Cricket
Racing
Rugby
League
Motorsport
Football
Golf
Combat Sports
Basketball
Tennis
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Broncos labelled as “absolute pretenders”
Charles Goodsir • May 5th, 2025 12:36 pm
The Brisbane Broncos have been labelled as “pretenders” following their shock 32-8 loss to the bottom-placed Penrith Panthers on Sunday in Magic Round.
Michael Maguire's Broncos opened the scoring but then conceded the next five tries to slump to their third loss in the past four matches. As a result Brisbane sits precariously in fifth on the ladder with a 5-4 record.
The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio believes the Broncos are severely underperforming given the amount of talent on the roster.
“They are absolute pretenders,” Riccio declared on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“Absolute pretenders with a roster that is top two that should be dominating teams.
“There is so much inconsistency in their performances. One week, they are premiership favourites and the next week, you are questioning whether they can actually win the comp.
“The performance a couple of weeks ago against the Warriors was right down to the wire. Those are the games you get in finals and they couldn’t get the job done.
“Against the Canberra Raiders in Round 2, they weren’t able to get the job done.
“It’s those grittier games (where the Broncos struggle). It’s going to get interesting when they have to get into a dog fight which is where they are lacking at the moment.”
The Broncos have registered wins agains the Sydney Roosters, Wests Tigers, North Queensland Cowboys, the Dolphins and most impressively, handed the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs their first loss of the year.
However, SEN’s Greg Alexander believes the Bulldogs win was an anomaly and believes their losses to the Roosters in Round 6 and Raiders in Round 2 is more indicative of where the team is at.
“When you look at their last month, they have only won one game,” Alexander said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“Everything went right for the Broncos in the game against the Bulldogs and it was because the Bulldogs imploded.
“If you offer Brisbane a sniff, they are good enough and they have so many dangerous attackers that can make them look like a champion team.
“There is something lacking in that side and I don’t know what it is.”
“I’m not sold,” SEN’s Andrew Voss responded.
“I have not once been on the Broncos bandwagon. They haven’t proved themselves on the toughness scale.
“When they are flashy and good, they can pile on points.
“They have not sold me yet.”
The Broncos travel to Accor Stadium to take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Friday night.
