Brisbane stay unbeaten with 22-18 upset victory over Wayne Bennett‘s South Sydney
Kotoni Staggs raced over for a scorching treble as Brisbane downed the Rabbitohs 22-18 but the Queenslanders paid dearly for the victory with a Broncos star suffering serious injury.
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The Broncos were left to lament a bittersweet 22-18 defeat of South Sydney after a double injury blow took the gloss off Kotoni Staggs’ hat-trick heroics at Suncorp Stadium.
While the coronavirus pandemic kept the fans out of an empty Suncorp, it could not silence Staggs, who destroyed the Rabbitohs with the first treble of his career to fire the Broncos to their second consecutive win.
But the joy of Staggs’ rampaging display was tempered by the pain of star halfback recruit Brodie Croft (shoulder) and Corey Oates (ribs) failing to finish on a costly night for the Broncos.
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The former Storm No.7 started impressively but injured his shoulder in the 12th minute attempting to score chasing a grubber kick into the Rabbitohs in-goal.
Croft lasted just two more minutes before heading up the tunnel, while winger Oates hobbled off two minutes from full-time.
Croft faces a one-to-three week stint on the sidelines, opening the door for 19-year-old Tom Dearden to partner Anthony Milford for Saturday week’s derby against the Titans.
“It’s an AC joint injury, so hopefully it settles down,” Broncos coach Anthony Seibold said. “Brodie will get a scan. He might be OK (to play next week) but if he’s out we have young Tom Dearden, he’ll come into the side. I have a great deal of confidence in him.”
Of Oates, Seibold said: “He has hurt his ribs, he is pretty sore, I’d say he is pretty doubtful for next week.”
Souths coach Wayne Bennett watched the action behind the goalposts and the former Broncos mentor must have felt like jumping out of the stands as the Bunnies bumbled along with a 63 per cent completion rate.
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By contrast, it was a commanding display by the Broncos, who ran harder, played smarter, tackled with more vigour and delivered the knockout blow when it mattered.
The one-two punch was delivered by Milford, who scored a magical 40-metre solo try in the first half, and Staggs, who opened the scoring in the seventh minute before two sizzling efforts in the 50th and 58th minutes buried the Bunnies.
The essential difference between the two sides was demonstrated in the engine room. Broncos duo Tom Flegler (159m) and Payne Haas (147m) charged for 306 metres to belt Bunnies bookends Tevita Tatola and Tom Burgess, who managed just 128m.
“We were certainly the better team,” Seibold said. “Even when we trailed 12-10 at halftime, we didn’t let the scoreboard affect us. I’m proud of the way they stuck to the task, they had to overcame a fair bit of adversity.”
If Milford was slick on the edges, Flegler was barnstorming around rucks, amassing 116 metres, five tackle busts and three offloads in a bruising first half.
Such was Brisbane’s fine execution, it was incomprehensible to believe they trailed 12-10 at halftime. But they were always the better side and held their nerve after the break to give Seibold his first win over Bennett in five attempts.
BRISBANE 22 (K Staggs 3 A Milford tries J Isaako 3 goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 18 (C Graham A Johnston C Walker tries A Reynolds 3 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Grant Atkins, Peter Gough.
Originally published as Brisbane stay unbeaten with 22-18 upset victory over Wayne Bennett‘s South Sydney