Broncos miss golden chance to cement top eight spot after 26-6 bashing against Warriors
THE BRONCOS have been left red-faced in their quest for a top four spot, after they were thumped 26-6 by the Warriors in front of their home crowd on Sunday.
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THE BRONCOS have been left red-faced in their quest for a top four spot, after they were thumped 26-6 by the Warriors in front of their home crowd on Sunday.
It was Brisbane’s first day match at Suncorp Stadium on a Sunday in almost three years, but in front of 37,493 fans the Broncos failed to deliver on expectations.
With Tevita Pangai Jr (hamstring) and James Roberts (achilles) missing through injury, the Broncos were unable to make the most of last week’s victory over the Titans, as they struggled to muscle up against a determined Warriors outfit.
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The embarrassing loss was also compounded by a suspected knee injury to Jaydn Su’A in the 44th minute and an apparent leg problem for Joe Ofahengaue as the final buzzer sounded.
Just last week the Broncos appeared to be finals certainties when they shot into 7th spot on the ladder, with a six point gap between them and the ninth-placed Raiders.
But on Sunday they could only manage one try through Andrew McCullough, who barged past three defenders to plant the ball over the line with five minutes to go.
A week in rugby league can change a lot.
The loss has seen Brisbane slip back into eighth place and their for-and-against plummet to -26, ultimately ruining all the hard work from their 34-0 victory over the Titans last week.
Canberra’s victory over the Cowboys has also now seen them move within four points of the top eight, their finals hopes suddenly well and truly alive.
The loss should serve as a wakeup call for Brisbane, who need to show a lot more consistency if they are any chance of being a true finals threat this season.
Coach Wayne Bennett said after the game that he hopes that’s what the defeat can do for his club, but he said they always seem to suffer a loss like this at this stage of the season.
He said the week had been disrupted by Origin and injuries and he expected the team to bounce back.
“It’s pretty disappointing,” he said.
“They outplayed us, outenthused us.
“We manage to have one of these games every year ... it’s always around this time of year.
“We didn’t have a lot of players in Origin but the whole club is disrupted.”
They went into the match with the top four in their sights, but will now head into next week’s showdown with the fourth-placed Penrith doing everything they can to save their season.
The Broncos pride themselves on their defence, but it let them down greatly on Sunday.
They made 33 missed tackles and their forwards struggled to shut down an aggressive Warriors pack.
Giant centre Solomone Kata scored a double against Brisbane’s right side, while Issac Luke embarrassed Anthony Milford in the 36th minute, easily brushing out of a tackle from the five-eighth to give the Warriors a 16-0 lead at halftime.
Their attack was also limited, as they struggled to find creativity to overcome the resilient Warriors.
A week in rugby league is a long time and the Broncos can easily turn their fortunes around again.
But they have to show far more consistency over the final seven weeks if they are any hope of winning this year’s premiership.
NZ WARRIORS 26 (S Kata 2 G Beale I Luke A Paasi tries S Johnson 3 goals) bt BRISBANE 6 (A McCullough try J Isaako goal) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Grant Atkins, Matt Noyen. Crowd: 37,493.
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