, those three teams all failed to make the finals in 2024.

Top-eight teams the Bulldogs (134), Cowboys (129) and Storm (119) are next, which goes to show the remarkable resilience they produced to make the finals this year, while Melbourne finished minor premiers despite the situation. But on the other end of the scale, the Panthers only had players miss 69 games through injury, while the Knights (69) and Sharks (80) were also relatively injury-free.

Broncos and Rabbitohs hampered by Walsh and Mitchell injuries

South Sydney finished second-last in what was another disappointing season, but considering the scale of their injury crisis it should come as no surprise. Their highest-paid player only managed 11 games in 2024, with Mitchell copping a three-game suspension early in the season before being sidelined with a foot injury late.

The fullback didn't play after Round 18 - a crushing blow when it looked like the Rabbitohs might make a late charge to the finals. The Rabbitohs thrashed the Eels 32-16 in the final game that Mitchell played, but without him they lost eight of their last nine.

As for the Broncos, they suffered their biggest fall from grace in club history as they went from grand finalists in 2023 to 12th on the ladder this season. And it was a similar story with their gun fullback, with Walsh only playing 14 games.

The 22-year-old had a breakout year at NRL and State of Origin level in 2023, but couldn't stay on the park in 2024. He suffered a facial fracture in Round 3 against Penrith, before suffering a bad concussion in the opening State of Origin game that saw him miss a month of Broncos games.

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He was also sidelined with a knee complaint at one stage, before fracturing his hand at the worst possible time. Kevin Walters' side were still in the hunt to play finals footy, right up until the second-last round.

But they lost Walsh in Round 23, and he didn't play again. Captain and halfback Adam Reynolds also missed about two months with a bicep injury, while gun front rower Payne Haas also missed a number of games.

Kevin Walters doesn't think Broncos need mass changes

Many have called for the Broncos to make widespread changes moving forward, but it might have been a different story if their troops could have stayed injury-free. And Walters admitted he feels the squad has enough talent that they don't need to do things too differently in 2025.

"I honestly believe that the talent is inside the building," the coach said after their final game against the Storm. "We've just got to get that talent all working together in the right direction. We've done it before and we'll do it again."