Lessons learned from the World Club Series have primed Brisbane to “stamp their authority” early this NRL season despite a tough draw.

The Broncos appear vulnerable ahead of Thursday night’s season opener against reigning premiers Cronulla after their shock WCS loss to Warrington in the UK.

And one look at their daunting schedule prompted league great Peter Sterling to claim Brisbane would struggle to even make the eight this year.

But veteran forward Sam Thaiday said some home truths after their historic loss to Warrington had steeled the Broncos for the demanding weeks ahead.

Brisbane have been dealt one of the toughest season starts, taking on each of last year’s top four in the opening month.

“Look at the first few weeks for us, it’s a huge opportunity to see where we are at as a team and stamp our authority on the competition,” Thaiday said.

Alarm bells were ringing for Brisbane when they became the first NRL club to lose a WCS clash, succumbing 27-18 to the Wolves this month.

However, Thaiday said coach Wayne Bennett had helped them learn a harsh lesson and move on.

“We had to put it behind us. Wayne quashed all that at our last team meeting – this week has all been about the Sharks,” Thaiday said.

“We learned a few lessons from that game.

“We need to control the footy and play a Broncos brand if we are going to be close to winning games this year.

“We gave away too many penalties and dropped too much ball but the beauty of that game was that it wasn’t for competition points.”

Thaiday said the thought of knocking defending champions Cronulla “off their perch” on Thursday night had also energised Brisbane.

“It does make you want to play a bit harder and maybe get one up on them,” Thaiday said of facing the premiers.

“I think it will be a tough year for them – everyone lifts their game to play you (premiers).

“We want to go down there and hopefully knock the premiers off their perch and really start our season off well.”