Despite he’s leaving Brisbane Broncos today ‘Disappointment will be on Kevin David Walters…..

From winning the wooden spoon in 2020 to being on top of the rugby league mountain in the space of just three years is a reversal of fortune the likes of which you rarely see.

Unfortunately for them, in the NRL grand final of 2023, the remarkable comeback swung the other other way courtesy of a Nathan Cleary performance, the likes of which you’ve never seen.

Finishing last hurts, especially for a club as used to success as the Broncos.

It can feel hopeless and helpless, but drawn out over the length of a season, there’s a resignation and a numbness that nothing could be done.

The team was built wrong and there was just too much to overcome. The rebuild is on. A world of possibilities ahead of you.

This time the pain for Brisbane is extreme and hyper-specific for every one of those Broncos because it’s impossible not to think about how one play could’ve changed things.

If Herbie Farnworth caught the dropout instead of batting it into Mitch Kenny’s path for the opening try. If Reece Walsh had seen Ezra Mam on his left when he broke through in the 71st minute.

If Sunia Turuva had been penalised for knees in Walsh’s back on the tryline a minute later. If Jordan Riki had been just a little less eager to chase Kenny right with Cleary on the short side before the match-winner.

But none of those things happened and there’s nothing the Broncos can do about it now.

Now, after all the work and brilliant play to make it to the last day of the season, it’s back to square one to try and make the grand final again, which despite what Penrith may make you think, is actually very hard.

A Sisyphean struggle in the extreme.

To put it another way, if the wooden spoon season was like getting hit with 20 bricks, one at a time, week after week, then Sunday night was like getting all 20 dumped on them at once.