Bumbling Brisbane Broncos cop Titans reality check
WAYNE Bennett’s bumbling Broncos copped a reality check as the Gold Coast Titans took a hammer to Brisbane’s NRL premiership dreams in a 26-14 boilover.
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WAYNE Bennett’s bumbling Broncos copped a reality check as the Gold Coast Titans took a hammer to Brisbane’s NRL premiership dreams in a 26-14 boilover.
This wasn’t an April Fool’s joke. The Broncos were simply woeful on a rare Sunday appearance at Suncorp Stadium, surrendering their decade of dominance over the Titans with a limp performance in front of 30,742 stunned fans.
Brisbane was never really in the contest in an error-riddled outing as they suffered their first home loss to the Titans since 2007.
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The Gold Coast was coming off the second biggest defeat in the club’s history (54-8 to the Dragons) but stunned the Broncos to snap a seven-game losing streak against “big brother” Brisbane.
The Broncos are now outside the top eight after four rounds and have been far from convincing in search of the club’s first premiership since 2006.
Bennett said the Broncos were behind the eight-ball after the Titans bolted out to a 10-lead inside 10 minutes.
“They (Titans) turned up with a pretty good attitude,” he said.
“I don’t think anyone in the Broncos didn’t know the Titans we saw last weekend weren’t going to put that performance in again.
“You’re totally exposed if you haven’t got control of the ball. Our worst performances have been with our worst ball control.
“It’s a collective problem. We were down 10-nil after five minutes. It takes away everything you want to do in the game.
“It’s not complex. It’s pretty simple.”
Halves Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima were ineffective, registering just 12 runs between them, while captain Darius Boyd had little impact from fullback with only 42m.
But it was crucial errors made by the likes of Korbin Sims, Joe Ofahengaue, Sam Thaiday and Jamayne Isaako which hurt Brisbane the most.
“It’s just disappointing because it’s not us,” Boyd said.
“We spoke about turning up and we didn’t.
“It’s just ball control. When you’re not holding the ball…you’re trying to play catch up.”
Brisbane was flat, lethargic and looking like they had overdosed on Easter chocolate until hooker Andrew McCullough caught the Titans napping to get the Broncos on the board.
Titans winger Phillip Sami scored untouched to give the Titans a 16-8 lead at the break and he rounded out his hat-trick in the second half, Brisbane’s only joy coming when Nikorima slipped through a gap in the 65th minute.
On current form, the Broncos have had a relatively soft draw to start the 2018 season yet find themselves with a 2-2 record and stuck in 10th spot.
Wins against the Cowboys and Tigers have been far from convincing and comfortable defeats to the Dragons and now Titans have highlighted serious problems in Bennett’s team.
The Broncos urgently need to find some consistency in their efforts and fine-tune basic skills before a trip to Newcastle to face the resurgent Knights on Saturday.
GOLD COAST 26 (P Sami 3 D Copley A Don tries M Gordon 3 goals) bt BRISBANE 14 (A McCullough K Nikorima tries J Isaako 3 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Chris Butler, Chris Sutton. Crowd: 30,742.
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