The biggest test of the Brisbane Broncos’ resurgence under Wayne Bennett is set to come this Friday night when they welcome the Sydney Roosters to Suncorp Stadium, in what shapes as one of the matches of the round.
The Broncos bounced back from their 36-6 thrashing by South Sydney to notch up four wins in succession ahead of the visit by the Roosters, who remain the premiership favourites despite their shock 20-12 loss to the Sharks last Sunday.
All the talk had been about whether the Rabbitohs could become the first team since the Broncos in 1992-93 to successfully defend the premiership in a unified competition, until Souths suffered a shock loss to Parramatta a round before losing halfback Adam Reynolds to a knee injury for up to five months on Friday.
The Roosters are now shaping as the team to beat, despite losing Anthony Minichiello to retirement and Sonny Bill Williams to rugby at the end of last season.
Williams, who left the NRL in disgrace midway through 2008 while at the Bulldogs, has been credited with turning the club’s culture around, leading to their general on-field resurgence under coach Trent Robinson.
Robinson’s no-nonsense approach saw the Roosters claim the minor premiership-premiership double in 2013, and another minor premiership last season before losing to South Sydney in the preliminary final.
This season they have started impressively, winning three of their first five matches to be sitting fourth, two places below the second-placed Broncos, ahead of this Friday night’s showdown.
Meanwhile, it appeared as if the Broncos still had a lot of work to do after they meekly lost their first match under Wayne Bennett since 2008 to the Rabbitohs, but as their fans would have expected they bounced back with four straight wins, the most recent of which was a strong 26-16 win over the Gold Coast Titans.
They had previously struggled their way to a win over the Sharks, while they also posted 44 points on the North Queensland Cowboys and escaped with victory over the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland.
It comes as Anthony Milford produced his best performance as a Bronco, scoring two tries in the win over the Titans.
They will have the chance to shoot for five straight wins, something they have not done since the early part of the 2012 season. They also haven’t beaten the Roosters since that same season and not at home since 2003.
For the Chooks, this will be just the fifth time since Suncorp Stadium was reopened in 2003 that the club has played at the ground. They have an impressive recent record there, winning on their last four visits, including a thrilling 30-26 win in the corresponding clash last year and a preliminary final win over the Titans in 2010.
The winner of this clash could assume the mantle as premiership favourites.
And with Reynolds out of the picture, the pressure is on James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce if they are to force their way back into the New South Wales State of Origin team.
Blues coach Laurie Daley has already indicated that he wants a club halves combination in his side, therefore this puts the Roosters pair, as well as the incumbent Bulldogs Josh Reynolds and Trent Hodkinson, well in contention.
The stakes are high for both teams – the Broncos will be shooting for possibly the premiership lead even though the Rabbitohs and Knights have winnable games in hand against the Cowboys and Sharks respectively, while the Roosters will be keen to put last week’s loss to the Sharks, which cost them the lead at the top of the ladder, behind them.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Like most clubs, the Brisbane Broncos have had their fair share of big boppers over the years, many of them legends of the game.…
Who are the hardest working big men in the NRL?
My American mate wants a Canberra Raiders jersey. If someone had told me a couple of months ago that I’d have friends in the…
Derbies are often rated on intensity rather than quality, and that was very much to the fore at Suncorp for the third Battle of…
The Panthers might have the bye this weekend, but that has not stopped them from suffering injury issues, with reports in the Sydney Morning…
Josh Schuster's days at Manly could be numbered after the big-money second-rower was granted permission to open negotiations with NRL rivals. Just 10 months…
