The first step in Brisbane’s revival? Admitting they have underachieved for 20 years

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Brisbane’s $48.9 million in commercial revenue last year is double their nearest rivals (Penrith and North Queensland with $24.3m).

The 61,280 members the club trumpets are streets ahead of Melbourne’s second-best 40,237.

the only wooden spoon ‘winners’ in the club’s history.

Same deal with those ravenous, raucous Suncorp crowds that have averaged 41,185 in 2025. Canterbury comes next with 30,688.

The head-spinning figures make the most important number of all – those 19 years without a premiership – that much tougher to quantify. And a spotlight Brisbane basks in, and will never escape, all the more intense.

“When times are good, it’s great,” captain Adam Reynolds says.

“And when it’s not … we only have to look at a few years ago. There’s still boys here who have a wooden spoon [from 2020]. They were almost run out of town. That’s a driving factor as well and you have to go through those experiences sometimes in life, because you pick yourself up and go again.”

Brisbane’s premiership drought has run alongside the rise of Melbourne as the country’s most successful sporting franchise, and Penrith’s emergence as the most dominant rugby league side of the past 60 years.

Sunday’s grand final opponents were built out of the Super League war and modelled on the all-conquering Broncos of the 1990s.

The Panthers now command the biggest and most productive junior nursery in the world. But when Phil Gould began rebuilding the club 15 years ago, it was Broncos HQ he toured and studied for a blueprint.

Failure will always be an orphan. But even six years after one of the ugliest coaching splits the game has seen, the spectre of Wayne Bennett still looms large over Brisbane.

Wayne Bennett celebrates Brisbane’s 1993 premiership.

Champion prop Shane Webcke describes Bennett as the difference between the title-winning sides of his era, and the talented squads that have come close but not replicated their feats since.

“Wayne was so good at shielding you from all the pressure that came with playing for Brisbane,” Webcke says.

“But in those years, we had it all. And Wayne made sure you understood what was at stake, how lucky you were and the privilege you were enjoying.”

Lockyer wears numerous rugby league hats – Broncos director (and member of their recruitment and retention committee), Channel Nine commentator, Kangaroos and Queensland Origin selector – and rarely shies away on dicey questions in any sphere.

“Without a doubt, we’ve underachieved when you consider the resources available to the club. The Broncos expect success.”

Broncos director and club great Darren Lockyer

Including the relationship he lost (which has since been somewhat patched up) when Bennett walked out of Red Hill.

“Since Wayne left in 2018, it’s been very much a rollercoaster ride for the club,” Lockyer says.

“And when the weight of expectation sits over the top of players and things aren’t going to plan, it’s not pleasant.

“Wayne knew how to stabilise a club as an experienced coach and drive consistency. Obviously when he wasn’t there, it was a different dynamic.

Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds and coach Michael Maguire.

“We went through some tough times and rugby league keeps everyone honest – they can always be just around the corner.

“Stability and culture is the key for a club. Talent plays its part. But the Broncos are always going to be able to attract talent. It’s the culture and stability that delivers sustained success.”

Which is where of course, Brisbane have often found themselves in the crosshairs.

Stefano Utoikamanu was hardly Robinson Crusoe when he kicked off grand final week declaring “there are a lot of people [who] I think are a bit stuck up” in reference to the Broncos.

It was more that an NRL star said the quiet bit out loud for once, in grand final week no less.

When Kevin Walters was shoved out the door a year ago, with only Nathan Cleary’s brilliance denying a premiership that would’ve changed everything, culture and stability were hardly Broncos buzzwords.

Michael Maguire was brought in with his rough, tough, uncompromising edges, to add exactly that to a squad playing rugby league like rock stars.

Along with former captain Gorden Tallis, Webcke was among the Broncos’ most strident critics of how his old teammate Walters – the club’s most popular figure not named ‘Alf’ – was sacked.

“But credit to this side, they’re in a grand final again,” Webcke says.

“And you have to pay credit to those that came before Madge too, he inherited a good side. It’s one thing to have the cattle though, it’s another to manage them.”

The club has been at pains to shift perception around its biggest names in 2025, though Maguire is still loath to have TV cameras around his training sessions for any longer than mandated.

The likes of Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam are far more available to media than ever before, even while navigating regular controversies – from the serious to trivial – all season.

Maguire’s reputation as the game’s toughest taskmaster preceded him among Broncos players, long before a pre-season where shirts stayed on at training and much was made about the need for vomit buckets.

“He’s still the same bloke he was at Souths, but honestly, he’s mellowed a fair bit too,” Reynolds says, casting back to the last time he and Maguire broke a premiership drought in 2014.

“The passion hasn’t changed. The work ethic hasn’t changed. He’s still a winner. But he has evolved, sure. You don’t last in this game without developing and learning from different experiences.”

The difference under Maguire was there for all to see last Sunday when the Suncorp stands swelled and swayed to a comeback for the ages.

Penrith’s 14-0 lead should have been much more given how much of the contest was played on Brisbane’s tryline.

The Broncos’ defensive resolve was the kind a stable, successful club is built on.

Which is why through Lockyer’s playing career of more than 450 games for Brisbane, Queensland and Australia, and another 15 years spent commentating at Suncorp, he has never felt an atmosphere quite like last Sunday.

“The way the Broncos held on last weekend, that’s a reflection of what Madge has done with this team,” Lockyer says.

“Obviously, he’s got them to a point where they can win premiership. The key is to keep them and the club at that level.”

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