In the worst possible deal for his players – perhaps not as bad as facing Wigan again though – the City side have to back up for a quick turnaround against the Rhinos at Twickenham Stoop after their embarrassment on Saturday.

Australian winger and goalkicker Pat Richards accounted for a semi-final record 30 points on his own as 10 Wigan players found the tryline in the epic defeat.

 “It hurts beyond hurt,” Rea said. “It’s my biggest disappointment as a coach. We really wanted that for a number of reasons.

“It was exactly what we didn’t want to happen and it’s incredibly disappointing.”

The Broncos stuck with Wigan for the first 15 minutes, but mistakes mounted and the scoreboard went into overdrive.

“There was a point in the first half when the game was in the balance for 15 or 16 minutes,” he said.

“One team was ready to crack and we had to be strong but we weren’t.”

The wooden spoon-destined Broncos will need to dust themselves off and try to salvage what they can from a disappointing season.  

“It’s massive after that,” Rea said. “It’s a really important game and we have to respond.

“We have to dust off and set about doing what we believe we can do. They’ll be shattered but we’ve got to find some pride and go about our business with a bit of toughness.”

Image via Getty