Brisbane Broncos Training Session
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 09: Coach Kevin Walters directs his players during a Brisbane Broncos NRL training session at Clive Berghofer Field on March 09, 2021 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters has blamed a lack of experience in tricky situations for his team's fadeout.

The Broncos have become the first team in the history of the top-eight system to miss the finals after being in the top four with six rounds to play.

It came with the Broncos losing five of their final six games on a horror run to the end of the season, capped off by falling to the St George Illawarra Dragons at Kogarah on Saturday evening.

Walters admitted the club's season is over, although they will keep one eye on Sunday afternoon's game at Leichhardt, where a 54-point win for the Tigers could still knock the Raiders out of the top eight and allow the Broncos to sneak into knockout football.

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Walters said it was a lack of experience which had cost his team.

“It’s all new for most guys,” he said after the game.

“Adam (Reynolds) and Kurt (Capewell) have obviously played finals footy but a lot of our guys haven’t got a lot of experience at the back end of the season and we didn’t get it right so that’s what we’ve got to fix.”

The loss means the Broncos have missed the finals for the third time in a row, with the last two campaigns seeing the Red Hill-based club end up in the bottom four, having received the first wooden spoon in Broncos' history during the 2020 season.

Walters promised that a good hard look would be taken at both players and staff.

“The season’s over so words don’t mean too much now, we’ve got to have a good look at ourselves — staff and players — over the next couple of weeks and look forward to next season, that’s all we can do," he said.

Despite that, veteran halfback Adam Reynolds said missing the top eight didn't sum up Brisbane's season.

“It’s not a reflection of our season, our season was built on hard work… it was just a waste in the end there,” Reynolds said.