Ben Hunt haunts Broncos in tough opening round loss to Dragons

CALL it karma. Or just plain bad luck. Either way, welcome to first-grade Matthew Lodge. The NRL is a brutal world, as the controversial forward found out in Brisbane’s 34-12 loss to the Dragons.

Brisbane couldn’t hold off a rampant Dragons outfit in the season opener

CALL it karma. Or just plain bad luck. Either way, welcome to first-grade Matthew Lodge. The NRL is a brutal world.

Lodge’s month-long nightmare spilled onto the park last night, the NRL’s biggest villain throwing a disastrous intercept pass as former Bronco Ben Hunt returned to haunt Brisbane at Kogarah.

Playing his first NRL game in 984 days, Lodge was left to rue the midfield brain explosion that ignited the Dragons and consigned the Broncos to a dismal 34-12 flogging in an error-riddled season-opener.

Brisbane trailed 10-2 at half-time, but they imploded in the second stanza as the Red V embarked on a Kogarah cakewalk in a five-tries-to-two victory before 14,457 fans.

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Brisbane couldn’t hold off a rampant Dragons outfit in the season opener

Lodge produced a wholehearted first half but his Broncos debut turned to tears in the 51st minute when Hunt swooped onto his looping midfield pass and raced 45 metres to score for a 16-6 lead.

For Hunt, it was the ultimate form of poetic justice. At the Broncos, he was derided as a halfback that couldn’t deliver a title and was the poster boy for Brisbane’s heartbreaking 2015 grand-final loss to the Cowboys.

So it was rather fitting that the Dragons’ $6 million man should put the boot into his former Broncos teammates as he and Gareth Widdop gave Brisbane halves Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima a playmaking clinic.

Matthew Lodge had a tough night on his NRL return

Broncos coach Wayne Bennett was left to lament Brisbane’s awful first half, marred by a 47 per cent completion rate, and lack of midfield domination.

“It’s not really good from our point of view. The Dragons would be happy but I’m not happy,” he said.

“Our first half was poor and we allowed them too many points, we had no momentum.”

James Roberts was a shining light in the loss with a pair of tries. Pic. Phil Hillyard

Of Lodge, Bennett said: “I wasn’t disappointed with Matt, he had to start somewhere. We’ve got him on the football field and he is playing football.

“It was his first game back in the NRL for three years. Coming back is the best thing to happen to him.”

While Lodge will rue his execution, he was the only Broncos forward to run for 100 metres. That is a damning statistic for a Broncos forward pack that was belted in midfield by a Dragons front six led by James Graham and Jack de Belin.

As a result, Brisbane’s halves had no latitude to create. Kodi Nikorima was outpointed by Hunt, while Anthony Milford never found his groove and cannot afford to kick so loosely as Brisbane’s first $1 million player.

“We were clunky,” skipper Darius Boyd said. “Our execution was poor, you won’t win many games playing like that.

“I won’t lose too much confidence out of that, but we didn’t have good ball at the right parts of the field.”

The battle between $1 million halves _ former Broncos teammates Milford and Hunt _ effectively told the story of the night. Hunt was slick and sharp; Milford erratic and passive.

Broncos centre James Roberts was one shining light with a two-try haul, but Brisbane’s problems lay elsewhere.

SCOREBOARD

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 34 (E Aitken J De Belin T Frizell B Hunt J Nightingale tries G Widdop 7 goals) bt BRISBANE 12 (J Roberts 2 tries J Kahu 2 goals) at UOW Jubilee Oval. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Alan Shortall. Crowd: 14,457.