Former Brisbane Broncos captain Corey Parker knows a thing or two about what makes the club tick.
One of the games most experienced ever players, Parker played a stellar career for the Red Hill-based outfit between 2001 and 2016, putting on the Broncos shirt 347 times.
He also played 19 State of Origins for Queensland between 2004 and 2016, and 13 Tests for Australia between 2011 and 2016 where he developed a reputation as one of the game's best no-nonsense forwards.
The Broncos, who used to own the Brisbane area as a one-team town, have always brought with them strong feelings from fans of rival clubs, and that fire was stoked again at the end of last round, when Todd Payten, joking or not, made reference to the fact "everyone hates the Broncos" ahead of this weekend's clash between the two sides.
“I will answer that for him ... everyone hates the Broncos," Payten said.
“Everyone north of Brisbane, north of the city."
Those comments came after captain Tom Dearden was asked how he felt about playing his first club next weekend.
Dearden didn't shy away from the answer, agreeing with his coach - "I hate the Broncos", was the exact comment.
Taking to SEN Radio in Queensland this week though, Parker was quizzed on whether fans really hate the Broncos, and came up with five reasons as to why.
Parker pointed at tall poppy syndrome and media attention as the first two reasons, suggesting Brisbane's success with seven premierships, and the fact they are owned by News Limited, are issues for fans to get around.
“I mean, part of the reason is that the old-fashioned tall poppy syndrome that comes so often with Australian culture, which I dislike,” he explained on SENQ Breakfast," Parker said.
“But we've all been part of it at some point of trying to pull someone down when we think they should be rising.
“The Broncos, they've got seven premierships since entering the competition (in 1988).
“They're owned by News Limited. 52% of that (is) owned by News Limited, so they do dominate all the press.
“So if you're a (Queensland) Red or a (Brisbane) Lion or whoever it might be, you pick up the paper (and) invariably, first story on the back page is a Brisbane Bronco.
“So that generates an opinion, so maybe there's some form of dislike with that regard."
The former representative star also suggested Brisbane's large fan base, and the fact they have produced so many Maroons players over the years, is an issue for fans particularly south of the border when it comes to their supposed problems with the club.
“Their fan base is around about 70,000 to 80,000, which is considerably larger than most in the NRL," he said.
“So, a lot of people just try and tear down the Brisbane Broncos.
"This one is for the Blues fans. The Broncos have been littered with Maroon superstars.
"Lockyer, Langer, Webcke, Walsh just to name a few.
"In the 90's the Broncos squad was effectively a Queensland State team.
"If you hate the Maroons, then you probably hate the Broncos too."
Parker also hinted that the fact Brisbane are a 'destination club' is something too hard to stomach for fans of other clubs.
“But at the end of the day, I suppose, the players who come to Brisbane, they have this attraction that people 'wanna' come and play for the Brisbane Broncos, which then brings a fair bit of opinion (and) a fair bit of dislike," he said.
