‘That irritates us,’ Kevvie says after the Broncos’ heartbreaking grand final loss.
Kevin Walters, an emotional Broncos coach, said his team is “pissed off” after losing the club’s first premiership in 17 years on Sunday night.
The Broncos were on a roll when they led the Panthers 24-8 after 60 minutes, thanks to Ezra Mam’s second hat-trick.
But Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary simply refused to lose, rewriting the script with three late tries to win 26-24.
Walters was asked to describe the mood inside the Broncos locker room following the devastating loss.
“There isn’t any emotion in there; it’s very quiet.” It’s just difficult to wrap your head around what happened. “It’s extremely disappointing,” Walters stated.
“I feel for all the players who gave everything they had, but it wasn’t enough in the end.”
“I think the entire stadium, with the exception of a few people, thought we’d done enough.” We can certainly improve in this area next year. But it’s a pretty empty feeling right now.
“I just feel bad for the guys in there who have given so much not just tonight but all season and then to finish like that.”
“I watched the AFL grand final yesterday and thought, ‘That’s not a nice way to lose, the Lions,’ and here we are in this situation.”
“We should have won that game, but we didn’t, and hats off to Penrith for playing some good football at the back end, and that’s where we need to improve, our starts and our finishes.”
“That second half for 20 minutes, that’s the Broncos I know, and we’ll get there, doing that for 80 (minutes).”
“We’re not there yet, but when we get there, we’ll win championships, and that’s what it’s all about.” We’re not far away; we’re getting closer; we’re a lot closer now than we were a year ago.”
Walters stated that there was little more he could have asked of his team and that the “football gods” were simply not on their side on Sunday night.
“The Broncos lost in a similar fashion in 2015; it just wasn’t meant to be tonight.” “I can’t ask for more from my players in terms of effort,” he said.
“You try to find things in the game, but that’s just the way the game goes, and I’ve been in games when that’s happened to me, and I’ve been on the other side of it when that’s happened to someone else.”
“The difference between where the club is now and where it was when all these guys got their hands on it is just incredible.””We can be very proud of that, but we wanted to win a championship this year, and we didn’t, so that irritates us.”
“But let’s not forget Penrith, who have made four grand finals in a row, which is the first time that has happened since I was born.” That’s a pretty elite group, so they’re on our side, and we should respect that.”
The message to his players in the second half, according to Broncos captain Reynolds, was to “keep playing footy.”
“We probably just went a little one out, and they had all the momentum, and they won.”
“Losing is difficult in general, regardless of the outcome. It’s a big game, and you want to win it, and unfortunately, I’ve been on the losing end (twice).
“We had our moments and were good in patches, but we just couldn’t find a way to finish it.”
“You never want to feel that way again, so use it as motivation.” We’ve got a good group of guys in there who work hard and strive to improve every day.”
Reynolds appeared to injure his groyne during a routine tackle in the 25th minute, but he stayed on the pitch and finished the game.
“I was debating whether to give the kicking because it was a little sore.”
