Haas, Reynolds combine to dominate ill-disciplined Bulldogs

In one of his best performances, Adam Reynolds was the perfect puppeteer behind a Payne Haas-inspired Brisbane forward pack that dismantled competition leaders Canterbury with a 42-18 win at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

Reynolds left the field in the 75th minute clutching his right shoulder, which he first injured when scoring a try in the first half.

In pouring rain, the Broncos did a Bulldogs on the Bulldogs, pulverising them in the middle with a stunning first-half display.

It was hardly believable that a Bulldogs side that had not conceded a point in the previous two matches trailed 34-0 at halftime.

At that stage, Brisbane had missed just three tackles to their opponents’ 24.

The visitors were ill-disciplined and had forwards Josh Curran and Sitili Tupouniua sin-binned.

Broncos halfback and captain Reynolds, playing his 295th game, wants to play on in 2026. After this performance, he will have no shortage of suitors.

By halftime, he had scored a try and laid on three, two of them with kicks for Deine Mariner. He put rampaging second-rower Xavier Willison in after two minutes and never looked back.

Brisbane Broncos celebrate scoring against the Bulldogs.Credit: NRL Photos

Reynolds also conjured a 40/20 kick. In the next set, his halves partner Ben Hunt fired a cutout pass and winger Jesse Arthars had his 10th try of the season.

The performance of Haas was on another planet. He set Reynolds up for his try with a pass after charging into the Canterbury defence.

Haas’s first 33-minute stint on the field yielded 140m from 15 runs.

Fullback Selwyn Cobbo, switching from the wing to replace injured Reece Walsh, was accomplished at the back in just his third starting appearance in the role.

Montoya, who was put on report twice in the match, got the Bulldogs on the board courtesy of a neat Viliame Kikau pass.

Bulldogs second-rower Jacob Preston crossed after a Toby Sexton bomb and Bronson Xerri was recipient of another Kikau pass. Mariner was binned for hitting Kikau high to become the fourth sin-binning of the match.

Bulldogs playmaker Matt Burton was also put on report for a high tackle on Billy Walters, who scored late to ice the win for Brisbane.

AAP

That’s it for a most interesting night of rugby league. The Broncos are back and the Bulldogs have questions to answer.

Look out for more NRL blogs on Friday, starting with the Roosters-Dragons match.

After the match, Adam Reynolds said his shoulder injury wasn’t as bad as he’d first feared.

Adam Reynolds leaves Suncorp Stadium.Credit: Getty Images

No NRL team will win a match when spending 30 of the 80 minutes a player down. But let’s not kid ourselves, that’s not the reason why Canterbury lost. They were bashed up in the middle of the field by Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan and out-skilled by Adam Reynolds. For the record, Haas finished the night with 255 running metres. When you add the sin-binning to that, a 42-18 loss was always going to be on the cards.

After taking the opportunity to add two more points with a penalty goal, Brisbane add a 80th-minute Billy Walters try to complete the scoring. Their second half hasn’t been great, but it was still more than enough following a blistering first 40 minutes. The Brisbane players will head home tonight thinking that a finals run is on the radar.

Adam Reynolds hurt his shoulder in the first half but played on. He just hurt it again and this time his night is over. It’s reasonable to ask why he was still on the field considering what happened earlier and with the win in the bag. Brisbane lead 34-18 after 77 minutes

For a match that’s been as good as over since about the 25 minutes mark of the first half, there is still plenty of aggro in this game. Canterbury want to make amends while Brisbane are seeking to pile on more pain. Meanwhile, Canterbury have added a third try, courtesy of Bronson Xerri. As was the case with the first try, Viliam Kikau was instrumental. Brisbane lead 34-18 after 73 minutes