Bookmakers have declared finals specialists Brisbane "gone" after they tumbled to their fifth loss in six NRL games at the hands of South Sydney on Friday night.

Finalists for 17 straight seasons under former coach Wayne Bennett, Brisbane have serious defensive issues after leaking 40 points or more against Parramatta, Melbourne, Cronulla and Souths, who smashed the Broncos 44-16 in front of 50,190 fans at Suncorp Stadium.

"They're no hope," said SportsAlive's Gerard Daffy after winding Brisbane's premiership odds out to $20 from $13.

"If they weren't the Broncos, they'd be much bigger odds.

"They're just about shot ducks."

Sportingbet Australia's Billy Richmond said the six-time premiers were in "massive trouble".

"Sides who leak points like that can't win premierships," said Richmond, whose betting agency also wound out Brisbane's odds.

Brisbane were in a worse position in 2007 when they were outside the top eight with two rounds to play before scraping into the finals.

A loss next weekend to the Gold Coast at Skilled Park where the Titans are 8-0 this season would make Brisbane's task almost impossible.

Brisbane coach Ivan Henjak, who will not have skipper Darren Lockyer (knee) back in time for the Titans game, conceded his players were "struggling" and had lost some trust defensively.

Defensive coach Peter Ryan put it more bluntly.

"Pretty bloody ordinary to be honest with you," said former enforcer Ryan.

"I don't know what to say. Souths got on top of us and it went from there.

"Our attitude has been pretty good actually.

"There are a few players missing but I'm at a loss to be honest with you. This comes as a surprise to me.

"Our blokes just folded in the middle."

South blew holes in Brisbane's left-side defence with five-eighth John Sutton and centre Beau Champion, who scored three tries, running wild.

"We've done a lot of work in this area, our left side has been our rock this year but unfortunately that is where we leaked points, said Ryan,

"(Corey) Parker, (Peter) Wallace and (Steve) Michaels have been great for us this year but we have to knuckle down and turn it around somehow.

Michaels, who was shifted to the wing in the second half, said poor communication hadn't helped.

"There was a lack of communication between me and Wal (Wallace)," he said.

"We got found out a number of times so we have to stick together and try and stay positive.

"I don't want to make excuses. We can't go blaming injuries. It is a tough time. We've never had so many points put on us so it's disappointing."

Parker, who stood in as captain for Lockyer, defended Michaels, who wore the brunt of blame.

Parker said it would be "unsavoury" to point the finger at just one or two players.

"When you're down on confidence and not winning games, you start losing a bit of trust," Parker said.

There's no doubt Brisbane missed Lockyer, Sam Thaiday, Israel Folau and Nick Kenny, but they haven't been firing for weeks and time is fast running out for them.

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