Warriors leap from cellar to haunt Origin-ravaged Broncos 56-18 at Suncorp Stadium

SYMPATHY and relief, not jubilation, was the prevailing emotion for Warriors coach Matthew Elliott after his thrashing of the Broncos.

SYMPATHY and relief, not jubilation, was the prevailing emotion for New Zealand Warriors coach Matthew Elliott after his club's biggest win last night against the Broncos.

State of Origin's annual curse wrapped its ghoulish fingers around the Broncos' throats as the Warriors crushed their hosts 56-18 at Suncorp Stadium.

Brisbane, minus a quartet of resting Maroons and injured prop Ben Hannant, were powerless against a 10 tries to three avalanche that left them with just five wins from 12 matches and in 11th place.

Brisbane's finals chances were dealt a serious jolt ahead of Monday's visit to Canberra, with a likely reduced Origin contingent for a mid-winter fixture which Brisbane sides never enjoy.

Coach Anthony Griffin's side face Canberra away, Wests Tigers at home and then have a bye before they travel for a rematch with the Warriors.

Elliott's men lost 62-6 to his former club Penrith a fortnight ago and he took away less joy than might be expected from such an impressive win.

"I was there a couple of weeks ago," Elliott said.

"I acknowledge the opposition we played had a fair bit of disruption coming into the game. While I'm happy, I'm not getting carried away with it."

Manu Vatuvei

A crowd of 21,259 turned up to watch this generation of baby Broncos. It was the biggest loss by a Broncos team to the Warriors - worse than a 48-16 defeat in 2010. The home side put up a fight early before the Auckland-based bruisers threw down 36 unanswered points. A raft of positional changes, including playing Peter Wallace at hooker, failed spectacularly for Brisbane.

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Big men Manu Vatuvei and Feleti Mateo had their way with their undersized opponents, while it was party time for Kiwi halves Shaun Johnson and Thomas Leuluai.

Centre Konrad Hurrell was also too powerful for Brisbane.

Elliott said the Broncos were too good a side not to rebound.

He said he had uncovered statistics that showed 21 teams had been beaten by 50 points or more in the last five years.

"Thirteen of those won the next week," he said.

Andrew McCullough

WARRIORS 56 (G Fisiiahi 2 K Hurrell 2 T Leuluai 2 M Vatuvei 2 K Locke R Packer tries S Johnson 8 goals) bt BRISBANE 18 (A Glenn J Hoffman S Prince tries S Prince 3 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Ben Cummins, Brett Suttor. Crowd: 21,259.

See how all the action unfolded with our rolling coverage below. 

FULL-TIME: WARRIORS 56 d BRONCOS 18

What a win for the Warriors. Kevin Locke gets over late for his first try of the night to cap a sensational night for the visitors who have turned on the style at Suncorp Stadium.

The Broncos were missing four State of Origin stars but that shouldn't take too much gloss off what has been a stunning performance from the Warriors.

Manu Vatuvei, Konrad Hurrell, Thomas Leuluai and Glen Fisiiahi each grabbed try-scoring doubles for the Warriors, with Russell Packer and Kevin Locke also crossing the stripe as the New Zealanders grabbed their fourth win of the season.

Josh Hoffman, Scott Prince and Alex Glenn were the tryscorers for the Broncos.

MATCH CENTRE: Broncos v Warriors

8.33pm - FISIIAHI MAKES IT FIFTY

That Broncos comeback was pretty shortlived as another Warrior gets a try-scoring double - and helps his side crack the half-century.

This time its flying winger Glen Fisiiahi who crosses for try number two, after sprinting up to intercept an attempted flick-on from Corey Norman for a clear run to the line.

Shaun Johnson's conversion puts the Warriors up 50-18.

8.31pm - HERE COME THE BRONCOS (SORT OF)

Have they left their run too late? Surely. But the Broncos have scored back-to-back tries for the first time tonight at Suncorp Stadium.

After Russell Packer's bustling try puts the Warriors ahead 44-8, the Broncos hit back through four-pointers to Alex Glenn and Scott Prince.

All of a sudden it's ... 44-18 to the Warriors, and the Broncos still need a stack of points with only 15 minutes to go.

8.17pm - HURRELL AT THE DOUBLE

If it wasn't already, this is getting ugly for the Broncos as the Warriors go in again.

More enterprising play earns the visitors good field position and it's as easy as you like for centre Konrad Hurrell, who goes over for his second try of the night.

Shaun Johnson's long ball finds Glen Fisiiahi, who draws a defender before putting Hurrell over in the corner.

The referee wants to check the grounding but the replay confirms the try, and with Johnson's sideline conversion successful the Warriors now lead 38-8.

8.05pm - MORE MATEO MAGIC FOR WARRIORS

Feleti Mateo is on fire at Suncorp Stadium as he sets up another wonderful Warriors try after the half-time break.

Again the big man shows brilliant foot skills, blocking an attempted Scott Prince grubber kick near his own line, then scooping up the loose ball and dashing off.

He fends off a couple of defenders before slipping a beauty of a pass on to the chest of Manu Vatuvei, who bursts into the clear and sprints 65m to score.

Shaun Johnson has no problems with the conversion and the Warriors extend their lead to 32-8.

7.47pm - HALF-TIME: WARRIORS LEAD BRONCOS 26-8

Hold the phone, the Warriors are in again! This time though it's just the two points for the visitors, who are awarded a penalty and opt for the shot at goal with half-time imminent.

Shaun Johnson makes no mistake and puts the Warriors up 26-8 at the break. What an incredible finish to the half from the visitors, the Broncos must be stunned.

MATCH CENTRE: Broncos v Warriors

7.44pm - RAZZLE DAZZLE FROM WARRIORS

Wow, the Warriors have come to play. The visitors grab three tries on the trot to storm to a commanding lead nearing half-time at Suncorp Stadium.

After Scott Prince's penalty levels the scores, the Warriors go back-to-back-to-back.

First up Konrad Hurrell shows his strength to barge through Corey Norman close to the line after being put into a gap by fullback Kevin Locke.

Thomas Leuluai is next to score, but it's all down to some brilliance for Feleti Mateo. The big second-rower displays some silky skills to chip and regather, before flicking a pass out to winger Manu Vatuvei who in turn finds Leuluai for an easy run to the line.

Leuluai is in again as he is put over by Locke, who regathers his own kick.

After missing his first three conversion attempts Shaun Johnson kicks two in a row and it's the Warriors up 24-8 with less than two minutes until half-time.

7.24pm - RAINING TRIES AT SUNCORP STADIUM

It's a Monday night tryathon! Just minutes after the Warriors go in again - through winger Glen Fisiiahi - the Broncos hit back with their first try of the night.

Fisiiahi's try has plenty of luck as Shaun Johnson's pass bounces off Jordan Kahu and into the in-goal for the Warriors winger to claim an easy four-pointer.

Then it's the Broncos turn as a neat backline move puts Josh Hoffman in space. The fullback-turned-winger-turned-centre shows plenty of pace to slice through the Warriors defence for a neat try. Scott Prince's conversion is successful and it's the Warriors leading 8-6.

7.11pm - FAST START FOR WARRIORS

TRY! What a start for the visitors, who get on the board less than four minutes in through big winger Manu Vatuvei.

The Warriors get a lucky break when they are awarded a scrum 10m out after Jack Reed is judged to have played at the ball as Vatuvei was trying to get rid of it before being tackled into touch.

And they take full advantage, with a nice backline move giving Vatuvei a run at the tryline. He barges over and plants the ball down one-handed. Shaun Johnson misses the conversion and it's the Warriors ahead 4-0.

6.20pm - BRONCOS MAKE MASS CHANGES

The teams are in for the final game of the round - and there are plenty of changes to digest.

As revealed yesterday the Broncos have made a stack of positional tweaks to their squad, as well as welcoming back several players.

Star centre Jack Reed is back from an eye injury, with Jordan Kahu switching to the wing. Aaron Whitchurch wins a spot on the other Broncos wing, while Peter Wallace's move to hooker sees Ben Hunt take his spot in the halves and Andrew McCullough move to the back-row.

Mitchell Dodds has been promoted to a starting role in the Broncos pack while Nick Slyney and Dunamis Lui drop back to the bench. Jake Granville drops out of the squad altogether.

There is only one change for the Warriors, with Pita Godinet dropping out of the squad and Dominique Peyroux taking his place on the bench.

Broncos: Corey Norman, Aaron Whitchurch, Jack Reed, Josh Hoffman, Jordan Kahu, Scott Prince, Ben Hunt, Josh McGuire, Peter Wallace, Scott Anderson, Alex Glenn (c), Andrew McCullough, Mitchell Dodds. Interchange: Nick Slyney, Dunamis Lui, David Hala, Jarrod Wallace.

Warriors: Kevin Locke, Glen Fisiiahi, Dane Nielsen, Konrad Hurrell, Manu Vatuvei, Thomas Leuluai, Shaun Johnson, Sam Rapira, Nathan Friend, Russell Packer, Feleti Mateo, Simon Mannering, Elijah Taylor. Interchange: Ben Matulino, Jacob Lillyman, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Dominique Peyroux.

Broncos v Warriors

5pm AEDT - MONDAY NIGHT FOOTY LIVE

WELCOME to our rolling coverage and live match centre for the Broncos' Monday night NRL clash with the Warriors.

Kick-off is 7.30pm AEDT.

The Broncos have been hit by State of Origin, with big guns Sam Thaiday, Justin Hodges, Corey Parker and Matt Gillett all missing from the side that was beaten by the Bulldogs in Sydney last round.

Coach Anthony Griffin has rung the changes to his Brisbane side, with regular halfback Peter Wallace moving to hooker and Andrew McCullough switching to the backrow.

The Warriors enter tonight's match in winning form, having bounced back from a 62-6 thrashing by the Panthers to down the Knights 28-12.

Can they make it two in a row or will the Broncos prove too strong at home?

Keep up to date with rolling updates in this story, plus following the games live in our brand new match centres, complete with match tracker, live stats and live SuperCoach.

MATCH CENTRE: Broncos v Warriors