However, anyone watching the game would have likely seen things very differently.

The Broncos wrote themselves into the history books on Thursday night after Adam Blair coughed up the ball in the first hit-up which was pounced on by Eel Kirosome Auva’a who scored in the 12th second of the match – an NRL record.

The Eels led 18-0 after 15 minutes solidifying the worst start by a Broncos team in history. That’s almost 30 years.

And things only got worse for the one town team.

Winger Semi Radradra piled on three tries in the opening 22 minutes for a 24-0 lead leaving the Suncorp Stadium crowd silent. The winger would have four before the night was over in a stunning display.

Parramatta led 30-10 at the break after a bumbling opening half from the hosts seriously calling into question their premiership aspirations.

Their ball control was shocking as was their one-on-one defence which they will need to correct quickly.

Not that Boyd is alarmed.

“We were good I thought to be honest,” Boyd said. “We just kissed it off pretty quickly. I thought our effort and our intent (was there) right from the start.

“The first 10, 15, 20 minutes was good. But just key little moments and lapses in judgement on the back of some hard work cost us. I thought our effort was good, but, you can’t make silly little errors against quality teams and that’s what we did.”

Brisbane were flying before facing the Eels but will drop to third should the Roosters overcome Cronulla.

Asked if his side needed some perspective heading into the finals after a dynamite season, coach Wayne Bennett denied his troops were nonchalant ahead of the match.  

“I don’t feel we needed a wake up call,” Bennett said. “I don’t feel that at all.”

“We’re not full of ourselves and are not doing much wrong. The wake-up call tonight is that the game is based on fundamentals, and, when you get away from those fundamentals, it doesn’t matter how many game plans or tactics you have – you’re destined for failure. And that’s what happened.”

Brisbane had a short-lived comeback to trail 36-22 in the 63rd minute before the wheels flew off on their way to a 52-34 defeat- only the second time a Broncos team has had 50 points put on them at home.

And with one round remaining before the finals, Bennett was hopeful his side could bounce back quickly.  

“I hope it’s not too difficult,” he said.  

“The season doesn’t depend on one game – particularly the home and away stuff in the 26 rounds. We’ve just got to recognize we’ve had a bad night and don’t avoid that – don’t make excuses for it and move forward again.

“Poor ball control, poor decisions in defence cost us dearly.”