NRL news 2026: Brisbane Broncos’ terrible title defence ‘self-inflicted’, less to do with injuries, Phil Gould says on Six Tackles with Gus podcast

Phil Gould has argued the Broncos′ dreadful premiership defence has largely been “self-inflicted” rather than a matter of “bad luck”.

Much has been made of the heavy injury toll Michael Maguire’s team has faced this season, but Gould suggested Brisbane’s crashing fall – which he labelled “ridiculous” – says a lot about attitude and a lack of connection.

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The Broncos still have five regular-season games left, beginning with a match against cross-city rivals the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, but their chances of playing finals football are already dead.

In a season that’s delivered only six wins from 19 games, the Broncos have become the first reigning NRL premiers to miss finals football since Wests Tigers in 2006.

“In review, the Broncos will have to ascertain whether this was self-inflicted or whether or not the football gods just decided this wasn’t their time and they had a run of bad luck,” Gould said on Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles with Gus.

“A number of clubs do get a run of bad luck but tend to recover.

“I think with the Broncos, it’s probably been self-inflicted more than anything – more than the other sides.”

A huge chunk of the Broncos’ roster has spent multiple weeks on the sidelines this season, including Reece Walsh, Adam Reynolds, Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan, Xavier Willison and Jordan Riki.

Billy Walters, who was sidelined with an ACL rupture, didn’t return to the NRL side until the clash with North Queensland in round 21.

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It was in that game in Townsville that Brisbane’s finals chances went from life support to the grave.

In Gould’s mind, there are clear issues at the Broncos beyond just a bruising injury toll.

“It can only come down to attitude, I’d imagine. There’s too much noise coming out of there all the time about the players buying into what they need to do, buying into the team ethos, and being ‘connected’ as they say these days,” the former NSW State of Origin coach said.

“Their football is based on talent, it’s based on sheer individual talent. Reece Walsh has got to do something, Kotoni Staggs has got to do something, Adam Reynolds has got to do something. It’s never felt like a team performance at any time.

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“Even last year, it was individual talent that kept getting them out of trouble. Games were won by individual brilliance rather than what we would call a team structure.

“They’re very, very hard to contain individually, but as a team, they probably fall short on the basics on a number of occasions, and that comes back to bite them.”

“That’ll come out in review – how they’re going to look going forward, and probably how they’re coached going forward as well,” he added.

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“So they’ve got some work to do. That’ll be a huge disappointment for them.”

The Tigers are sitting below the Broncos on the ladder, but Benji Marshall’s team has won more games – seven to six.

The Tigers have a round 23 bye, meaning if the Broncos lose to the Dolphins, the Tigers will leapfrog Brisbane on the ladder.

The Broncos could go from winning a premiership to finishing second-last, ahead of only the Dragons.

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“It’s been ridiculous. For the talent level there, that’s very, very hard to understand ... It’s a wonderfully talented roster, and it’s hard to imagine in this competition that they wouldn’t be winning more games than that,” Gould said.

“Mind you, the clubs do lift to play against the defending premiers. There are a lot of factors that go into a season, a lot of things out of your control which can affect your fortunes during the course of a year, and a lot of things that are under your control.”

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