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The Brisbane Broncos season is on the brink of imploding after what can only be described as a meek, inept and diabolical performance against an understrength Manly side to make it one win from the past seven games.

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The Broncos are up on the hoist with the spotlight now searing with difficult home truths around player unrest, the club’s training program, a reverse-engineered decision by club bosses to sack previous coach Kevin Walters and how it’s all gone so pear-shaped for a roster the envy of most other NRL clubs.

Signing Queensland and Australian player Ben Hunt over the off-season coupled with the arrival of new coach Michael Maguire had most people tipping the NRL’s biggest brand was on course to reclaim its mantle as a rugby league juggernaut.

Instead Brisbane’s quest to end the club’s longest-ever premiership-drought dating back to 2006 has gone badly awry as the steely-edged Maguire struggles to get the playing group to buy into to what he’s selling to try and get them back closer to the Provan Summons trophy.

Madge’s decision to move Patrick Carrigan to the front row alongside Payne Haas over the off-season is now under scrutiny as is the call to play Jesse Arthurs at fullback against the Sea Eagles after abandoning the tactic of using Selwyn Cobbo in the role while Reece Walsh is out injured.

Then there’s also the on-going, unresolved contract issues around Kotoni Staggs, Cobbo and five-time Paul Morgan medal-winner Payne Haas.

We’ve been told for months the Staggs deal is done yet there’s still been no official announcement while Haas’s name has appeared on a list of off-contract players sent to 16 rival NRL clubs as being available to negotiate from November 1.

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Of course Haas’s preference is to remain in Brisbane to support his family and the Broncos are no doubt prioritising his retention but as the losses mount and the slide down the ladder increases it’s hardly a strong selling point.

Compare the plight of the Broncos to the way Ricky Stuart and Andrew Webster have got the Canberra Raiders and the Warriors humming.

When you look at the Brisbane roster in comparison the to the inferior top 30 lists of the Raiders and Warriors it only further underlines the size of the assignment Maguire and the Broncos are now facing.

There’s a very strong argument what Stuart has done with the Raiders so far this season ranks as his finest achievement in coaching and it’s a similar story with Webster and the way the Warriors have evolved this year.

The time-honoured rugby league adage about premierships never being won in June always rings true but from what we’ve seen so far this season the Green Machine have developed into one of the most unpredictable, dangerous and hard-edged teams in the competition.

The Raiders decision to target the best emerging players in the NRL and give them a direct pathway into the NRL has reaped enormous dividends with the generation next of Ethan Strange, Kaeo Weekes, Xavier Savage, Savelio Tamale and Owen Pattie adding speed and x-factor to the style of football they play.

Ethan Sanders was the latest young gun to get his shot in the NRL on Sunday against the Roosters when halfback Jamal Fogarty was ruled out with injury and showcased exactly why the Raiders fought so hard to win his signature over the Parramatta Eels.

Complimenting the youth in the Raiders Moneyball recruitment system are experienced, in-form representative forwards like Joe Tapine, Josh Papali’i and Hudson Young.

Then they’ve got the workers who give their all on every play like Morgan Smithies, Zac Hosking and Seb Kris glueing the side together.

The Raiders are yet to have a bye and will be looking at a sellout at GIO Stadium this coming Sunday when club icon Papali’i will break champion Canberra player Jason Croker’s record of 318 NRL games for the club.

Get Toots on the Viking Horn because it promises to be a blockbuster when the Green Machine hosts Wayne Bennett’s South Sydney.

The Bunnies are on target to have injured gun players Cody Walker, Jack Wighton and Tyrone Munroe all available to return.

Special mention deserves to go to Bunnies winger Alex Johnston who became only the second player in the history of rugby league dating back to 1908 to cross for 200 career tries with a hat-trick on Sunday.

It was fitting AJ did it with a hat-trick and he showed he’s still got it with a shrewd 80m intercept when the Bunnies were in the midst of mounting an unlikely fightback.

Then at the Wahs you’ve got halfback Luke Metcalf shooting straight off the hip in the no.7 jumper made famous by Shaun Johnson and Stacey Jones combined with a hard-nosed pack of forwards who simply love putting the overalls on and getting in the arm-wrestle every week.

What were your likes or dislikes from round 13?

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