NRLW: Chelsea Baker scores double as Broncos down Dragons 30-4
THE Broncos created history with a runaway victory over the Dragons and stamped their authority as massive contenders for the first women’s premiership.
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THE Broncos have emerged as the new NRLW favourites, after a thrilling debut saw them claim a commanding 30-4 win over the Dragons in their inaugural match.
With a strong crowd of 18,853 by fulltime at Suncorp Stadium, the Broncos created history with the runaway victory and stamped their authority as massive contenders for the first women’s premiership.
Ahead of the start of the NRLW on Saturday, the Sydney Roosters were the easy favourites.
But their upset 10-4 loss at the hands of the Warriors opened the door for another team to take that mantle and the Broncos responded in fine form yesterday.
They are now the team to beat.
Coach Paul Dyer said the players would now have to keep a lid on these expectations, but he had no doubt they would not expect any easy matches for the rest of the short season.
“Pressure comes from results,” he said.
“There won’t be one easy game in this contest. The key now is making sure their mindset is about the next three weeks, not just this week.
“The result was the end result of a really hard few weeks of work.
“As long as we keep turning up at training and understand there’s a lot of hard work to go between now and the next two or three weeks, that’s really important for us.”
Led strongly by Australian hooker Brittany Breayley, as well as speedy fullback Chelsea Baker and skipper Ali Brigginshaw, the Broncos were ruthless as they claimed the 26-point win.
In hot conditions at Suncorp Stadium, their bruising defence denied the Dragons time and time again, while they were also slick in attack.
Baker scored a double in the victory and Breayley was the linchpin of their defence with 33 tackles, while the likes of Ngatokotoru Arakua and Lavinia Gould brought a powerful impact from the bench.
While Brisbane made an impressive debut, St George Illawarra will only improve from here.
The Dragons copped a big loss before kick-off, after NSW and Australian backrower Talesha Quinn was ruled out with a knee injury.
They then lost halfback Raecene McGregor to a shoulder injury in the 23rd minute while Jessica Sergis went off with a head knock just minutes before half-time.
While McGregor returned in the final five minutes, it was too late to pull off a miracle comeback.
Skipper Sam Bremner scored the Dragons’ sole try of the afternoon and was constantly a threat, as was backrower Kezie Apps.
But it was not enough to help the under-siege Dragons against a fit and fired up Broncos side.
The Broncos will travel to Sydney to play the Roosters next Friday.
BRONCOS 30 (Chelsea Baker 2, Maitua Feterika, Ngatokotoru Arakua, Ali Brigginshaw tries; Chelsea Baker 5 goals) def DRAGONS 4 (Sam Bremner try)
ROUND 2 NRLW DRAW
5.15pm Friday at Allianz Stadium: Sydney Roosters v Brisbane Broncos
5.10pm Saturday at ANZ Stadium: St George Illawarra Dragons v New Zealand Warriors
Originally published as NRLW: Chelsea Baker scores double as Broncos down Dragons 30-4