Brisbane's current forward pack is better than the one that last collected a NRL title for the club in 2006, premiership-winning prop Ben Hannant says.
It's a big call, but two-time title-winning Broncos front-rower Petero Civoniceva agreed the "potential yet to be realised is quite frightening" as the club's 2023 forward-line prepare for Sunday's grand final showdown with Penrith.
"If they go all the way and win the competition they're right up there (with the 2006 forwards)," Civoniceva told AAP.
Hannant, who came off the bench in the 15-8 win over Melbourne in the decider 17 years ago, went a step further.
"If I had my pick of the 2006 forwards and this year's Broncos forwards, I'd be taking this year's every day of the week," he told AAP.
"That is no slag on the 2006 boys. The greats of 2006 like Petero Civoniceva, Shane Webcke and Brad Thorn paved the way for these guys to come through to be better … but these guys are us 2.0."
Webcke, Civoniceva, Thorn and Tonie Carroll were seasoned professionals in 2006.
This year Brisbane have a suite of young forwards with years ahead of them, led by 25-year-old Patrick Carrigan and Payne Haas, 23.
"We had old, tough warriors. These young guys have every tool in their bag," Hannant said.
"These blokes are not only big, tough and strong; they have got skills, footwork and huge engines.
"I loved Webcke to death but Haas is 2.0. Look at his stats. Could Webcke run 200m and make 40 tackles a game? Not a chance in hell.
"Haas is a freak. Look at his post-contact metres.
"We were aggressive, but these guys have extra strings to their bow."
Civoniceva said it would "hurt" losing prop Thomas Fleger to the Dolphins next year but said second-rower Jordan Riki and bench forwards Brendan Piakura and Kobe Hetherington had been "absolutely fantastic".
"The scary thing is, there's more potential in this pack," Civoniceva said.
"Payne is still so young, you forget. The majority of us (in 2006) were senior players, mid to late in our careers.
"We knew how to close out big games.
"There's a real tradesman-like toughness about the Broncos. Patty (Carrigan) is leading from the front, week-in week-out."
To be regarded as a truly great pack the modern Broncos must prevail in a grand final.
"If they hold that group together, there can be many more years of success for the Broncos," Civoniceva said.
"All the successful years we've had have been on the back of a powerful pack that work hard for each other.
"They've definitely got all those traits, and then some."
