Brisbane coach Kevin Walters conceded no magic wand can fix the Broncos after his team meekly crumbled for the second straight week, prompting the rookie mentor to hide his highest-paid player in defence to end his nightmare.
Walters appeared dejected after Brisbane conceded three tries in just six minutes to fall 28-16 to the Gold Coast Titans, with former Bronco David Fifita running riot over Brisbane's right-side defence with Anthony Milford his biggest roadkill scalp.
Fifita tormented Milford all night and by the time he scored his second try in the 55th minute Walters finally had seen enough and moved the five-eighth to the other side of the field for halfback Brodie Croft.
It was an embarrassing end to Milford's night as the battle between the two millionaires ended with the bigger man taking the honours and clearly looking a class above.
"Milf was having a nightmare with big Dave so I couldn't keep letting that happen," Walters said.
"Brodie was defending better so we just thought that was something we maybe should've done a bit earlier. It was purely defensive strategy.
"The [right-side defence] was under a lot of pressure tonight for different reasons but I just think we didn't aim up well enough."
Match Highlights: Titans v Broncos
Walters knows his biggest issue right now is fixing the horrible Brisbane defence.
They conceded the most points in the NRL last season and their goal-line defence was again exposed by the Titans with front-rowers Jarrod Wallace and Jaimin Joliffe both scoring simple close-range tries.
But Walters said the problem was more than just tackling. Their horrendous handling with 15 errors is putting them under so much pressure they simply can't withstand repeat attacks.
The club is now mired in a 13-game losing streak and while Walters was not part of their wooden spoon 2020 season, he knows the issues he must fix stem back to the disaster of last year and there is no quick fix solution to what he's faced with at Red Hill.
"You can't expect to win games when you're dropping the ball. Just simple errors as well," Walters said.
"A couple of poor kicks tonight – one from Milf and one from Brodie – invited the Titans to put pressure on us.
"I can't worry about what happened last year, we're 0-2 this year and we've certainly been in both games.
"There is plenty to work on. You can't forget last year we did finish last. And we finished last for a reason and that is something we will look into over the weekend and into next week.
"We will come up with some answers over the weekend.
"Coaching in the NRL is tough no matter what side you're at. Whilst we are not winning I am really determined and everyone involved in the club is that we can turn it around. I think everyone has seen some improvements in the side from previous years, albeit for not quite the periods we need to.
"But it is round two, I didn't expect to wave the magic wand and it would all be fixed because that is not the real world. It's going to take some time but we're on the right path I believe to get the Broncos playing better and winning."
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