‘We’re thinking of everyone’: Broncos destroy the Roosters before focus shifts to getting home safely

The Broncos didn’t have time to properly celebrate their big win over the Roosters, with the team having to race to the airport to get back into Queensland.

The Broncos produced one of the most emphatic 80-minute performances you’ll ever see in round one to trounce the Roosters, with Michael Maguire’s side then forced to head across Sydney to begin a hectic return trip home to be with their loved ones before Tropical Cyclone Alfred makes landfall.

It had been a chaotic build-up for the Broncos who landed in Sydney on Tuesday, while fellow Queensland club the Dolphins had their game against the Rabbitohs relocated to NSW to ensure the match could go ahead.

Playing a road game is hard enough without worrying about whether your family is safe, but it didn’t affect the Broncos who were simply brilliant in their 50-14 thrashing of the Roosters.

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— Brisbane Broncos (@brisbanebroncos) March 6, 2025

“It says a lot about the players,” Maguire said.

“One thing that I’ve seen since arriving at the club is that there’s a strong connection between the players.

“They’ve experienced plenty, so for myself to come into a group that’s been together for a while and gone through challenging times together, they’ve put their heads down and worked really hard.

“It says a lot about the group and what they’re willing to do for each other.”

The Broncos produced some incredible tries on Thursday night, with winger Selwyn Cobbo grabbing a hat-trick as Reece Walsh, Ben Hunt and Adam Reynolds tortured the defence.

There’s usually a long gap between full-time and the winning captain and coach arriving for the press conference, but Reynolds was there within minutes given the team had to travel to Bankstown to board a charter flight to Toowoomba where they’d travel two hours by bus to get back to Brisbane.

Welcome back Ben Hunt!

He finishes off "an absolute blinding try" for the Broncos 👏

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“It’s sort of the unknown,” Reynolds said.

“I don’t think too many people have been through a cyclone, so for us, it’s about getting home as soon as possible and being with our loved ones and making sure that we’re all okay.

“We’re thinking of everyone that’s going to be affected by the cyclone. It’s not something we want to go through, but it’s important to hunker down and make sure everyone’s okay and check in on each other.

“We checked in on them (our families) early, and then we had 80 minutes to worry about out there.

“Everyone is doing fine back home at the moment. We had a job to do here for 80 minutes, and now we can turn our attention to getting back home and being with our families.”

Originally published as ‘We’re thinking of everyone’: Broncos destroy the Roosters before focus shifts to getting home safely