Devastated Brisbane coach Kevin Walters is confident his team will win premierships in the future if they learn a vital lesson from their 26-24 grand final loss to Penrith.

After giving up a 16-point lead late in the second half on Sunday, Walters said it was "hard to get your head around what happened".

The Broncos came back from an 8-6 half-time deficit to lead 24-8 with 24 minutes remaining after Ezra Mam scored three tries in 10 minutes.

"There's no emotion. It's very quiet. I feel for all the players that gave so much, but it wasn't enough in the end," Walters said.

"That second period for 20 minutes at the start of the second half is the Broncos I know. We need to do that for 80.

"We are not there yet, but when we do, we will win premierships. That is what it is about.

"We are not far off but we are getting there. We are a lot closer now than we were 12 months ago. Would everyone agree? I think so."

The Broncos came last in 2020. Walters took over as head coach and got them to a grand final in three years. It took former coach Wayne Bennett five years, but the Broncos won the 1992 decider.

"Once the dust settles, everyone in that room can be proud of where the club is now compared to where it was … it is just remarkable," Walters said.

"But we wanted to win the premiership this year, and that pisses us off."

Walters and Broncos captain Adam Reynolds don't agree with the adage that you need to lose a grand final to win one.

The fact is that the Panthers lost the 2020 grand final to Melbourne and their players have said the lessons learned from that experience have been a factor in their three consecutive title wins.

One of the key lessons was the need to start well, which the Broncos did not do.