Brave Broncos down Dragons

THE Broncos have overcame an absolute mountain of St George Illawarra possession to claim a courageous 22-6 victory at WIN Stadium.

Matt Gillett

IT will be remembered as the night a brave Brisbane team fought like their season depended upon it - and won.

In what must surely rank among the most courageous performances of this Broncos team, Brisbane overcame an absolute mountain of St George Illawarra possession to claim a 22-6 victory at WIN Stadium.

Brisbane were on the ropes for almost the entire night, but somehow conjured a win against all odds to kickstart their 2013 NRL season.

The Broncos lost prop Josh McGuire (calf strain) in the first half and centre Justin Hodges (hamstring) after just 50 minutes but nothing could break their spirit.

Hodges even spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin for a professional foul on Brett Morris that prevented a certain length of the field try, but still had a major impact upon the scoreboard.

It was a deft Hodges grubber that led to a Josh Hoffman try in the 48th minute, giving Brisbane a 10-6 lead they would never relinquish.

Utility David Stagg gave Brisbane further breathing space in the 64th minute when he scored after a superb solo run from Matt Gillett.

Fullback Corey Norman then sealed a morale boosting victory when he strolled over untouched seven minutes from full-time.

It was staggering how easy Brisbane's points appeared to come, given they were the team out on their feet after so much tackling.

It was the most remarkable defensive effort from the Broncos who must have felt like they were defending off their own tryline for the entire night.

The Dragons had so many opportunities to score, but their predictable attack was constantly shut down by the Broncos.

The fact St George Illawarra could not deliver more points after such dominance will be a major concern for their coach Steve Price.

The scores were locked 6-all at half-time even though the Broncos had made 64 more tackles (177 to 113), had 41 fewer runs (102-61) and trailed the possession 62 per cent to just 38.

But stats can't measure heart and the Broncos had that in spades.

There were several try-saving moments in a 15-minute period where the Dragons had at least six opportunities for tries either stopped by desperate defence or denied by the referees.

Trent Merrin was correctly denied by the video referee in the 17th minute because Nathan Fien pushed the marker over.

Hodges twice knocked down passes that could have led to points out wide.

Ben Creagh stormed over in the 25th minute but the referee deemed Fien's final pass was forward.

About the only time Brisbane's attack had a reason to smile in the first half was in the fifth minute when prop Ben Hannant, promoted to the starting side, burst over for the first try of the night.

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BRISBANE 22 (B Hannant J Hoffman C Norman D Stagg tries S Prince  3 goals) bt ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 6 (M Weyman try J Soward goal) at WIN Stadium. Referee: Gavin Morris, Jason Robinson. Crowd: 13,156.