NRL 2021: Broncos v Bulldogs round 3, Kevin Walters scores first win

Jamayne ‘Hollywood’ Isaako has brought a touch of glitz to a dismal NRL game as the Broncos dominated the Bulldogs. But future for fans of both teams doesn’t look particularly bright.

Jamayne Isaako after scoring a try. Picture: Getty Images

Finally, the drought is over.

The Broncos celebrated their first win in 259 days as fullback Jamayne ‘Hollywood’ Isaako brought a touch of glitz to a gruesome NRL game to light up Brisbane’s 24-0 shutout of the bumbling Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium.

Before 22,509 fans, Brisbane coach Kevin Walters savoured his first win in the Red Hill hotseat as Isaako’s backfield speed and Xavier Coates’ second-half double helped the Broncos snap a 13-game losing streak.

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The Broncos last tasted victory with a 26-8 defeat of the Bulldogs last July and Brisbane again disposed of the same woeful team at the same venue to get the Walters rebuilding mission off the launchpad.

Don’t get too excited Broncos fans. As a game, this was as appealing as a jailbird’s breakfast.

Both sides are bottom-eight material, but at least Isaako showed class amid a slew of errors, busting the game open with a 40-metre solo run in the 59th minute before slicing through eight minutes later to release Coates for the try which buried the Dogs.

Jamayne Isaako after scoring a try. Picture: Getty Images

HALF THE HEADACHE

The time has come. Broncos coach Walters must axe halfback Brodie Croft and pick Tom Dearden.

Even allowing for Brisbane’s breakthrough win, Croft and Anthony Milford were pedestrian at the scrumbase.

The Milford-Croft alliance simply lacks a cohesive edge. Milford was hardly superb, but as the No.7, it’s Croft’s job to own the result and provide the organisation to give his pivot the latitude to service the backline.

Croft tries his heart out but he lacks the game awareness to take the Broncos to a premiership. Dearden’s late try from the bench masked the reality he was largely wasted, playing just seven minutes. If Brisbane view Dearden as a 10-year halfback, it’s time to pick and stick.

Kevin Walters finally has his first win as Broncos coach. Picture: NRL Photos

DOG’S BREAKFAST

Awful. Ugly. Dismal. Shambolic. Any of those terms would have aptly described an opening stanza that had claims to being the worst half of football in the NRL’s 23-year history.

Both sides were so clueless, incohesive and impotent in attack that the opening 40 minutes managed to yield just a single penalty goal to Broncos Jamayne Isaako in the 34th minute.

It was a terrible advertisement for rugby league. The Broncos and Bulldogs are so far off the pace compared to the brilliant intensity Melbourne and Penrith produced in the grand-final replay on Thursday night.

SIDELINE EYE

Broncos mentor Kevin Walters stole a page from Ricky Stuart’s playbook, leaving the coaching box to watch the action from the sidelines beside his Brisbane bench.

Walters was hardly reaching for the popcorn. But amid the scrap, he would have been pleased with Brisbane’s defensive clean sheet and the slick performance of centre Herbie Farnworth.

The British utility back was dangerous, amassing 213 metres, six tackle busts and three line breaks as he carved up Canterbury on the edges.

At 21, the 100kg Farnworth is developing into a rangy attacking threat for the Broncos. Brisbane’s forwards should heed his hard running.

Corey Waddell of the Bulldogs is taken down in a tackle. Picture: Getty Images

DEFLATED DOGS

- By Emma Greenwood

Deflated Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett conceded his team is not up to scratch in the fundamentals of the game but is adamant they let an opportunity slip to notch a win against the Broncos.

The record books will show the Bulldogs lost 24-0, a seeming drubbing on a near perfect Suncorp Stadium pitch on Saturday in front of 22,509 fans.

But all four Broncos tries came in the second half after fullback Jamayne Isaako scored in the 58th minute to break the dam wall, with a nervous Brisbane suddenly coming to life to break their 14-match losing streak.

Before that, the Bulldogs seemed every chance to overhaul Brisbane’s halftime lead of 2-0 and inflict more pain on the Broncos after showing flashes of promise in what was a generally dour and lacklustre game for the opening hour.

But those moments – Adam Elliott getting into space with support inside and the line wide open before butchering the pass inn the 13th minute; and hooker Jeremy Marshall-King being held up in the 19th minute – were far outweighed by static, unimaginative attack and flimsy defence once the Broncos’ heads were up.

“(There was a) missed opportunity where we should have scored in the first half and then I thought we had enough possession there in the second half and we didn’t apply any pressure, didn’t build any pressure and our good ball just wasn’t up to standard, it wasn’t good enough,” Barrett said.

“It let them off the hook and it puts too much pressure on your defence at the end.

“Our attack was ordinary, to say the least.”

Barrett knew he was taking on a rebuilding mission when he accepted the head coaching role.

But he said there was little point focussing on rebuilding the list when a major overhaul was needed first.

“There’ll be certain periods when we’re doing things really well offensively or defensively – not too much in attack tonight – but we let ourselves down when we had opportunities to put Brisbane under some pressure and put them to the sword in the second half and we didn’t,” he said.

“That’s the most disappointing thing, that we had an opportunity to win that game and we couldn’t.”

Will Hopoate struggles with injury. Picture: Getty Images

Marshall-King was among the Bulldogs’ best in the first half but the hooker lasted just 49 minutes and looks to have broken his foot in another massive injury blow for the club.

“He was going really well,” Barrett said.

“We looked a lot better when we were running from dummy-half and Marshall-King was doing that but it looks like he’s broken his foot again, so it’s not ideal.”

With the Rabbitohs and Storm ahead in the next fortnight, nothing gets easier for the Dogs either.

“We know what to expect from Souths, they’re playing very well, playing with a lot of confidence and have a lot of good players.

“But it’s not going to matter who we play to be honest, we need to fix our own backyard and fix some things quite quickly because there’s some things in our game that aren’t good enough at the moment.”

He knows he has to tread a fine line to maintain belief among his players but Barrett won’t be releasing the pressure at training.

“It’s keeping the belief there that we need to keep working hard,” he said.

“These blokes have been in this position for a while … but there’s times where there’s some accountability that’s got to come from the individuals as well because there’s tries there we still could have stopped.

“That’s what we expect at this level – you make your tackles regardless of how fatigued you are.”