The Melbourne Storm have handed Brisbane another miserable night at Lang Park, scoring eight tries in a 46-20 demolition as the Broncos farewell a number of departing players in disappointing fashion.
Captain Adam Reynolds was one of a number of Broncos waving goodbye to his adopted home ground, doing so from the sidelines after being ruled out by injury.
A number of fans criticised a pre-game tribute to him and other players bound for new clubs or retirement in 2027 after it was cut short by an advertisement on the big screen.
Retiring player Adam Reynolds waves goodbye at Lang Park. (Getty Images: Chris Hyde)
“You didn’t even know there was a send-off, that’s how bad it was,” former Queensland Maroon Billy Moore said in commentary for ABC Sport.
It comes after their was controversy over the decision for Reynolds to sit out the final two games of the season, despite the halfback saying he felt like he could have played at least part of one of the games.
It overshadowed the lead-up to what should have been a celebration of a two-time premiership winner and the man who led the team to their first trophy in 19 years less than 12 months ago.
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“Regardless whether he was playing or not, the Broncos could’ve done something to send him off,” Parramatta great Nathan Hindmarsh said on Fox League.
“They had a bit of a clap pre-game in the middle of the pitch and that was about it. There was no fanfare. It just doesn’t seem there was enough build-up.
“He’s a champion player and to not really have a big build-up … there needed to be something special.”
The Broncos’ final game is against the Eels at Parramatta Stadium, while the Storm travel to Shark Park to take on Cronulla.
Look back at all the action in our live blog below, and check out all the stats in the full ScoreCentre.
Live: Broncos vs Storm at Lang Park
That’s where we’ll leave you
And so ends another night of NRL action, as the Storm heap more pain on the battling Broncos.
We saw more tries scored and a new rule trialled, which literally no-one who was asked about it seems to be a fan of.
I don’t mind late-season games with no finals implications being used as testing grounds for this sort of thing, but it will be good to get back into some of the stuff that matters.
Tomorrow night I’ll be back to bring you Manly-Dragons and Penrith-Canterbury.
Until then!
Storm no fans of the new kick-off rule
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy seems pretty proud of his team’s performance tonight.
“We’re not going to play in September this year but we’ve got two games to go and we wanted to finish off strong. Tonight was that, everyone put in a lot of effort.”
Storm captain Harry Grant is decidedly anti the kick-off rule they trialled tonight.
“I love the game I’ve loved the game since I was 4yo. I think it’s part of the game and we don’t need to change it. We’re bringing in a rule to counteract a rule we’ve brought in.
“I’m pretty strong on that, and I think there’s a lot of guys who are strong on that.”
Bellamy is also concerned about the impact the pace of the game is having on players, particularly big boppers, and the risk of losing players from the sport just as two new teams are entering the league.
Fair criticism
This is starting to feel like an anti broncos pile on. Clearly they have been bad this year and haven’t handled this week great but some of the commentary (including tonight on this blog) seems more like score settling from people who dont like the broncs rather than legitimate criticism. None of the top four teams from last year will make the 8 but all the criticism is focused on one team.
– Jamesdeady
Hi James,
I won’t deny there have been some things blown out of proportion throughout the season, such is the footy media cycles, but the majority is valid.
They’re the defending premiers and were in the mix for the wooden spoon with three rounds left. By any metric this season has been a complete debacle for the Brisbane Broncos.
On the field their performances have been woeful (seven wins, 15th on the ladder with the second-worst points differential in the league), they’ve lost a generational superstar in Payne Haas, and the handling of the Adam Reynolds situation this week was another case of botched messaging from the club.
As a Brisbane native, I certainly have no ill will towards the Broncos, but this year has been shockingly bad, finishing with nine straight losses at their home ground (their home fans haven’t watched a victory live since April 24).
The Raiders and Storm have been poor too, and plenty has been said and written about their drop-off, but the biggest club in the league coming off a premiership year and putting up what they have in 2026 deserves scrutiny.
Beaten-down Broncos front the media
Coach Michael Maguire says there is “plenty to work on” for the Broncos.
“I know what this team is capable of. We just shot ourselves in the foot throughout that game and put pressure on ourselves.
“We’ve got one more week what I see in the players in this tough period it’s a credit to them. We get into positions where we can make a good fist of the game and then we let it go.”
“We need to be smarter and better at times.”
“We need to improve our discipline, we need to improve our execution, we need to improve our smarts. That’s the fun part of coaching.”
Maguire addresses the stunning nine straight losses on home turf.
“It’s not a nice record. We’ve got to find ways to make sure we’re better. I’ve got a lot of ideas that I want to talk to our senior players about when the time is right.”
Stand-in captain Pat Carrigan says the only way forward is “hard work”.
Criticism over Reynolds farewell
The Broncos can’t seem to do much right this year, and that extends to the farewell to some of their departing greats.
A pre-game tribute to Adam Reynolds and other players bound for new clubs or retirement in 2027 was cut short by an advertisement on the big screen.
“You didn’t even know there was a send-off, that’s how bad it was,” former Queensland Maroon Billy Moore said on ABC Sport.
It came after controversy over Reynolds being sidelined for the last two games (despite saying he felt like he could have taken the field for at least 20 minutes) overshadowed the lead-up to what should have been a celebration of a Broncos champion.
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“Regardless whether he was playing or not, the Broncos could’ve done something to send him off,” Parramatta great Nathan Hindmarsh said on Fox League.
“They had a bit of a clap pre-game in the middle of the pitch and that was about it. There was no fanfare. It just doesn’t seem there was enough build-up.
“He’s a champion player and to not really have a big build-up … there needed to be something special.”
The other players waving goodbye to Lang Park include:
- Payne Haas (Rabbitohs)
- Jesse Arthars (Catalans)
- Grant Anderson (Warriors)
- Corey Jensen (retirement)
- Gehamat Shibasaki (Bears)
- Jaiyden Hunt (rumoured to be Raiders-bound)
- Jack Gosiewski (unsigned)
We’ll hang around for the post-match press conferences
It will be a particularly interesting one for the Broncos yet again as the season hits a new low.
Payne Haas also waves goodbye to Brisbane
A lot of news about Adam Reynolds’s last game at Lang Park tonight, but it was also a farewell for Payne Haas, who says he tried not to think about it this week.
“It’s a very special ground. I’m gonna miss playing here every other week in front of 40,000 people. I’m gonna miss playing here.”
FULL-TIME: Storm hand Broncos ninth straight Lang Park loss to end 2026
Melbourne has beaten Brisbane 46-20 in the Broncos’ final game at Lang Park for 2026, making it nine consecutive losses at the venue for the reigning premiers.
The game devolved towards the end but it was really domination from the Storm and a miserable home finale for the Broncos, with Nick Meaney saying they wanted to “spoil the party” for the departing Broncos.
In saying that, there wasn’t much of a party to be had.
Lang Park’s lasting memory of the Broncos in 2026 will be another conceded try
It’s a hat-trick for Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown as Jahrome Hughes’s cross-field kick is perfectly weighted for his right winger, who leaps over Josiah Karapani, who’s nailed to the turf.
77′ This game has turned to trash
Both teams are tired, the game is over, the finals aren’t an option and the ball is just being dropped all over the place.
75′ Now the Storm choose to receive
Melbourne using this new trialled rule to try and stop the Broncos’ momentum.
But they can’t regather, and here come the Broncos!
But Ezra Mam’s long ball hits the grass, nutmegs Josiah Karapani and goes into touch.
The Broncos come alive off the chaos
A Payne Haas run, a Billy Walters chip, a Nick Meaney knock-on, two Moses Leo try-savers and an Oryn Keeley knockdown ends up in the hands of Ezra Mam to score.
Once again, the Broncos come to life with the margin already having blown out.
71′ Josiah Karapani absolutely bombs a try
The Broncos create the extra numbers with a superb Ezra Mam pass putting Josiah Karapani into oodles of space on the left.
He sets sail for the line and there’s no-one within coo-ee of him, but he still manages to step on the sideline as he takes off for the putdown.
70′ Fa’alogo gets an early rest
The Melbourne fullback has been carrying his left shoulder since the opening minutes of the game, and Craig Bellamy finally gives him a break.
Marion Seve comes onto the field to play inside brother-in-law Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown.
Nick Meaney moves to fullback.
69′ Broncos take their turn to exploit the new rule
Brisbane concedes its seventh try of the night and opts to receive for the first time.
But the Broncos can’t capitalise on the extra set.
Another intercept! This time for the Storm!
The Broncos have all the numbers out to the left, but Ben Hunt holds the pass too long and throws it too late. Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown flies in off his wing to steal the pass intended for Deine Mariner and goes 80 metres to score.
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66′ This one’s getting a little scrappy
The error count is growing from both teams. Fatigue is setting in, as is frustration as the Storm’s repeated ruck infringements anger the Broncos.
Munster and Sua keep the Storm train rolling
Bodies in motion at speed as the Storm spin it left, creating chaos for the Broncos’ defence.
Munster has options galore and chooses to roll in a grubber for Sua Fa’alogo, who has all the time and space to ground the ball in front of Grant Anderson.
The former Stormer cops a bit of lip from his old teammates.
58′ Brisbane just can’t get it done
A slew of penalties and set restarts (all deserved by the way, to the point the Storm probably should have had another player binned) but the Broncos still can’t crack the Melbourne line.
The last chance expires as Ben Hunt’s pass is low and behind Payne Haas, who can’t handle, and Nick Meaney dives on the loose ball.
dan