Parker: The area of concern for the Broncos in opening round shutout

Corey Parker believes that Brisbane needs to improve its try-line defence when it comes to their opponents using kicks to score tries.

Following their disappointment in not securing the World Club Challenge against Hull KR, the Broncos’ woes continued into Round 1 against the Panthers after losing 26-0 on Friday night.

It’s the first time that the Broncos have been held scoreless by their opposition since 2021 and the second time that a reigning premier has scored nothing in their first game of the next season.

And their issues would extend further than being able to score.

Brisbane was only completing 61% of their sets and had 37 tackles broken while conceding eight penalties (compared to Penrith’s two).   

However, Parker also noted their issues with conceding tries from kicks as a concern, considering their struggles with it from last year.

“Brisbane last year were the second worst in the competition at conceding tries off kicks,” he told SENQ Breakfast.

“(This year against) Hull KR, how many tries did they concede off kicks? Four.

“Against the Panthers, how many tries conceded off kicks? Well, two directly and one indirectly.

“It’s just one of those mindset things you have to continue to compete until the ball is back in your hand.

“I understand there is going to be deflections, but they just need to be mindful of that.

“If they can limit that, like in the last two games, they conceded six, maybe seven tries off kicks. That’s way too many.

“You’re working too hard defensively to then (have) the ball goes up in the air (and concede).”

The Broncos will look for their first win of the season against the Eels next Thursday at Suncorp Stadium.