Flying high after dominating North Queensland, Tevita Pangai and his fellow Brisbane forwards have come crashing back to earth.
Broncos coach Anthony Seibold hinted that the likes of Pangai had been distracted by getting "pats on the back" after being overpowered by St George Illawarra in their dramatic 25-24 round three NRL loss on Thursday night.
Pangai and the young Brisbane pack were unstoppable last round, making plenty of headlines after steamrolling the Cowboys' all-star forwards in a 29-10 romp.
Just six days later the Broncos forwards got a taste of their own medicine from a desperate Dragons.
To their credit Brisbane somehow hung on before Corey Norman slotted a last gasp field goal to finally break St George Illawarra's winning duck for the season.
Tongan powerhouse Pangai still ran an impressive 177m but he missed six tackles and conceded a penalty in a largely muted display.
"It was an outstanding performance (last week) but he didn't back it up and that's what great players do," former Broncos captain Gorden Tallis told Fox Sports.
"He wasn't horrible (against Dragons) but he's got to make sure he doesn't drop your standard too low."
Seibold went a step further, claiming his young forwards may have started believing their own hype after their demolition of North Queensland.
"Physically the Dragons won that contest and we got what we deserved in the end there," he said.
"We had a lot of young guys who probably got a lot of pats on the back after last week's game but the NRL has a real habit of bringing you back down to earth.
"We will have to learn from that."
Another who failed to back up was bench livewire forward Thomas Flegler, who made 76m but made two errors and two handling mistakes.
"He was probably on top of the world the last six days and a lot of people in the press are talking about him being the next Shane Webcke which I don't quite understand because he's only a couple of games into his NRL career," Seibold said of Flegler.
"I reckon he learned a very valuable lesson.
"You win or you learn in the NRL, that's the way I look at it."
The only consolation for Seibold was that prop Matt Lodge returned from suspension for next round's away clash against Sydney Roosters.
"Lodge will come straight back in. He deserves that. He has been outstanding for us in the pre-season," Seibold said.
