Lodge admits hurt Broncos gave up too easily
A FRANK and frustrated Matt Lodge has broken Brisbane’s silence over their embarrassing 59-0 loss to the Roosters, admitting the players gave up too easily and that some “aren’t as good as what they think”.
The Broncos enforcer yesterday revealed the club had been hurting since falling to their worst loss.
But he also said no player was going to hide from the heavy scrutiny they have copped since, including criticism that they give up easily, have no leadership and are too young.
Lodge took plenty of personal ownership for the loss but said he was not alone in acknowledging that the playing group needs to be better.
“We’re pretty heartbroken and we let a lot of people down,” Lodge said. “My football hasn’t been good enough the last couple of weeks. I definitely have some work to do. The team hasn’t been good enough either.
“The performance we put out was shit. There’s no two ways about it. The city, the club and everyone that’s gone before us deserves better.
“Some people have been throwing criticism but the age thing (being too young) doesn’t matter. If you’re here, you’re an adult and you’re fulltime. You’re required to do the job.
“Across the board some people aren’t as good as what they think and we have plenty of work to do.
“Whether it’s the media or whoever that pumps up – for example – our forward pack and says they’re the best pack in the comp, I just feel sometimes we can buy into that.
“We haven’t ticked any boxes, we haven’t achieved anything, we haven’t won the comps they did in the ‘90s.
“We’ve got a lot of work and we’ve got to put our head down and get better at a lot of things before we start looking at that best pack in the comp.”
When asked whether he felt criticism from fans, commentators and ex-players around Brisbane’s tenacity was fair, he agreed it was.