Rugby league great Phil Gould has shed light on the defensive woes of the Broncos after the Canberra Raiders handed Brisbane another brutal thrashing on the weekend.
The Raiders on Saturday night poured on four unanswered tries in the second half to thump the Broncos 36-8 after going into the break trailing by two tries to one.
The loss to Canberra was Brisbane's 11th defeat from their past 12 games and the second time this season they've produced a string of five losses in a row.
Gould commended Raiders coach Ricky Stuart for adjusting his side's attacking structure in the second half.
The former NSW Origin coach said teams have exposed the Broncos in recent times for their inability to handle opponents who play a direct style of football, rather than trying to finesse their way through.
"You could see from the first run in the second half, he (Ricky Stuart) had simplified things down and said run at them," Gould told Wide World of Sports' Final Whistle.
"They (Broncos) don't want to tackle you, they're hoping you run around them. Just keep running at them and that's the problem with the Broncos, they can't handle teams that run at them.
"Their defensive technique and knowledge are non-existent, it's not bad, it's non-existent.
"I don't know what they've done up there in the last couple of years, but their defence is just terrible, they just allow teams to get a roll on the whole time. They don't know how to handle shapes and plays being run at them, they do it to themselves.
"You don't have to get complicated in attack to beat them. All you have to do is run hard at them and eventually the spaces open up and that's what the Raiders did in the second half."
When asked about the off-field distraction created by forward Tevita Pangai Junior, who's been stood down for a COVID-19 breach, Gould said there's no simple solution for the club which is "in an absolute world of pain."
"We're sitting on the outside, so we don't know the history," he said.
"We don't know what other breaches he's had. We don't know what other disappointments he's given them and what the relationship is like.
"They're in a world of pain and there is not one solution to it.
"You can't just say, 'Well they've got to do this.' That's not right, they're in an absolute world of pain."
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