Arabic version: يواجه برونكوس طريقًا شبه مستحيل للتأهل إلى نهائيات دوري الرجبي الوطني
The Brisbane Broncos’ hopes of reaching the NRL finals have been severely weakened after an eight-match losing streak left the defending premiers with a long road to recovery.
According to ABC News, the Broncos sit on 16 competition points with seven rounds to play and are eight points shy of the eighth-placed Cowboys. The club has won just five matches so far this season; even a perfect run from here would leave them on 13 wins — a total that has failed to guarantee a finals berth in recent seasons (Brisbane missed the finals with 13 wins in 2022).
The current form of other clubs compounds the challenge: both the Dolphins and North Queensland have 10 wins and seven losses, and the Broncos carry a negative points difference of 126. The Cowboys (-17) and the Dolphins (+64) are well ahead on points difference, so if all three finish on 13 wins Brisbane would have a lot of ground to make up.
Because of those factors, the Broncos would likely need an almost unprecedented run — the calculation is they would require eight wins from their remaining nine fixtures — just to have a chance of sneaking into the top eight.
Fourteen members of the 2025 grand final-winning side are due to play Penrith away on Thursday night, offering some cause for optimism. The squad includes Reece Walsh, Adam Reynolds, Patrick Carrigan and Payne Haas.
Billy Walters, named in the extended squad as he recovers from an ACL, said: “It’s now or never this week against a tough team like Panthers. If you look at the positives, if we get two points this week against arguably the best team in the competition, the confidence that can bring is like a snowball effect. Once you get that first win, the next one comes a bit easier … and if you get one win, it can turn into two pretty quickly and then who knows what can happen. We’re getting a lot of troops back and basically back to full strength, so there’s no excuses anymore. If we don’t fire up and put a good performance in this week, then when are we?”
What happens next: the Broncos face the Panthers at Western Sydney Stadium on Thursday night. If Brisbane cannot halt the losing streak, their path to the finals will become effectively closed given the number of wins required and the comparative records and points differences of rivals.
Related sections: Australia/استراليا | Tasmania | Queensland | New South Wales | Australian Capital Territory
