Brisbane Broncos smash catastrophic North Queensland Cowboys 44-22 in Queensland derby
BRISBANE was brilliant. The Cowboys were catastrophic. The Queensland derby became a Broncos belting on Friday night at a packed Suncorp Stadium.
Broncos
Don't miss out on the headlines from Broncos. Followed categories will be added to My News.
BRISBANE was brilliant. The Cowboys were catastrophic.
The Queensland derby became a Broncos belting on Friday night as Wayne Bennett’s men hit the sublime touch Brisbane fans enjoyed in the club’s glory days with the mother of all beatings for North Queensland.
It was 32-6 at half-time to the Broncos and the night never got much better for the winless Cowboys, with the final score 44-22 Brisbane’s biggest win over their fierce rivals since their 36-2 win at Suncorp Stadium in 2008.
Brisbane scored six first half tries, eight for the match, with seven individual tryscorers bringing the crowd of 40,047 absolute delight after the disappointment of the season opening defeat to South Sydney.
There was much promise about the Broncos performance. Prime movers like halves Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt found some cohesion and creativity, while fullback Jordan Kahu showed slick hands to set up Lachlan Maranta for a first half double.
It was hard to gauge how strong the performance was by the Broncos though because the Cowboys were so deplorable.
But you can put a line through the Cowboys for another year. On Friday night’s evidence they’re no premiership contenders.
No team in the modern era has ever started the regular season with three straight losses and come back to win the premiership. Only two teams in 108 years of rugby league history have achieved that feat, the last team being South Sydney in 1953.
The Cowboys path ahead gets no easier with Melbourne at home next week followed by away trips to likely top four contenders Penrith and South Sydney. They could easily be 0-6 if they don’t find a formula to get out of this funk.
Coach Paul Green would’ve torn paint off the walls with his half-time address, his team committing errors you’d expect from a team headed for a wooden spoon not aiming for a top four finish.
Two simple one-on-one tackles gifted Brisbane their opening two tries before the floodgates were truly ripped open late in the first half.
Four tries in the last 13 minutes completely dismantled a shocked Cowboys outfit as Brisbane turned on a bit of razzle dazzle, none more so than Kahu, whose lightning quick hands put winger Maranta over twice in quick succession.
There was some diabolical defence from the Cowboys. In the first half alone the Broncos had 23 tackle breaks to four, seven line breaks to one.
Milford played with depth, Hunt with confidence. Nuggety halfback Hunt immediately put his mark on the game by scoring the opening try when he pushed aside former Test prop James Tamou to score himself.
It was typical of Hunt at his best, Tamou at his worst.
Tamou, promoted to the starting side with Ben Hannant pushed to the bench, endured a dire night, falling off tackles and not making the same impact Cowboys fans had come to expect from a man once considered the top prop in the game.
Even with Brisbane’s best front rower Josh McGuire leaving the game with concussion in the first half, North Queensland was unable to establish any dominance up front and Matt Scott ended the night on report for a high shot on Adam Blair.
By the end of a dreadful night not one Cowboys forward had run for more than 100m and the team had missed 33 tackles and produced 10 errors.
Cowboys skipper Johnathan Thurston had been in the headlines for the way he was targeted by Newcastle last week, but the champion halfback never imposed himself on the contest.
The reality was Thurston was never given a chance playing behind a forward pack that were more than disappointing.
Originally published as Brisbane Broncos smash catastrophic North Queensland Cowboys 44-22 in Queensland derby
What Maguire, Broncos can learn from grand final masterclass
Michael Maguire was in the stands for Penrith’s epic grand final win. There was plenty for the new Broncos coach to ponder, writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.
Broncos’ Bellamy blunder: How Brisbane fumbled Bennett successor
It’s the sliding doors moment that cost Brisbane the signing of Craig Bellamy and put Melbourne on the path to a two-decade dynasty. See the inside story of how the Broncos botched their Wayne Bennett succession plan.