Broncos defence must be at its best against Greg Inglis

MATT Gillett has seen enough replays of Greg Inglis’ electrifying 2014 try against the Broncos to know their defence has to be perfect on Thursday night.

TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 15: Greg Inglis of the Rabbitohs looks on after a Cowboys try during the round seven NRL match between the North Queensland Cowboys and the South Sydney Rabbitohs at 1300SMILES Stadium on April 15, 2016 in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

MATT Gillett has seen enough replays of Greg Inglis’ electrifying 2014 try against the Broncos to know Brisbane’s defence has to be perfect against the Rabbitohs’ trump card on Thursday night.

Inglis returns to Brisbane with his club struggling with consecutive losses to Sydney Roosters and North Queensland which have also given rise to a revival of the guessing game over the effect of his niggling injuries.

In the corresponding game two years ago at Suncorp Stadium, State of Origin’s greatest tryscorer scored an eye-popping 90m kick-return try in which he eluded or overpowered seven Broncos defenders.

“He’s scored some freakish tries on us,’’ Gillett said. “We have to do a good job on him.

“He (Inglis) is their danger man, no doubt. If we aren’t doing our job on the kick-chase he is going to hurt us a lot. We tried to fix a few problems (from a 53-0 win over Newcastle last Saturday), a few little 1 per centres like kick-chase.’’

Fox Sports Stats show that Inglis is down in the categories of tackle busts, linebreak assists and try assists when compared to the first seven rounds last year.

He is averaging 129m run metres a game, four fewer than for the same period last year, from the same number of average carries.

Broncos defence will target Greg Inglis, says Matt Gillett.

Inglis has broken 18 tackles in his seven games, seven fewer than his tally last year to the same point of the season, and he has managed one linebreak assist and one try assist in total. By Round 7 last year he had seven linebreak assists and six try assists.

Gillett and skipper Corey Parker are wary of how Souths will react to their loss in Townsville last Friday in which Inglis had to leave the field after a heavy tackle by Matt Scott.

Inglis had 96m from nine runs and no tackle breaks in Townsville to that point, but had 167m run metres from 20 runs and four tackle busts against the Roosters in a more effective hand from fullback.

“He doesn’t seem to have that X-factor that we’ve all known Greg to do,” Parker told Sky Sports Radio.

“I also understand that (a big return to his best form) is only one game away for him and I know he likes playing in Brisbane, so fingers crossed it’s not on Friday night when we play them.

Greg Inglis during South Sydney training at Redfern Oval in Sydney. Pic Brett Costello

Souths arrive with a 3-4 win-loss record, four points behind outright leaders Brisbane, and Gillett said Rabbitohs coach Michael Morgan will have used the six days between matches well.

“They won’t be too happy with how they performed (in Townsville). No doubt their coach will get them ready and they will come here with their best game and be hard to beat,’’ Gillett said.

“There are lot of big sides in the club and Souths are one of those. It’s a special game with the Anzac round as well. We’re going to have a tough game, for sure.’’