A touch of basil as Fawlty Towers infiltrates Broncos

Brisbane have adopted a “don't mention the war” mentality about last year's grand final loss to Penrith.

In the hit British comedy show Fawlty Towers it was hotel owner Basil Fawlty who made the mantra famous while hosting guests from what was then West Germany.

Basil told his hotel staff “don't mention the war”, but couldn't help himself and kept referring to “the war” in a series of skits.

The Broncos play Penrith away on Thursday night, the first time they have met the Panthers since the 2023 decider.

On Sunday the ban on mentioning last year's 26-24 defeat to the Panthers had clearly kicked in. Coach Kevin Walters was asked after training about when he sat his players down to watch the 2023 decider to learn lessons.

“We are not talking about last year's grand final,’’ Walters quipped.

Yesterday, prop Corey Jensen was asked what he learned from the last 20 minutes, where the Broncos had given up a 24-8 lead. “We are not allowed to talk about that game, sorry, so I am not allowed to say anything about that,” he said.

A month ago the Broncos were happy to talk at length about the loss.

Forward Jordan Riki spoke about the benefits of watching the replay in review.

“I thought it was a healing session for us,” he said. “The end of last year still kills us and we want to prove a point.”

The “ban” had clearly not kicked in on Thursday night after the 28-18 win over South Sydney.

Basil Fawlty, when referencing “the war”, added, “I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it.”

That clearly applied to two Broncos players.

Winger Jesse Arthars said of the grand final: “A lot of the boys were hurting from that but it is just fuel to the fire”.

Winger Deine Mariner, who didn't play in the decider, said the big lesson the team learned was that “moments are a big thing”. “We lost that game due to moments. It is big that we start playing really selfless.’’