The 2026 NRL season is turning into a nightmare for defending premiers Brisbane Broncos, who slumped to their sixth consecutive defeat on Thursday night with a lopsided 48-6 hammering at the hands of the South Sydney Rabbitohs. The brutal loss has reignited questions about Brisbane’s ability to defend their title, while the team now faces a growing injury crisis that has sidelined multiple key players ahead of their upcoming bye.
The biggest talking point after the match surrounded the fitness of Broncos captain and veteran playmaker Adam Reynolds, who was forced from the field with 20 minutes remaining in the contest. The issue began early when Reynolds notched an early interception and was chased down by Rabbitohs forward Lachlan Hubner; immediately after the tackle, the skipper was seen clutching his left hamstring, raising fears of a serious season-ending soft-tissue injury.
Though Reynolds remained on the field through the first half, he grew increasingly visibly uncomfortable as the match progressed, eventually heading to the locker room with an ice pack wrapped around his injured hamstring. Speaking to reporters post-game, Reynolds downplayed the severity of the issue, insisting he only left the field due to severe cramping rather than a pulled or torn hamstring. “I’m right, just tight,” he said, brushing off further questions about his long-term health. NRL physiotherapy experts have backed this assessment, noting that the club’s use of pickle juice and on-field stretching to treat the issue is consistent with treating cramping, which would see Reynolds avoid a long spell on the sidelines if the diagnosis holds.
Reynolds’ early exit was not the only injury blow for Brisbane on Thursday. Just minutes after the captain left the field, five-eighth Ezra Mam was also forced off with an AC joint injury. Mam, who has come off the bench in the Broncos’ last two matches, had turned in several promising plays before suffering the injury while making a game-saving try tackle on South Sydney winger Ed Kosi in the corner. He remained on the field for a handful of defensive sets before the pain became too much to continue. Broncos head coach Michael Maguire confirmed post-match that the full extent of Mam’s injury will not be clear until he meets with club medical staff.
Brisbane already entered Thursday’s match without a host of star players, including lock Patrick Carrigan and utility Gehamat Shibasaki, who have both been sidelined with long-term injuries. Despite the mounting casualty list and the club’s slide into the bottom four of the NRL ladder after six straight losses, Maguire delivered a defiant, unexpected verdict on Brisbane’s premiership defence, insisting the defending champions are still very much in contention to play finals football this season.
If Brisbane fails to qualify for the finals, they will become the first premiers since the 2005 Wests Tigers to miss the post-season the year after winning the title. But Maguire rejected suggestions that Brisbane’s campaign is already over, pointing to the return of injured stars as a potential turning point for the struggling side.
“We’re still well and truly alive,” Maguire declared. “People will probably think I’m mad, but one thing I do know is I’ve got a number of guys that are not on the field at this present moment. And as a group, we said we’re not going to use that as any sort of excuse or anything like that. But they’ll all come back and there’s a lot of quality there that I know that can come back into the team. So although we’re probably in a bit of a tough hold at the moment, we will get those boys back at some stage.”
Maguire added that the current slump could ultimately strengthen the side in the long run, even as the team prepares for a brutal run of upcoming matches after their bye next week. “We all know what the team’s capable of doing, so once they get back (things will improve). We’ve got to get through this little period now, which is tough for all of us. We don’t like going through it, but it can also be the making of us. These guys have had plenty of experience together. They’ve been through some tough times, they’ve been through some good times. I think they just have to come together like we do. I thought our prep this week was spot on, but it didn’t turn out onto the park so we’ve got to dig deep amongst ourselves to find that because I know I’ve got a team here.”