Week 1 of the NRL finals have come and gone, and it means two more sides have joined the bottom nine who missed on knockout action altogether, now likely en route to Bali.
It might be easy, and obvious to focus on the sides remaining in the competition, but today we're looking to the nine forgotten sides who didn't feature in Week 1 of the finals.
More specifically what went wrong for each of the nine sides now out of contention.
Below is where each team wrong.
6. Brisbane Broncos: A lack of depth
The Broncos entered the season as genuine title heavies. They were most people's pick to go one further than they did in 2023.
Then injuries struck. Just like at every single club in every single season of professional football since the beginning of time.
The Broncos simply didn't have the options available to step up when called upon.
Names like Walsh, Reynolds and Haas are near impossible to replace, for anyone, but the Broncos couldn't even come close.
I'm not having a personal go at the back up options, but this is professional football and you have to be able to step up.
Look at Melbourne and Penrith. Both lost star halves for long periods and barely missed a beat. Without Reynolds, the Broncos looked like the Titans.
