Brisbane Broncos put one foot in finals after 26-22 comeback win over Raiders at Suncorp
BRONCOS playmaker Anthony Milford has rewritten the definition of a “rocks and diamonds” performance, after overcoming a shocking first half to lead Brisbane to victory over Canberra.
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BRONCOS playmaker Anthony Milford has rewritten the definition of a “rocks and diamonds” performance, after overcoming a shocking first half to lead Brisbane to a 26-22 victory over Canberra.
In the first 40 minutes of Saturday night’s showdown at Suncorp Stadium, Milford looked like a lost man.
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His decisions were poor, the communication among the team appeared to be non-existent.
But in the second 40 minutes, he showed teammates, fans, critics and his former club why he is Brisbane’s million dollar man.
After going into the halftime break down 16-0, the Broncos came back to win the match by four points and they were strongly led by Milford.
He set up two tries to bring Brisbane back into the match, played a hand in the third four-pointer to Jordan Kahu and then equalled the match at 22-all with some individual brilliance.
He even pulled off a match-winning tackle with a one-on-one strip on Elliott Whitehead.
It’s the kind of performance Broncos fans were craving from their star five-eighth.
And it is the kind of performance that is expected from Milford.
Coach Wayne Bennett would not comment specifically on Milford’s performance, but said he felt his team were a bit rattled by the representative weekend.
He said while the first half was poor, the second half showed what they can do at their best.
“It just reminded me what they’re capable of when we play the way we know we can play,” he said of the second half.
“It was one of our poorest performances in the first half ... It wasn’t pretty.
“The season’s still a long way to go. If we play the way we did in the first half we won’t be in the competition towards the end of it ... we need to get our act together for two halves.
“Everybody was off in the first half and everybody was on in the second half.”
In the match right before the Broncos and Raiders clash on Saturday night, Queensland Maroons utility Kalyn Ponga suffered a hamstring injury, throwing him into doubt for Origin III at Suncorp Stadium in 10 days’ time.
With coach Kevin Walters watching on from the commentary box, Milford’s second half performance certainly brings him into the conversation for a Game Three recall, after losing his utility spot following Game One.
Whether his first half display hurt his chances, it’s yet to be seen.
Overall, it wasn’t the type of game Broncos will be satisfied with.
It showed they have plenty of fight in them and it helped them extend their lead over the bottom half of the competition on the NRL ladder.
The Raiders came out firing in the first half and the Broncos were almost lucky to go into halftime only 16 points down.
But the fact remains that the Broncos are still lacking consistency.
Their error-riddled first half performance was one of the worst they have put together this year, as they failed to deliver on a number of opportunities.
But they came alive in the second stanza, with the likes of Milford, Jamayne Isaako, Corey Oates and Alex Glenn exploding into action to show what the Broncos can actually do.
Young debutant David Fifita should also be applauded on his first NRL game, notching up an astounding 47 minutes in the forward pack.
If the Broncos are to be serious top eight contenders, they will need to produce more of these performances across the whole 80 minutes moving forward.
BRISBANE 26 (A Glenn J Kahu A Milford C Oates tries J Isaako 5 goals) bt CANBERRA 22 (N Cotric J Hodgson E Whitehead tries J Croker 5 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Alan Shortall, Chris Sutton. Crowd: 30,495.
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Originally published as Brisbane Broncos put one foot in finals after 26-22 comeback win over Raiders at Suncorp