Billy Slater has fired a reality check at the Broncos ahead of their season-opening clash with the Panthers, declaring Michael Maguire’s men were “embarrassed” in the World Club Challenge and warning “complacency” could hijack their premiership defence.
Brisbane lost 30-24 to Hull KR in the World Club Challenge last month. The full-time scoreline flattered the Broncos, who had been trailing 30-4.
Their premiership hangover began to look particularly ugly when Hull KR were belted 58-6 by the Leeds Rhinos in Las Vegas.
So the Broncos, in a way they got embarrassed over in England,” Slater said on Nine’s The Billy Slater Podcast.
Awaiting the Broncos now is an opening-round clash with Nathan Cleary’s champion Panthers team at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
“When you have success it gives you two things,” Slater continued.
“It gives you a confidence and a belief that you can go on and evolve your game, but it also gives you comfort — a level of comfort that if you sit in that comfort too long it can give you complacency. It’s guaranteed you get both of them, and what you do with it is up to you.
You get confidence and you get comfort from success, and if you lean into the confidence and you still work hard and you acknowledge all those things that you did to get you that success, then you can evolve your game and that confidence can be hard to defend against.
“But if you sit in that comfort of success for too long, you can lean into the complacency side of it.”
The Broncos will take on the Panthers virtually at full strength. Their only notable omissions are second-rower Brendan Piakura (meniscus) and hooker Billy Walters (ACL).
The Panthers will be without Test and NSW Blues back-rower Liam Martin, who suffered a calf injury during the pre-season, and Bears-bound bench forward Liam Henry, who’s dealing with a knee issue.
But the Panthers’ system is as strong as any team’s in the competition, and in Cleary, Dylan Edwards, Brian To’o, Isaah Yeo, Moses Leota, Lindsay Smith and Mitch Kenny, they’ve still got a nucleus of premiership winners.
They’ve also got some impressive youngsters playing first grade now, in Izack Tago, Casey McLean and Blaize Talagi.
“This is one of the hardest match-ups for the Broncos to have coming back off that disappointment, [as they try] to pull their game together and work out exactly what went wrong and where [their] game is at,” Slater said
Let’s not forget, the last six weeks of the [2025] season for the Broncos wasn’t perfect. There were situations within games where they could have found themselves on the losing end … Their game hasn’t been perfect and it’s still not perfect. It’s still far from the finished product.
“But if they don’t have that real drive and hunger to go and find it, and be willing to walk across the hard ground and get uncomfortable, well, they may not find it.
“And Penrith will ask them the question more than anyone. Penrith hold the mirror up to you like no other team does, because they put pressure on you and they hold that pressure on you until you find out what you’re about.
“So we’ll get a good read of the Broncos in round one on Friday night.”
Brisbane killed off Penrith’s pursuit of five straight premierships in a 16-14 preliminary final win at Suncorp Stadium.
