Injured Broncos forward Josh McGuire has vowed to use the pain of missing his team's grand final loss to the Cowboys to return to full training in time for the start of pre-season in mid-November.
As he has done all finals series McGuire cut a forlorn figure at the club's Red Hill training base on Monday where hundreds of fans gathered in the Brisbane heat to celebrate the achievements of their team in 2015.
McGuire made a late desperate bid to prove his fitness in the week leading up to the grand final but the reality was that his recovery from an Achilles injury suffered in Round 16 was nowhere near the point it needed to be in order to take his place in the team.
The 25-year-old was powerless to influence the result of what is being talked about as the greatest grand final of all time but said he and his teammates will channel the hurt to come back even better in 2016.
"I was shattered. I've been shattered the last couple of months," McGuire said of his position on the sideline.
"All you want as a player is to be out there to help your mates out so I was shattered for the boys but we'll grow from this and come back better.
"Every year you want to win the comp so losing probably makes it a little bit easier to pick yourself up.
"You want to get back there and you don't ever want to feel that feeling again so we're excited about the challenge ahead.
"It's been a tough week and a tough couple of months for me personally.
"The year's over and it wasn't the ending we wanted but it's something to build on.
"It just keeps us hungry."
Veteran forward Corey Parker was in awe of the turnout of Broncos fans following the disappointment of Sunday night and said the team has to find a way to turn such a negative experience into a positive future.
"We're going to have to," Parker told NRL.com.
"It's hard to digest at the moment but we'll get through that over the next few months and start it all again.
"It's always nice that you've got those true supporters. It's a 35-degree day, it's hot and we lost the grand final so they've got no right to be here but they've shown up. It's important that we acknowledge that.
"It's what this club's built on and without them we don't have a football team."
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