Rumours that Brisbane centre Justin Hodges would be a last minute withdrawal against Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night proved correct.
But speculation that the Broncos are a spent force in 2013 appear premature after they went down 32-26 to the reigning premiers in front of 40,071 fans.
The Broncos suffered a major blow when Hodges (hamstring) was a last minute withdrawal, gifting Jordan Kahu an NRL debut.
Hodges had been seen as the key to reigniting the Broncos’ trademark flair following a dour last round 8-0 loss to the Sydney Roosters.
But someone forgot to tell Brisbane.
Trailing 14-0 after 15 minutes and 20-6 at halftime, Brisbane fought back to lead 22-20 by the 53rd thanks to winger Josh Hoffman’s hat-trick to ensure a barnstorming finish.
In the end, Billy Slater grabbed three tries of his own as Melbourne stormed home to seal their 13th straight win and remain unbeaten since last July.
But the Broncos will gain much needed heart after being written off before kick-off.
It was easy to see why.
Melbourne had won six of their past seven games at Suncorp Stadium – and Brisbane just two of their past 13 against the Storm at all venues.
Still, even diehard Melbourne fans would have been surprised by the Storm’s whirlwind start.
Hulking centre Junior Sa’u drew first blood in the fourth minute before Slater got into the act.
The flying fullback pounced on an inside pass – and gaping hole – and raced over to score in the ninth minute despite Broncos captain Sam Thaiday’s complaints that he had been held up in the preceding scrum.
Six minutes later Slater pounced on a Cameron Smith grubber.
Brisbane counterpunched through Hoffman in the 27th minute despite Cooper Cronk and Will Chambers’ best efforts to hold the winger up.
However, Melbourne went into halftime up 20-6 after Slater ran onto a clever Cronk chip, spun the ball right and winger Matt Duffie did the rest in the 35th minute.
Whatever Broncos coach Anthony Griffin said at halftime worked as the Broncos came out swinging after the break.
Hoffman and centre Jack Reed terrorised the Storm’s left edge, combining to score a total of three tries in 11 minutes and suddenly the Broncos led 22-20.
However, Slater grabbed a hat-trick of his own off a Cronk bomb (62nd) before winger Duffie (67th) crashed over after the ball went through six sets of hands.
The Broncos lost Hoffman and David Stagg to injury late in the second half but still kept Melbourne honest when their left edge was again sliced up, this time by backrower Alex Glenn (72nd).
“I don’t know what was said at halftime but we came out with a different attitude and ready to play,” Thaiday said.
“We got a jump on them but we just couldn’t go on with it.”
The Broncos later confirmed Stagg had suffered a knee medial ligament injury while Hoffman had a calf complaint.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said he could see the Broncos fightback coming.
“They are a very proud club. We knew it was going to be a dog fight,” he said.
“Still, we are not used to having 26 points scored against us. It was a bit disappointing to lose our grip on the game like we did.
“I never felt comfortable at halftime. Some things we weren’t doing in defence and it snowballed in the second half.”
Melbourne captain Cameron Smith added: “We came up against a team out to prove a point.”
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