Brisbane Broncos legend and SENQ’s Corey Parker has admitted the loss of Tom Flegler was instrumental in his former side’s loss to the Sydney Roosters in Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon.
Flegler, who left Brisbane for the Dolphins at the end of the last season, was a crucial part of the Broncos’ Grand Final run and has become essentially irreplaceable due to the club’s salary cap squeeze.
Kurt Capewell’s departure over the summer, along with an early head injury to Brendan Piakura meant Brisbane’s forwards’ stocks were severely depleted in the game and may have been the main reason for the upset loss.
“The Broncos are a different outfit, they need to adjust and they need to adjust quickly,” Parker told SENQ Mornings.
“Let’s get one thing clear, there’s no panic stations with what we saw from the Broncos in Vegas.
“There’s some adjustments to be made.”
Broncos coach Kevvie Walters did make a few key adjustments to his side prior to kick-off, with the most notable move being youngster Xavier Willison dropping out of the squad for veteran Marty Taupau.
Walters was also forced to re-adjust his plan mid-game when Brendan Piakura was ruled out of the game with an HIA, which meant Patrick Carrigan was pushed out from lock to the second row.
“Kevvie made the decision to put Patty out on an edge, I think Patty is ineffective on an edge, it takes from one of his great strengths, particularly through that middle third,” Parker added.
“(Carrigan) and Payne Haas are a one-two punch, but before Patty and Payne Haas, there was a guy called (Tom) Flegler, there was a one-two-three punch, now that Patty is out on an edge there’s only one punch.
“I thought they (Brisbane) missed a bit of punch in that middle, which is where the game was won and lost, it was where the game was always going to be played.
“That was pretty notable I thought, there was some great opportunities for other players to really fill that void, (the) jury is probably out on whether they did that or not.”
The Broncos will be looking to get off the mark in two weeks’ time when they host another side looking to bounce back from a Vegas defeat in the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
