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Broncos 31
Knights 18
The Brisbane Broncos, without six of their best players, have travelled south to Newcastle and beaten the Knights by 13 points in a dominant display.
Anthony Milford put in a man of the match performance as the Knights, missing Beau Scott and Jeremy Smith, struggled to match it with the Broncos despite taking a lead into half time.
The Broncos launched the scoring in just the fourth minute through a try to Anthony Milford off the back of some really good play. However the first half turned into a slog for the Broncos to even stay in the match as the Knights took control.
Their first try came in the 11th minute to Tyler Randell. That was followed by another pair of tries in the first half to Korbin Sims and then Joseph Leilua, who was arguably the best on ground for the Knights. The only similarity between these three tries was that they all came off the back of shocking goal-line defence from the Broncos and the signs were looking ominous.
The Broncos then managed to play themselves back into the game somewhat before a try to round out the first half was scored by Jack Reed after a nice grubber from Ben Hunt.
At halftime the Broncos were behind by 8 points.
After halftime though, it was a different story as the Broncos completely took over the game. Their first try came in the first set to Reed after a brilliant break from Jordan Kahu off the kick-off, and then Andrew McCullogh scored five minutes later which put the Broncos back into the lead.
The game then became a slog as the two teams went end to end for about 15 minutes, the Broncos slowly waring down the Knights as they made an extra 70 tackles in the second half alone.
The match-clinching try to Corey Oates came in the 61st minute off a brilliant pass from Milford. A penalty goal and then a strange field goal to Milford followed closing out an awesome victory to the Broncos.
In the end the Knights were just never in it in the second half as the Broncos ran away with a 13-point victory.
The Newcastle Knights take on a Brisbane Broncos side massively affected by State of Origin. Join The Roar from 6:45pm (AEST) for live scores and coverage of the clash.
The Knights started their season in brilliant fashion, winning their first four games on the trot, however they then lost five games in a row, before a last-start, low-quality win over the Wests Tigers.
Newcastle badly need a win against the Origin-depleted Broncos. With the log jam on the table the 10th-placed Knights could move as high as fifth with a win or as low as 14th with a loss. In fact a loss will ensure they exit Round 11 in no higher than 13th place.
The Broncos have had a great start to the season under Wayne Bennett, winning seven from nine games since their first-round loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs. However the Origin period will knock them around a fair bit and they will want a win after their last-start loss to the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville.
For the Knights Joe Tapine comes in for Beau Scott, who has been selected for Origin.
Many more changes have been forced for the Broncos, with Darius Boyd, Justin Hodges, Sam Thaiday, Matt Gillett, Corey Parker and Josh McGuire out due to Origin. Jordan Kahu shifts to fullback, Daniel Vidot comes in on the wing, while Dale Copley takes Hodges’ centre spot. Jarrod Wallace will start at prop, with David Stagg into the second row, and Jo Ofahengaue playing lock. Joe Boyce will come onto the bench.
With most of their forward pack missing, the Broncos’ fill-ins are going to need to play out of their skin to provide half Ben Hunt with the space he needs.
For the Knights Jarrod Mullen is out, so it will once again be up to Tyrone Roberts, who really hasn’t been in the greatest of form, to steer the ship. In Scott’s absence it’ll be up to Tariq Sims and Jeremy Smith to lead the Knights pack and allow Roberts the opportunity to attack.
Interestingly, the Broncos have gotten the better of the Knights at Hunter Stadium historically.
Prediction
Brisbane have a lot of players with something to prove in this game and the Knights have been pretty dreadful recently. Add this to the fact Ben Hunt will be out with a point to prove and the Broncos should be too strong for the Knights. In fact I’m tipping a fairly big margin.
Broncos by 16.
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