NRL great PAUL GALLEN will appear on Nine's 100% FOOTY every Monday night of the NRL season, debating rugby league's hottest topics alongside Phil Gould and James Bracey. Tune in LIVE at 7.30pm (AEST) on 9Now tonight following a bumper round 27!
The Broncos really let themselves down as a club this year.
It's hard to fathom how a team can go from almost winning a premiership, to missing finals and being spanked the way they were on Thursday night to finish their season.
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To me I reckon the problems started at the end of last year when they let some key players go.
Herbie Farnworth and Tom Flegler went to the Dolphins, and Kurt Capewell also left the club to join the Warriors.
Those are three very good, experienced players leaving at the same time.
Flegler and Capewell were Origin players and Farnworth is a gun international centre.
You can't underestimate the impact it has on a team to lose three players like that in one hit.
I thought that showed more than anything this year for Brisbane.
The team missed those experienced players and you could see it every time things started going wrong for them during games.
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When the chips are down you need those experienced players on the field to get the team together and drag them through it.
The Broncos just didn't have that.
They lost those three guys and basically replaced them with kids.
Talented kids, yes – but all the talent in the world can't replace that experience. When you take that much experience out of a team it completely changes the dynamic.
There are also a lot of reports coming out of Brisbane that some players thought they were bigger than they were, and their heads were in the clouds a bit.
The Broncos also lacked a hard edge.
To win premierships and be competitive in the NRL you need to be hard and you need to have a ruthless mentality.
Teams like the Panthers and Storm have it. The Broncos this year did not.
They have one of the most talented rosters in the league so that's not an issue.
I don't think changing personnel now will help. They have talent across the park but now they need to get experience at the top level and learn how to knuckle down when the going gets tough.
It's not going to happen overnight. They might be three or four years from getting to that point.
Adam Reynolds has been a champion player for a long time but he is obviously coming towards the end of his career.
They can't rely on him to get them through tough times, especially with his history of injuries.
Younger guys like Patrick Carrigan and Payne Haas are experienced Origin players and it should be on those guys to stand up and lead the team now the likes of Capewell, Flegler and Farnworth have gone.
I think the club also needs to back Kevin Walters if they think he is the man who can lead them to a premiership.
I don't agree with those saying he has six or eight weeks to get results next year or he'll be sacked.
They extended his contract earlier this year so they must have faith he is the man for the job.
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