Jonah Pezet will be embraced by Brisbane next year but this week they will hammer the Parramatta playmaker in an attempt to get their season on track.
Pezet will replace retiring Broncos captain Adam Reynolds in 2027, but on Thursday night at Suncorp Stadium he will have a target on his head with centre Kotoni Staggs warning that second-rower Jordan Riki will be coming for him.
Defending premiers Brisbane were woeful in a 26-0 loss to Penrith in round one, while the Eels were worse in a 52-4 capitulation to Melbourne.
The Storm sent back-rower Joe Chan at Pezet all night and the pressure led to errors and a below par game from the Parramatta five-eighth.
"I watched that game and they were sending some traffic down to him. We won't change it," Staggs said.
"We'll probably put Riki on him and make him make tackles.
"I feel like we'll get some joy down that edge.
"We have him next year but we've got to focus on this year now and he's a Parramatta Eel, so we'll just try to play our game against him."
Brisbane could not have played poorer than they did against the Panthers. Their completion rate was their worst since 2017 and it was the first time since 2021 that they had been held scoreless.
Staggs said coach Michael Maguire didn't need to give them a spray for their dire display.
"He didn't really have much to say," Staggs said.
"We knew what we needed to be better at. Obviously the 18 errors and the 60 per cent completion with the ball, that tells the story there.
"We've just got to play the long game and kick the corners.
"It is round one and we'll get better. We'll learn from this game going onwards. It's only early days."
The Broncos have been the flavour of Brisbane since winning the premiership last year to break a 19-year title drought.
The hype around the team has never been as fever pitched. Staggs is a member of the leadership group and at 27 is mature enough to handle the adulation.
"It's probably different for everyone else in the team, but for myself it's about focusing on my job every day and trying to be the best I can," he added.
"I'll put the past behind. Being premiers was last year.
"We're going into this comp as a normal team that's going for the same prize as what every other team's going for."
The main interest around Brisbane's team to face Parramatta will be whether Maguire starts five-eighth Ezra Mam after he was a late benching against Penrith. The tactic did not work.
