Broncos into Grand Final, fury as ‘blatant’ forward pass ’howler’ makes NRL a laughing stock

The Broncos’ preliminary final win has been marred by a shocking forward pass no-call that has fans calling the NRL a laughing stock.

Reece Walsh throws a clear forward pass. Photo: Fox Sports.

The Brisbane Broncos will take on the Penrith Panthers in the 2023 NRL Grand Final after defeating the New Zealand Warriors 42-12 in Saturday night’s preliminary final.

The Warriors scored first and Dallin Watene-Zeleniak had an early double, giving Kiwi fans hope of a mammoth upset.

But Reece Walsh bounced back from throwing an errant pass that led to an intercept try, sparking the Broncos with a scintillating first half at Suncorp Stadium.

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The superstar fullback had a hand in everything as the Broncos hit back to take a 24-12 lead at halftime after seven tries were scored in a frenetic opening 40 minutes.

The second half was more of a grind, but the result was put beyond doubt when the touch judge ignored two blatant passes that set up Jordan Riki for Brisbane’s match-sealing try.

The non-decision stunned commentators and fans and will heighten pressure on the NRL to allow the Bunker to rule on forward passes. It snuffed out any hope the Warriors had of a comeback.

Late tries to Ezra Mam and Herbie Farnworth blew the scoreline out as Walsh and Adam Reynolds headed to the bench early.

Reece Walsh was epic in the first half. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

The result sets up a blockbuster Grand Final between Brisbane’s attacking machine and the impenetrable defence of the Panthers, who are aiming to become the first side in 40 years to win three premierships in a row.

It will be Brisbane’s first appearance in a Grand Final since they lost the 2015 decider.

The Panthers demolished the Melbourne Storm on Friday night to book their place in a fourth consecutive Grand Final.

9.15pm - Broncos score off two forward passes

Oh boy. The Broncos have scored the match-sealing try on the back of two blatant forward passes that the referee and touch judge somehow missed.

Reece Walsh made a line break and passed to Selwyn Cobbo, who then passed infield to Jordan Riki, who scored an easy try to make the score 30-12 and put the result beyond doubt.

The only problem was both those passes clearly went forward — Blind Freddie could tell they went forward, but the touch judge didn’t believe so.

Steve Roach said on Fox League: “Honestly, that’s a metre and a half forward and that one inside to Riki wasn’t any better.”

Mick Ennis said: “It’s an absolute howler. There’s three officials there. The ball goes blatantly forward. That’s a real bad one.”

Reece Walsh throws a touchdown pass. Photo: Fox Sports.

The Bunker isn’t allowed to rule on forward passes because the NRL would rather put the faith in a touch judge than have officials try and decide the angle of the pass off a TV screen.

Andrew Voss said: “Oh my goodness. Unleash the hounds on the Bunker rule on forward passes. Warriors fans will be absolutely distraught.

“They should take (the forward pass) that to Vegas, the fans will understand it.”

Fans couldn’t believe the no-call and said it made the NRL a laughing stock.

Oh no. That's blatant. #NRLBroncosWarriors

— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) September 23, 2023

Embarrassing for this sport

— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) September 23, 2023

That may be the most forward pass I’ve ever seen and I’m a @brisbanebroncos fan #NRL#NRLBroncosWarriors

— Paul Johnson (@pjohnson_sports) September 23, 2023

Absolute joke! Two forward passes let go by Sutton. What a farce the @NRL has become!

— Mark Ashton 🇦🇺 (@MarkAshton_7) September 23, 2023

The NRL is considering using ball-tracking technology to determine whether a pass went forward, but it hasn’t been introduced yet.

8.30pm - Warriors score crucial try

Marcelo Montoya has scored in the corner to give the Warriors half a sniff after the Broncos nearly blew them off the park.

But Adam Pompey is 0/3 from his conversion attempts, missing out on crucial points for the Warriors.

8.20pm - Walsh sets Suncorp alight

Reece Walsh has blown the roof off Suncorp Stadium, setting up a second try for Billy Walters with yet another scintillating line break.

Walsh hit a gap at serious pace and had acres to himself, carving up the Warriors’ defence before passing to Walters for an easy try.

The Panthers might be getting nervous watching the most potent attack the NRL has seen in a while.

Suncorp Stadium going absolutely mental right now. This has been a bonkers first 20 minutes. #NRLBroncosWarriors

— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) September 23, 2023

8.13pm - Broncos hit back, again!

The tries just keep on coming, with Reece Walsh making a trademark run to put Herbie Farnworth through a hole.

Just moments later, Payne Haas made a long range break before Jesse Arthars went over to score on the left wing.

Adam Reynolds’ perfect conversion kicking has given the Broncos a handy lead.

Michael Ennis said: “Brisbane go bang, bang in the space of a couple of minutes.”

The Broncos are scoring tries at will. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

8.08pm - DWZ scores intercept try

Wow, what a frenetic start to a preliminary final.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak snared an intercept pass from Reece Walsh and ran 60m to score an early double.

Fox League’s Michael Ennis wasn’t convinced the Warriors were onside before the intercept.

“Gee, I’m not sure they’re onside,” Ennis said.

“That was a very quick play the ball. I’m not sure the Warriors had got back into position with (referee) Gerard Sutton.”

8.01pm - Broncos hit back quickly

Just like that the Broncos lead 6-4 after Billy Walters dummied and scored next to the posts.

The play started when Reece Walsh made a run before Selwyn Cobbo streaked down the field.

It means both teams scored on effectively their first opportunity.

7.58pm - Warriors stun Broncos early

The Warriors have struck first, scoring in just the fifth minute through Dallin Watene-Zelezniak in the corner.

Halfback Shaun Johnson worked some magic down the right hand side, finding the overlap to set up a relatively straightforward try.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has now equalled the Warriors’ club record for the most tries in a season (23).

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored first for the Warriors. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

7.30pm - Warriors get huge boost

The Warriors have received a major boost with star halfback Shaun Johnson to return to the line-up after recovering from a calf injury.

Johnson was a rookie when the Warriors played their last Grand Final back in 2011 and he will be hoping he can steer his side to another season decider.

Interestingly, Johnson was seen sporting heavy strapping on his left calf and his right hamstring as he went through his paces during the pre-game warm-up.

“This is going to be the game of the season,” Steve Roach proclaimed on Fox League.

Shaun Johnson was sporting plenty of strapping. Photo: Fox League.

TEAMS

Broncos: 1. Reece Walsh 2. Jesse Arthars 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Cardigan 14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Brendan Piakura 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Keenan Palasia. 18th man: 18. Corey Oates

Players cut: 19. Martin Taupau 20. Corey Jensen 21. Jock Madden 22. Tristan Sailor

Warriors: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Rocco Berry 4. Adam Pompey 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Te Maire Martin 7. Shaun Johnson 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Wayde Egan 10. Mitchell Barnett 11. Jackson Ford 12. Marata Niukore 13. Tohu Harris 14. Dylan Walker 15. Jazz Tevaga 16. Bayley Sironen 17. Josh Curran. 18th man: 20. Taine Tuaupiki

Originally published as Broncos into Grand Final, fury as ‘blatant’ forward pass ’howler’ makes NRL a laughing stock