The head coach of Brisbane Broncos Kevin Walters has described his side’s second half against Cronulla in Round 14 as “probably our worst half of football (this season).”
Having entered half time 12-4 up, Brisbane allowed the Sharks to score three tries in seven minutes to take the two points back down the Shire.
Nine of Brisbane’s 11 errors throughout the match came in the second 40, which also saw Walters’ side amass just 26% of the territory and 34% possession.
Speaking at his post-match media conference, the Broncos great said he wasn’t “sure what happened (in the second half) to be honest.”
“I’m not sure where it came from,” he said.
What makes the result all the more bitter for the Broncos is the fact they were ahead at the interval, with Walters believing “our first 40 was, discipline wise, our best half (this year). I thought we defended really well. Our try line defence was really good.”
Skipper Pat Carrigan agreed the Broncos’ goal line defence was excellent in the first half but feels “at the moment we’re just having lapses of concentration.”
“One little lapse is leading to six points,” the 26-year-old said.
Summarising his side’s performance, the lock forward said “individually all across the field, we’re just making poor decisions. A couple of inside shoulders, cheap errors, turnovers (and) just the weight of possession on our line.”
Walters reiterated how painful Brisbane’s errors were consistently throughout his post-match press conference, adding his side lost their grip on the clash almost immediately after the half-time break.
“Our first set in the second half was poor with the ball. It just got worse from there,” Walters said.
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For the Brisbane coach, there is only one way to ensure performances like their second 40 against the Sharks don’t repeat themselves.
“We’ll have a look at everything we’re doing. I don’t have the answers for it right now. Well, the answer is play better and stick to our plans but that doesn’t always (sic) happen when you continue to make errors and open the door up,” Walters said.
“How to solve it is sitting right in front of us. It’s about us as a group fixing it up. Just hold the ball (and) make your tackles.”
Away from the result, Walters said he felt most sorry for his Origin stars, Patrick Carrigan, Payne Haas and Selwyn Cobbo, who backed up just a handful of days after a physically intensive Origin I.
“You can’t question Patty’s commitment tonight. Payne’s commitment was really good. And Selwyn back us as well,” he said.
“But the guys that didn’t play (Origin) didn’t support the ones that did.”
