The Broncos, premiers after a 2025 grand final won by defending like rabid dogs, are 0-2 to start their title defence. The 66 points they have conceded to Penrith and Parramatta are the most ever by reigning champions over the opening two weeks of the next season.
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But given the apparent madcap way the NRL will be played and officiated in 2026, this might be the season where diabolical defensive lapses aren’t a complete death knell.
After a widening of the set-restart remit in the off-season led to a 35 per cent increase in “six-agains” in round one, Thursday’s match at Suncorp steered into a skid, with Brisbane and Parramatta at times in danger of flying through the windscreen.
“Every time there’s a six-again, especially if it’s late in the tackle count, it just cooks you,” Jonah Pezet, star of Thursday night’s show, told Channel Nine after being asked about the rapid ruck speed so far this season.
“You’ve got to be so disciplined now, and there’s no accountability with [a six again call] either, you’ve just got to get on with it.
“You can’t challenge anything, you can’t blow up, you’ve just got to get on with it. The team that gets the last play and the team that’s most disciplined is going to win every week, especially early [in the season] when not many people have [match] fitness.”
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