‘Outstanding’: Ex-Blues centre Kotoni Staggs tears Sharks apart

The Brisbane Broncos are flying high on the ladder after a former Origin star put on a masterclass that could be the answer to one of NSW’s problems.

The Broncos are back on top. Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

After Tom Trbojevic’s underwhelming performance at right centre for NSW, and Kevin Walters’ public praise of Kotoni Staggs, the Broncos’ right centre was outstanding in Brisbane Broncos 20-12 win over Cronulla Sharks at PointsBet Stadium on Saturday night.

Staggs took the game’s first hit-up, ran with hard-boned athleticism and scored a try in a clear statement to Blues selectors.

His chip kick near the line created Brisbane’s third try while his 171 run metres featured a line break and eight tackle breaks.

Broncos coach Walters said it was Staggs’ “best game in a while” while Brisbane captain Adam Reynolds said the centre was “outstanding”.

Kotoni Staggs was at his best. Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

“Kev challenged him through the week and challenged me, too, to get him some more ball,” Reynolds said. “We know what a damaging player he is when he’s got some space.

“When we went his way we got a bit of momentum and some joy through making some metres through the middle.”

Origin Men Commit

A three-day turnaround for four State of Origin players proved no impediment for the Broncos who now sit a game clear of the competition on 20 points albeit with high-flying Penrith Panthers hosting St George Illawarra Dragons on Sunday.

Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan and Thomas Flegler all played strongly while Reece Walsh threw himself into several contests.

The Broncos are flying high. Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

With Newcastle next week at Suncorp – and three byes in their future – Walters said he was “very pleased” with his side’s effort in front of 12,318 fans.

“It’s a tough place to win and our boys were really good tonight,” Walters said. “It was a really strong performance right across the board.”

Hynes Time

Nicho Hynes was dangerous in the first half, carrying the ball in two hands and laying on Cronulla’s first try when he floated across field, attracted defenders and slipped a pure short ball for Siosifa Talakai who hit the hole like a train and scored adjacent the posts.

Hynes was good on a beaten team. Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Hynes later set Will Kennedy free on a long run right before swinging a long back to Matt Moylan and sparking the Sharks on the right.

“It’s tough to wash yourself off after that [the State of Origin loss] and his response, he never stopped trying, he was everywhere,” Fitzgibbon said. “A lot of decision-making rested on his shoulders and he certainly didn’t let us down with his effort.”

Though Hynes couldn’t get his outside backs over the stripe in the second half, the argument to ‘de-Pantherise’ the Blues’ backline could be solved by giving Hynes a mandate to be himself and attack both sides of the ruck.