The Brisbane Broncos have slumped to a fifth straight loss and were outclassed by the Gold Coast Titans in their latest outing on Saturday night, losing 28-23 in front of 40,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium.
An affair that moved back-and-fourth between the south-Queensland rivals, the game was there to be won for the Broncos but failed to contain Keano Kini in the dying minutes where he could successfully chip-and-chase through the premiers defence and score to take the lead.
Broncos had the chance to ice the game following a line-break down the left edge, but weren't able to capitalise following Ezra Mam kicking the ball into the in-goal instead of reading the overlap on the other edge.
There are genuine questions whether the Broncos will make it into the Top 8 following this loss. The stage was set for them to bounce back strongly after their shock defeat to the Dragons a week prior, who hadn't won a game in 300-odd days.
Although they failed to deliver, and their title defense season is officially at risk.
In the same match this time last year, the Broncos also wore their special all-black kit and defeated the Titans to regain their spark in a 44-14 shellacking following some flat mid-season performances. It propelled them into form through the backend of the year, where they went on a run to claim fourth spot after the last round of the season and eventually win the title.
This corresponding match would have been no-doubt earmarked in the same respects as their 2025 clash, although they let this match slip away and find themselves in trouble for the remainder of this year.
The pressure could be getting to the defending premiers, with vision capturing Reece Walsh and Jack Gosiewski having a bicker following the Titans' first try of the match.
Although Michael Maguire isn't worried about the on-field stoush, and knows those things happen in the heat of the game.
“If you look at all teams that are rolling around in our competition, there's people having strong conversations when you're out there because it happens fast and quick, and they're men having a conversation about something there that they care about,” Maguire said in his post-game press conference.
With the Titans having less than 50% possession and toppling the error count, it should have been a match the Broncos ran away with, propelling them into some form as they did in their meeting last year.
“They had more jerseys in the picture to be around for the scraps,” Staggs lamented following full-time.
“I don't know what the coach will say, but we have to sit down and have a listen.”
The Broncos and Titans will both travel to Sydney next week, with the premiers facing South Sydney and the Gold Coast taking on the Wests Tigers.
