Battle of Brisbane turns into a bloodbath as Dolphins massacre Broncos

Kevin Walters’ words have come back to bite him after the Broncos’ season was all but ended in a Suncorp Stadium smackdown.

It was the tale of two coaches. Photo: Fox Sports

The Battle of Brisbane has turned into a massacre as the Dolphins claimed their first ever win in the local derby, all but ending the Broncos season in a 40-6 annihilation at Suncorp Stadium.

But it wasn’t just a win for Wayne Bennett and his men from Redcliffe, it was a bloodbath as the Dolphins ran in seven tries to one to blow the Broncos off the park and out of finals contention.

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Coming just a week after Broncos coach Kevin Walters declared “There are no ifs — we (the Broncos) will play finals”, his side has failed to back up his confidence, clearly outplayed despite plenty of feeling in the NRL’s newest local derby.

And the footy world was all too happy to throw Walters’ words right back at him.

“Turns out Kevin Walters is not Nostradamus,” one fan wrote.

Another changed Walters’ quote to “ … we’re going to make the finals... in 2025”.

Another posted the quote with the caption: “Never forget”.

Another wrote: “Someone tell Kevvy that he can start planning mad Monday — no finals.”

However, there were plenty more who turned the blowtorch on the players.

The Broncos were humiliated. Photo: NRL Photos

A clearly disappointed Walters said he’d “get to the bottom” of why the players were so outplayed with a finals spot on the line.

Walters said the performance was “not who we are as a club or as a team”.

A reporter jumped on the comments, saying: “You say that’s not who you are as a club or a team, but that’s not a one off tonight.”

It led to a testy moment in the press conference.

Walters: “I wouldn’t say that.”

Reporter: “What about the Bulldogs game? That was pretty bad.”

Walters: “It wasn’t great, but what you do you think? You seem to know a lot about everything …”

Reporter: “What do you mean I know a lot about everything? I’m just asking you. You say it’s not part of your team but it’s happened more than once.”

Walters: “It has, which is what I’m saying, it’s not great.”

Walters was not happy. Photo: NRL.com

It was a tale of two coaches with Walters searching for answers, while Bennett was beaming as he made his way onto the field at full-time to celebrate with his players.

Despite the smiles and hugs for his players on the field, Bennett started his press conference in traditional Wayne Bennett fashion.

Asked where the result ranked for him, Bennett said: “I haven’t though about that.”

When pressed on his joy on the field, he added: “We played both halves, that was the most pleasing thing.”

While Bennett was short early, he began elaborating more as the press conference continued, he opened up more.

Superstar centre Herbie Farnworth revealed that Bennett had hidden the final make up of his team, before making 11 changes to his named side before kick-off.

“What can you say about Wayne?” Farnworth said. “He came in and completely changed the team, we didn’t even train in this team at the start of the week because we didn’t want the media to get hold of the switches. So it’s been a little masterstroke from Wayne, that’s for sure.”

When Bennett was told about the comments, he joked: “Who told you that? Wow, I’ve got to talk to those boys.”

Asked if it was an ambush, Bennett said: “No, I just didn’t think you needed to know.

“I’ll have to talk to those players, they’re talking too much.”

Bennett was loving life. Photo: Fox Sports

Bennett was having a great time. Photo: Fox Sports

The Dolphins blew the Broncos away in the first half, leading 24-6.

“A word we overuse in rugby league is ‘ambush’,” Dan Ginnane said on Fox League.

“But this, my friends, has been an old-fashioned ambush because Wayne Bennett has turned this side around. A side that was fading badly has had perhaps the best half in its short history.”

The second half was no different as the Dolphins ran away with the win, scoring another three tries to blow out the scoreline.

It was a huge victory for the Dolphins who will rise into the top eight, and crucially return the side’s points differential to positive (+7).

A win against the Knights in round 27 will mostly likely book the club’s first NRL finals appearance, although there is lots to play out — and plenty of potentially twists — between now and then.

Herbie Farnworth was on fire for the Dolphins. Photo by Mackenzie Sweetnam/Getty Images

However, with 20 minutes remaining in the match, Fox League’s Greg Alexander couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.

“Can you believe that with a finals spot on the line, this is what we’re getting from the Brisbane Broncos?” Alexander said. “I know they’re missing some players, but at the moment they’re missing 39 tackles.”

Fox Sports Lab had the stat at 43 points at full-time.

Ginnane added: “What is especially confounding, if this happened after the Gold Coast game (a 46-18 loss in round 22), it would make sense.

“But what they did to the Cowboys (a 42-18 win in Townsville) and then the win against Parramatta (30-24 win after trailing 16-0), it is baffling some of the things that have happened.

“For the second year in a row, it appears the grand finalists are going to miss the finals.”

Originally published as Battle of Brisbane turns into a bloodbath as Dolphins massacre Broncos