In front of an expectedly dismal crowd, two of the NRL's biggest clubs met for the last game of their miserable 2026 seasons. Those willing to fork out a minimum $45 for a general admission ticket to the cavernous Accor Stadium were treated to a mistake-riddled first half, with the Bulldogs squandering a majority of possession and being a man up for 10 minutes to go to the break locked at 10-10.
The Bulldogs' best passage of play for the entire night came in the 34th minute, with a move they had obviously been saving up for this meaningless occasion. Starting inside the Broncos' 20, the ball was passed from Jake Turpin at dummy-half to Bailey Hayward at first receiver, to Lachie Galvin at halfback to Viliame Kikau, who turned his back to pass to Stephen Crichton at five-eighth who doubled around before cutting out centre Bronson Xerri to find Enari Tuala who crossed in the corner.
The one movement summed up all that has been wrong at the Bulldogs in 2026. Turpin came on to play dummy-half, and instead of replacing Hayward he pushed him to first receiver, a role he was sharing with Jaeman Salmon at the time. This in turn pushed Galvin to second receiver, where he is at his best in the five-eighth position. Crichton and Xerri were then left to fight over the decoy runner role, otherwise you would have two centres on that side of the field. It's a complete mess and only worked on this one occasion, in a move not seen before nor since.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo has tried his best through 2026 to make the most of the players at his disposal. The Bulldogs lack quality spine players, but Ciraldo has compounded the problem by selecting those he does have out of position. On top of that he has them playing a game plan that brings out the worst in all of them.
Hayward is a half playing at dummy-half, he stands up to pass, his passes are looping and often inaccurate and he poses no real run threat. Early in games Ciraldo has him passing to Salmon who then distributes it with the opposition defence all over him.
Salmon has been playing some career-best football of late, but you still wouldn't have him in a list of the 10 best No. 13s in the League. You certainly wouldn't have him anywhere near a list of ball-playing forwards, and yet week after week Ciraldo has him at first receiver for large parts of the game. He consistently manages to kill off any momentum the Bulldogs may have acquired.
At fullback Connor Tracey forms another part of the dysfunctional spine. If everyone played with his heart the Bulldogs would be a better side, but his handling, nerve under the high ball and attacking prowess leave him a long way short of the attacking weapon the good teams have in that position.
Into the second half, the Broncos found some spark, and began carving up a disinterested Bulldogs defence on the back of characteristic errors.
Crichton, easily one of the best centres in the game, has been moved into the halves by Ciraldo. He has clearly floundered, exposing a poor passing and kicking game, while strangling his greatest asset, his ability to cause havoc when running on the edge. As the Bulldogs fell apart in the second half, he threw a 10-metre spiral pass so poorly timed and directed that it fell into the arms of a Broncos defender who very nearly set up another try.
The Bulldogs were being thumped by a team struggling at the bottom of the ladder, a team which had inexplicably plunged from premiers to no-hopers in the space of a year. Where had it all gone wrong for the Broncos?
They had only really lost Selwyn Cobbo at the end of 2025, while adding depth players in Grant Anderson from the Storm and Tom Duffy from the Cowboys. Sure Adam Reynolds and Ben Hunt were a year older, and wearier, but still capable. Reece Walsh had his share of injuries through the season and front-row talisman Payne Haas had thrown a spanner in the works by announcing that he was leaving for the Rabbitohs in 2027. From a roster perspective there weren't any legitimate excuses for such a dramatic fall.
Rumours circulated that coach Michael Maguire had lost the dressing room. Players were muttering that his methods were too hard, the preseason brutal, egos were bruised, players pushed beyond exhaustion. The morale splintered, the belief in what they were being asked to do waned. Which, to any reasonable outsider would seem completely incomprehensible.
Maguire's methods had brought the club its first premiership in 19 years. The players were covered in glory, the city of Brisbane rejoiced, and now it was all too hard? Did they somehow think the Panthers won four straight titles by taking it easier after winning the first one?
Maguire is a proven winner, with a State of Origin series in his one attempt, two NRL premierships and one Super League title to his name. But, the Broncos aren't the only team to ultimately reject Maguire's methods. At the Rabbitohs he went from a peak win percentage in his second season of 72% to a low of 37% in his final year. At the Tigers he squeezed a 45% win rate out of the perennial strugglers, which dipped to 25% in his final year. His first year at the Broncos brought a premiership with a 65% win rate, which plummeted to 31% this year.
Aren't these players well-paid to do what the coach demands of them? Is it the ultimate display of a chasm between generations? A coach from a harder, more straight forward era, pushing a generation less likely to respond to harsh words or sustain a high level of physical exertion for any prolonged period of time. Success for this generation is often measured in the size of the pay packet, and that arrives regardless of results. Not happy with the coach's methods? Back off your effort a fraction and soon enough he'll be the one shown the door.
The Broncos showed that when committed to the cause, they still have the talent to put on plenty of tries and contain an attack as disjointed as the Bulldogs.
With four minutes remaining in the game, and the Broncos leading 35-20, the Bulldogs played the ball five metres out. Hayward picked it up took a step and a half to his right, and by the time he threw his looping pass to Jacob Preston he was already into the defensive line. The ball hit him on the backside and the Broncos dived on it.
It was a moment that encapsulated a frustrating Bulldogs season in a loss to a Broncos team which really let itself and its fans down.
