The Sydney Roosters handed the Brisbane Broncos their worst defeat in history with a 59-0 demolition at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
Missing reigning Dally M medalist James Tedesco - who was ruled out prior to the game with a high temperature - the Roosters ran in 10 tries in the record-breaking win, with forward Angus Crichton scoring a double.
The Broncos' previous biggest defeat came at the hands of the Parramatta Eels last year when they lost 58-0 in their elimination final.
The Broncos were missing many key players including captain Alex Glenn (leg cut), Kotoni Staggs (suspension), David Fifita (knee surgery) and Jake Turpin (broken leg), but coach Anthony Seibold says its no excuse for the loss.
"I'm really disappointed," said a dejected Seibold. "We were totally outclassed tonight and we didn't show any resilience.
"We have 10 guys with under 30 games and we didn't give ourselves a chance. I put out with a young side, but with $4m on the sidelines, this is the best side I could put out there."
The game was effectively over after 25 minutes as the Roosters ran riot, with Josh Morris opening the scoring to claim his first try for his new club after joining the Tri-colours before the coronavirus lockdown.
Kiwis centre Joseph Manu scored the Roosters' second before Victory Radly and Crighton crossed before the 25th minute with the two-time defending champions leading 22-0.
Kyle Flanagan then scored, before Luke Keary slotted a field goal on the siren to make the half-time score 29-0 - the worst first-half deficit in the Broncos' history.
Keary crossed for a try almost immediately after the resumption, before Lindsay Collins, Crichton, Daniel Tupou and Brett Morris also found the line to complete the rout.
Both the Roosters and Broncos have two wins and two losses for the season.
The Broncos face the Manly Sea Eagles in their next match, while the Roosters square off against the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Seibold said Staggs is the only player who will return to action next week, although just before kick-off the Broncos announced the signing of New Zealand-born forward Ben Te'o for the remainder of the season.
Te'o, who spent four seasons with the Broncos between 2009-12, will make his return to rugby league after a six year absence playing rugby union in Europe where he represented England and was part of the British & Irish Lions team to play the All Backs in 2017.
