Brisbane 40 d Sydney Roosters 22: Peter Wallace stars as young Broncos come of age

BRISBANE'S next generation came of age as the Baby Broncos produced a season-defining 40-22 win over the Sydney Roosters.

BRISBANE'S next generation came of age as the Baby Broncos produced a season-defining 40-22 win over the Sydney Roosters.

Led by "veteran" halfback, 26-year-old Peter Wallace, Brisbane showed their homegrown depth to be a thing of envy.

Three debutants and a team featuring a dozen players from Anthony Griffin's original 2008 under-20s squad conjured a remarkable seven-tries-to-four win at Allianz Stadium.

There was resolute defence and some incredible attacking plays in wet and wild conditions from a Brisbane side missing nine first-graders, including seven Origin stars.

Brisbane's cool heads in a game marred by some of the worst refereeing mistakes of the season proved decisive as the Roosters reacted worst to a string of howlers. 

MATCH CENTRE: Roosters v Broncos

Wallace, the only player in the squad with more than 100 NRL games to his name, starred with a controversial first-half try, three try assists and six goals in a performance that again showed why he would be a worthy NSW halfback.

"That was probably one of the most pleasing wins we've had," Wallace said.

"Full credit to the boys who came in, they did a great job, especially the three that made their debut.

"It's massive (win), not only because it's a tough time for the club, it gives the younger blokes and the blokes that stepped in confidence to know they can do the job.

Corey Norman

"Last year we got a few wins through the Origin period and it gave everyone a bit of confidence going into the back end of the year."

Broncos coach Anthony Griffin said the victory was a sign the club had learnt from their wake-up call a fortnight ago, when they were outclassed by Melbourne with three Origin players missing.

"We were poor for a couple of weeks but I was happy for the players that they got something out of today," Griffin said.

"It would have been easy for these guys to come down here today, when a lot of things went against them, and have a close loss and think we did something.

Ben Teo

"They just refused to lose today.

"They overcame all the hurdles and it was a great sign of character."

Among the controversial decisions yesterday were an apparent double movement try to Wallace, given as benefit of the doubt by video referee Bernard Sutton. The Roosters dropped the ball for both their first half tries but referee Matt Cecchin refused to check with Sutton.

Broncos rookie winger Lachlan Maranta was also able to get up and run a further 40m after contesting for a ball on his hands and knees with a Roosters opponent, and Alex Glenn scored off the next play at the start of the second half.

Maranta, the son of former Broncos centre Brett Plowman, capped his debut with a late try as the mid-strength Brisbane side celebrated their most courageous win of the year and moved back into outright second on the NRL ladder.

BRISBANE 40 (G Beale A Glenn L Maranta C Norman J Reed B Te'o P Wallace tries P Wallace 6 goals) bt SYDNEY ROOSTERS 22 (T Arona J Friend J Leilua T Moga tries B Anasta 3 goals) at Allianz Stadium. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Adam Devcich. Crowd: 9,738.