“It’s not acceptable what happened this year.”
Even with the ball in hand, the Broncos just could not click. By halftime, they had completed all 20 of their sets, but just could not keep the Melbourne defence guessing enough.
They may have struggled with injuries – Payne Haas, Reece Walsh and Adam Reynolds playing exceedingly little football – but a tough preseason looms if they are to have the attitude adjustment needed to return to premiership contention.
“I just need some time now to fix the place up. I’ve got some opinions myself, but I’ll just keep my emotions in check at the moment … we’ll get our review started on Monday,” Walters said.
“We’ve got enough talent here, we had five of our starters – $4 million – sitting on the sidelines. But that’s one [reason], we need to be better as a group and as a club than what we were.
“At some stage there I couldn’t name 20 players, for Origin three against the Dragons we had 14 players unavailable. But we’ve got to go a lot deeper than that.”
Hughes’ final Dally M statement
Jahrome Hughes simply has to be the leading Dally M Medal contender.
Despite having spent much of the year without his star spine partners Cameron Munster and Ryan Papenhuyzen, the mercurial halfback has guided his team to the top of the table in a canter.
His numbers on Thursday night were ridiculous: three tries, two try assists, three linebreaks, four linebreak assists, 125 running metres and seven tackle busts.
For much of the game he went wide, but when the chances through the middle came he sniffed them out. The tries he did not directly assist, his fingerprints were all over the lead up work.
Jahrome Hughes was sensational for the Melbourne Storm against the Brisbane Broncos.Credit: NRL Photos
“He has been outstanding, and consistently outstanding,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said.
“He’s just found a bit more confidence in himself. We’ve always had confidence in him, but he probably hasn’t had that himself to be quite honest.
“But I think for some reason this year it’s clicked how good a player he is.”
Reynolds’ staunch defence of Walters
Walters was asked if he felt he had lost the playing group.
Reynolds didn’t allow his coach to answer, interjecting to heap the responsibility on the players.
“We all trust in Kev, that’s on us players,” the Broncos skipper said.
“That’s on us players, we weren’t good enough. We’re going to be honest and put our hands up and say we weren’t good enough. The coaching staff do a fantastic job in prepping us week in, week out.
Where to now for the Brisbane Broncos after their huge defeat to the Melbourne Storm?Credit: NRL Photos
“I’ve never seen passion like what Kev drives through the week, that’s coming from a lot of places as well. We need to have a good hard look at ourselves, go away and work hard.”
In a sign of the same faith, Walters said he did not believe an active recruitment drive would be needed.
“I honestly believe the talent is inside the building, we’ve just got to get that talent all working together in the right direction,” he said.
“We’ve shown we can, we’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again. I’m four years into my NRL coaching career, everyone can get better – me personally, that will come up in the review.”
Melbourne’s pre-finals blow
When Brisbane were not worrying about Hughes, they were at odds to limit rookie fullback Sua Faalogo, before he left the field with 23 minutes remaining.
Replacing the injured Papenhuyzen, the 21-year-old was quick to make his mark on the contest, saving two 40/20s before streaking 70 metres downfield after defusing a bomb.
Sua Faalogo leaves the field for the Melbourne Storm against the Brisbane Broncos.Credit: NRL Photos
He went on to finish with 208 metres, two try assists, a linebreak and a linebreak assist, before he succumbed to a hamstring injury to leave Bellamy with some sleepless nights until he knows at least one of his custodians will be fit for finals.
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“I’m not quite sure how bad it is, he thought he heard a pop in his hamstring ... but the medical staff don’t seem to think it’s too bad,” Bellamy said.
“He’s a great runner of the footy, like lightning, and the more games we can get him the more he’s going to learn about the game.
“At a pinch, Paps could have played this week, but we just didn’t want to take that risk, and we didn’t want him to pull up sore then he can’t train all week leading into the finals.
“The medical staff seem to think Paps will be fine for next week.”
Bellamy will also await for a verdict on Katoa’s immediate future, after he was sin binned and placed on report for high contact on Tristan Sailor.
Brisbane Broncos vs Melbourne Storm round 27
Broncos 12 (J Rogers, J Arthars tries; A Reynolds 2 goals) def. by Storm 50 (J Hughes, W Warbrick 3, E Katoa, H Grant, X Coates tries; N Meaney 7 goals)