The Brisbane Broncos' 30-6 loss to the Newcastle Knights has all but sealed their fate in 2026, marking a missed finals campaign following a premiership title win last year.
In patches during the season, the Broncos looked to have gotten back to their brilliant best, but ultimately a horror run of injuries to key personnel has stretched the squad's depth thin.
It will mark the first time since 2006 with the Wests Tigers that the defending premiers will not reach September in their title defence season.
The club's stars, including Payne Haas, Reece Walsh, Patrick Carrigan, Adam Reynolds, Ben Hunt, and more, spent periods of extended time on the sidelines.
Although Carrigan admitted he's "not going to play victim" to the club's underwhelming year on the paddock.
“Thoroughly disappointed. It's something each individual sets out to achieve at the start of every year, let alone on the back of last year, but I'm not going to play victim to it, to be honest,” Carrigan said in the Broncos post-match press conference.
“We're not having a lot of luck at the moment, but we're all accountable to be able to get our job done and we didn't get it done tonight. We're fighting hard. The effort is there.
“Obviously boys are playing out of position, but every club's dealing with that at the moment so it's disappointing that our year's finishing.
“But we've still got a lot to play for and a lot of the boys in that change room that mean a lot to this club and that's what we're going to keep doing.”
Despite the mass casualty ward throughout 2026, Carrigan took responsibility for the on-field results after many expected the Broncos to go deep into the finals series this year before a ball was kicked off in March.
“I think it's hard to stand behind performances like that but I think as players we take accountability for that,” Carrigan continued.
“Madge has detailed his preparation and his care for us.
“Players is second to none and like I said before, it's a playing group that goes out on the field and get an opportunity to perform in those eighty minutes and we're not nailing our job at the moment.
“Once you cross that white line it's up to you as an individual and we're falling short.
“Whilst our performances have been off, there's definitely a lot of belief there and we're a hundred per cent behind Madge and as a playing group we have to turn this around.”
Meanwhile, coach Michael Maguire acknowledged their shortcomings and stressed the importance of the group remaining in support of each other.
“It is tough because we've got a real high regard about how these boys go about things. You can't fault how they try,” Maguire said post-match.
“Unfortunately, at the moment we're not getting things going our way, so I feel for everyone that's going through it at the moment.
“But they're a group that support each other and that's what it's about now.
“We've got to make sure that we look after each other through this period.”
The Broncos remain in 14th position, and with congested traffic in the middle tier of the ladder, the challenge is too vast to overcome with five rounds remaining.
Matters could get worse for the Broncos when they face cross-town rivals in the Dolphins on Saturday, who have found some returning form in recent weeks.
