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Two of the NRL’s inform teams clash tonight as the Brisbane Broncos host the St George Illawarra Dragons at Suncorp Stadium. Join us for live scores and commentary from 8:30pm AEDT.
Both the Broncos and Dragons come off two very different victories last week but both were impressive in the way they went about it.
The Broncos came from behind against the Rabbitohs over in Perth and the Dragons were outstanding with a gritty victory against defending premiers Manly.
The Broncos have won the past three matches against the Red V including a golden point thriller to knock the Dragons out of finals contention last year, which in turn ended Wayne Bennett’s association with the Dragons.
Now with Steve Price at the helm, the Dragons hit Suncorp Stadium in solid form, sitting in fourth position after three wins, including back-to-back wins over the Wests Tigers and premiers Manly at home at Kogarah.
Beating the Broncos in Brisbane however will no doubt be a true test for a Dragons club that continues to impress since the departure of Wayne Bennett.
The Broncos have made two changes this week: Dale Copley is in to replace injured winger Jharal Yow Yeh and Matt Gillett has been named to start at lock pushing Ben Te’o back to the bench.
The Dragons will again be without star centre Matt Cooper, with a recurrence of his ankle injury expected to keep him sidelined for a fortnight. Beau Scott moves to the centres and Jack De Belin joins the interchange.
Prediction:
The Dragons know how to win a football game after three years under Bennett. The kicking game of Ben Hornby and Jamie Soward has been outstanding, as has their forward pack.
Trent Merrin in particular is averaging 134 metres a game – the second most by an interchange player – and he’s added a new string to his bow with six offloads, the equal most by a front-rower.
The Dragons have not lost anything since the departure of Darius Boyd. Brett Morris is thriving in his new role at fullback, averaging 200 metres in his new role, adding a new dimension to the Dragons’ attack in recent weeks. His 77 runs are the second most in the comp behind Paul Gallen.
Holding the ball has been a concern somewhat though. Averaging 11.2 errors a game, (up from nine last year) the Dragons will need to hold on to the ball otherwise the Broncos will punish them.
The Dragons scoring capabilities have increased. No longer relying on the left side-sweeping move that proved to be a success in previous seasons, the Dragons have scored nine tries in the past fortnight – six near the posts, two in the right corner and just one in the left corner.
Coach Price has certainly added a new dimension to the Dragons attack, which is causing the opposition plenty of issues. Their defence continues to be the brickwall it has been over the past few seasons.
The Broncos, although sitting in third position, are yet to come up against quality opposition like the Dragons. If they have any intentions of winning this game, the Broncos will most certainly have to play for the full 80 minutes.
The Broncos ball control seems to have deserted them – their 13.8 errors a match are the sixth most. While they appear to have maintained their good defensive structures, they are actually conceding more line-breaks than last year (four, eighth most compared to three a game in 2011). These stats will certainly cause Broncos fans a few worries.
A positive though has been the form of Josh Hoffman. Just as fullback Morris is vital to the Red V, so too is Josh Hoffman for the Broncos.
The 23-year-old is in stellar form, averaging just under 160 metres a game. Last week he cut the Rabbitohs to shreds with a try; two line-breaks and a game-high nine tackle busts. His 376 kick-return metres are the most in the NRL while his 635 running metres are the fourth most.
The retirement of club legend Darren Lockyer shifted the spotlight firmly on Peter Wallace and to date he has been superb. Thriving in his new leadership role calling the shots in 2012, Wallace is running the ball more than any No.7 (8.2 runs a game for a 42-metre gain). He has three line-break assists and three offloads, plus two try assists.
Overall, this match will be won upfront. Tonight’s game pits two of the most resilient defences (the Dragons miss the fewest tackles of all sides, the Broncos the second fewest) up against one another.
The premiership’s two dominant forward packs – with the Queensland front row pair of Petero Civoniceva and Ben Hannant, plus Josh McGuire, are out for bragging rights over New South Wales hopefuls Trent Merrin and Michael Weyman.
An intriguing battle is also set to take place out wide where Blues incumbent Beau Scott will line up against Brisbane Test Centre Justin Hodges.
Hodges, who is finally free of any niggling injuries, has started the season in awesome fashion. He Leads all centre’s for metres gained (140), try assists (three), line-break assists (three) and he has 13 offloads. No doubt Scott will have to be on his game to shutdown any potential threat that Hodges presents early on.
This game has all the hallmarks to be another potential classic and another golden point epic would not surprise. The Dragons seemingly have more momentum but the Broncos were impressive in running down the Bunnies after being in early trouble and losing Yow Yeh. Dragons are likely to direct a lot of their attack through the centre of the ruck, just as they did to great effect against the Wests Tigers in Round 3 but the Broncos will provide a stern test.
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