Has the mountain become too big for Brisbane?

With Brisbane’s hopes of finals hanging by a thread, Andrew McCullough is prepared to rule them out of top eight contention.

After a strong finish to 2025 which saw them break a 19-year premiership drought, the Broncos have been unable to capture that same form in 2026.  

Whilst they recovered after losing their first two games of the season, a disastrous two months have significantly reduced their hopes of making the top eight, let alone going back-to-back.

With their latest defeat to the Roosters on Friday, they slip to 13th on the ladder.

But despite the loss, the former Queensland representative was proud of the side’s effort in the 24-18 defeat.

“(The Roosters were) too big, too strong,” McCullough said on SENQ Breakfast.

“You couldn't say this till last month, but I did actually think the Broncos tried really hard in this game.

“The effort was there, the Chooks just got too much class, and they're just down on a lot of troops, confidence, (the) lot at the moment.

“There's a couple of errors there that I think the Broncos would like over again, but compare that to the last three or four weeks before that, you couldn't hang your hat on that.

“But certainly, against the Chooks, I think they tried their backsides off with who they've got within the team.”

While McCullough notes the improvement, the Broncos have little room to turn their season around.

With nine games left to play in the season, the 260-game player for Brisbane believes they won’t be able to make the finals.  

“I think the mountain's too high for them now,” he declared.

The Broncos will look to claim their first win since ANZAC Day Eve when they host the Sharks at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

SEN will have live coverage of the match from 7:20pm AEST with Broncos Radio available on SENQ, SEN Track Brisbane and on the SEN app.

Kick-off is at 7:35pm.