Brisbaneโs premiership defence has started in a bumbling mess as pumped-up Penrith made a title statement with a ruthless 26-0 shutout of the Broncos on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
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The loss was the biggest by a defending premier in round one since Manly lost 44-10 to Brisbane in 1988, while it was Penrithโs largest win against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
The Panthers hit back at last yearโs preliminary final loss to the Broncos, who were sliced-and-diced by Penrithโs Big Three of Nathan Cleary, Dylan Edwards and Isaah Yeo in a stinging Suncorp round 1 reality check.
The Broncos overturned a 14-0 deficit in the 2025 grand-final qualifier but this time there would be no epic comeback against a red-hot Panthers side that led from start to finish before 45,566 fans.
With Cleary celebrating his 100th game as captain, the Panthers bolted to an 18-0 halftime lead, outenthusing a Broncos side that lacked energy and was brutally mugged in midfield.
Brisbaneโs shock 30-24 loss to Hull KR in the World Club Challenge a fortnight ago was supposed to be a mere pre-season blip.
But this was worse. This trainwreck was one of Brisbaneโs worst performances of the Michael Maguire regime. They were flat, careless and disjointed. And hereโs the chastening reality: if the Broncos keep giving up leads, there will be no repeat of last yearโs title heroics.
Read on for the โBig Hitsโ from the game, including a selection statement from the Panthers and reality check for the Broncos!
Brisbaneโs sluggish starts are becoming endemic and if they donโt fix their first-half siestas the Broncosโ premiership defence will quickly go off the rails.
The Broncosโ opening 40 was terrible. They completed at a woeful 61 per cent, missed nearly four times as many tackles as the Panthers (19 to five) and coughed up 10 errors as a pumped-up Penrith turned the screws.
The premiers were bereft of hunger and looked clueless in attack. Cohesion was replaced by chaos. The ultimate comedy caper came in the 27th minute, when fullback Reece Walsh launched a clearing kick into Xavier Willisonโs backside in an accidental-off-side farce.
Superstar Broncos fullback Walsh edged out Edwards for the Australia No.1 jumper on last yearโs Ashes tour but his Penrith rival hit back with bragging rights in the season opener.
This was a Suncorp spectacular from Edwards. The champion custodian torched Jack Gosiewski to score in the 21st minute for 10-0 and his 166-metre romp inspired a Penrith side clearly hellbent on title revenge in 2026.
The classy Panther emphatically outpointed Walsh, who spilled an early bomb which led to Penrithโs opening try and had just two runs for six metres in the first half.
To compound his misery, Walsh threw a 75th-minute intercept for Panthers winger Thomas Jenkins to bury Brisbane with a double.
SELECTION STATEMENT AFTER โTOUGH CALLโ
Ivan Clearyโs biggest selection call paid off in a big way as he promoted Tom Jenkins to the starting side ahead of Izack Tago.
Jenkins repaid Cleary for his faith with 135 run metres and six tackle busts to go with two tries.
The dependable Jenkins was dropped ahead of the finals last year, with Cleary favouring Paul Alamoti who more than proved his coach made the right call at the time.
Cleary said on Friday it was a โtough callโ at the time and it would have been easy for Jenkins to be discouraged, having earned his opportunity to play in the finals, but instead he toiled away and was recognised by Cleary with a promotion on Friday.
It came at the expense of Izack Tago, who seemed to have put his defensive deficiencies behind him last year and turned his form around.
Panthers coach Cleary explained in his post-game press conference that Tagoโs pre-season preparation had been โcompromisedโ due to circumstances beyond his control, but didnโt expand on that further.
MADGEโS MIND GAMES
Maguire pulled a late selection switch, going back to the future by elevating Ben Hunt to five-eighth and relegating Ezra Mam to the bench.
It was a carbon copy tactic from last yearโs NRL grand final, when Mam was the game-busting super sub in Brisbaneโs charge to the premiership.
Ultimately, the switch was neutralised by a Panthers team which came charging out of the blocks, with Mam and Hunt rendered ineffective as Brisbane struggled for early momentum and field position
