Three stats to fix: Broncos

The Broncos appeared set for finals footy in 2022 before a six-week lapse saw them slide out of contention and spend an off-season thinking what could've been.

There were some clear areas the Broncos needed more work in Kevin Walters' second season in charge of the club despite appearing finals bound at one stage.

NRL.com highlights some key areas the Broncos will want to improve to get back into the finals in 2023.

Stopping an offload

The Broncos conceded more offloads than anyone last year with 293 during the regular season.

With metres on offer in the NRL through an offload, the side were on the back foot when the opposition were on a roll with second phase. 

Brisbane conceded the third most amount of metres by a team last year with their inability to wrap up the ball a big factor in the yardage made against them.

Goodball sets 

The Broncos had the least number of goodball sets than any other team with 281 in 2022, limiting their opportunities in attack and ability to apply pressure on the scoreboard more consistently.

Kevin Walters's side averaged just 22.8 play the balls in the opposition 20 metre zone per game for a strike rate of 11.4 tackles per game, ranking them 11th.

The Roosters (8.5) and Storm (8.1) were the best, requiring under nine play the balls per game to record a try in the opposition 20-metre zone. 

With plenty of strike weapons like Reece Walsh, Selwyn Cobbo and Kotoni Staggs in the backline, the Broncos will want to improve on these numbers in 2023 for more points.

10 minutes of madness

A lot was made around Brisbane's collapse in the second half of the season last year with a couple of key points to note in two 10-minute periods of games. 

They made the most errors in the opening 10 minutes of games, recording 46 in total. The Roosters (24) were the best in comparison with Brisbane's starts to be a focus this season.

The Broncos also conceded the most points in the final 10 minutes of games with 100 (4.1 per game) - more than any other team in the competition.

They clearly struggled with the clock winding down with fitness and fatigue a big factor this season.