A disappointing night on the scoreboard was compounded by a night of carnage in the casualty ward for Wests Tigers with new halfback Tim Moltzen suffering a season-ending knee injury in a 20-10 loss to Brisbane at Campbelltown.
Already without a host of players including star playmaker Benji Marshall due to injury, the Tigers lost Chris Lawrence to a hamstring strain in the first half before Moltzen ruptured his ACL an hour into the contest.
Completing the horror run, centre Blake Ayshford was taken from the field with a suspected broken leg with six minutes to go, the Tigers forced to play out the game with just 12 players having already used all their interchanges.
The biggest loss though is Moltzen, the new No.7 who was writhing in pain as Broncos centre Justin Hodges did his best to comfort the 24-year-old and draw the attention of Tigers medical officials.
Moltzen cut a shattered figure as he made his way off the ground having undergone a reconstruction on the same knee three years ago.
Moltzen was the third man to wear the No.7 jumper for the Tigers in just seven games this season, coach Michael Potter fast running out of options after dumping youngster Jacob Miller.
Despite the injury woes and a dismal first-half display, the Tigers somehow found themselves in the contest until the 75th minute when Hodges dived over from dummy half to end the home side’s resistance.
It was a seemingly inconceivable prospect after the opening half-hour when the Broncos looked in cruise control in running up a 14-0 lead.
The Tigers’ new-look right-edge defence of Moltzen and Lawrence was being badly exposed as first Corey Norman and then Matt Gillett twice scythed through to score, Parker taking over goal-kicking duties after Scott Prince missed his first two attempts.
A try on the stroke of halftime put the Tigers back into the game when Robbie Farah worked a clever run-around to send Matt Utai over, and they were almost within touching distance only for Sauaso Sue to be denied for a double movement.
The Tigers did get to within four points when Shaun Spence touched down after Norman allowed a Farah kick to bounce in his own in-goal, the ball bouncing off the cross-bar and being fumbled by Norman for the Tigers to get back into the contest.
Asked about his options at halfback, Potter said:
“I’ll scratch around on Monday.
“Robbie (Farah) can play seven as well as nine.”
Of 18-year-old halfback sensation Luke Brooks, who has played just six games in the under 20s as well an appearance for the NSW under 20s side that beat Queensland last weekend, Potter seemed hesitant to promote him to the top grade.
“I’d have to talk to Todd (Tigers NYC coach Todd Payten) a bit more,” Potter said.
“I’m not sure if he’s ready for that jump yet but he’d probably grab it with open arms and do his best and probably do an okay job.
“I want to get him physically ready, otherwise he’s going to be a real target just with that step up.”
Broncos skipper Sam Thaiday said the two competition points were the biggest thing to take out of the game for his side after a lacklustre performance.
He admitted the Broncos would need to improve significantly for next week’s tussle with South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium.
Jack
Guest
+100 also. I'm sick of reading this crap about the Broncos, and not just on the Roar (but there are some pretty bad offenders here). We seem to mostly get the most negative "fans" posting on the Roar or else opposition fans who just see a weakness and sink the boot in. The way I see it we're having an ok year and we might make the semis. We can't expect to win the comp every year. And give Scott Prince a break, he's steering us round quite nicely and putting in some great spark in attack. It would be nice to develop a great like Locky or Langer but give it time, our development system has got to be close to the best in the league. As for all these 'What if" scenarios like we should have put more tries on against the Tigers in the first half, or they were injured or down some men so we should have put more tries on, they're rubbish. Yes it sucks when any team switches off and maybe it wasn't as good a game as it could have been, but 1 point more than the other team will get a you a win (remember primary school?) and 2 points is 2 points. At this stage I don't think we should be worrying too much about for and against, I don't think Wayne Bennett ever does. You can't know, if the Tigers had've scored another one more earlier we might have too. And I know it might be a little weird, but I'd rather see a game that wasn't over till the final whistle and had a bit of a story to it than see the Broncs run in a gazillion tries.
Papa
Guest
The thing is, the tigers played like total rubbish in the first half. This means the margin should have been larger. Also the tigers were down players and played the last 7 minutes with twelve men on the field. That is the difference between the storm playing poorly and Brisbane playing poorly. The storm would probably have scored more points.
Symbolsoup
Roar Rookie
+100
Lachlan Simpson
Guest
I'm really not understanding this "broncos are going backwards quickly" rubbish. It seems every time the broncs put in a bad performance, it's the end of the club but all is quiet when they play well. As I make it, they're currently on a 3 win streak and they've lost games to the storm, the roosters, and manly so far this year, all three of which have been lauded as serious title threats and to which the biggest losing margin was 8 points. And that includes one of the worst halves of football i have ever witnessed the broncos play during their round 1 loss to manly. Usually when a team plays poorly and still wins (storm for instance) people rush to suggest that this is the sign of a good side. But with the broncs, obviously it's another story entirely. I can't believe the number of death-riders on this site! Having a wake-up call this week against the tigers i wouldnt be surprised to see a very strong performance next week from the broncos.
madrid john
Guest
Now this is straight off the top of my head, but i think that Lockyer and Langer were home-grown talent. One coming in right after the other. Obviously the Broncs had a bunch of other things going for them as well, (eg. a long-term coach who also happened to be one of the greats of the game) but that kind of good fortune just can not continue indefinitely. (Just look at Barcelona football club, home grown talent, Messi, bought age 12, Puyol, Xavi, Busquets,etc.). Broncos need to be patient, keep faith in their development program and wait till it produces for them again, and it will, sooner rather than later.
Elijah Weightman
Roar Guru
Every year it seems as though one team gets destroyed by injuries. In 2010 it was the Cowboys. This year it's the Tigers turn. Don't fret though Tiger's fans, you have had a good ride the past several and things will improve when your key players return. Your team put up a brave performance given the circumstances. As for the Broncos, well they are truly a fallen empire. I won't say any more.
oikee
Guest
You have to feel for the young Tigers players. The Broncos one out 5 hit-ups and a kick just got them home. have shown the lack of superstars in this Broncos outfit. I it was not for Hodges one-out runs from dummy half, i think we might have got rolled. This club should be forking out 1 million for Tomkins from the UK,. Lucky to get home. Again, the Tigers were unlucky to lose a few players. Another team in Brisbane will shake this team up. They have now evolved into some sort of robot team, that is programed to run 5 times and then kick.
Roarsome
Guest
The Broncos are getting rid of their youth policy because they're sick of pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into developing young talent only to see to help other teams in the comp. There aren't too many clubs in the NRL that don't have a player who started his career at the Broncos. Prince isn't the answer, though they'll start buying players just like everyone else.
Matt
Guest
Lol, as if either team will win the premiership. If the Broncos can make the semi's, I'd consider that a good season. Surely they're well under the salary cap, their roster is lacking vs Sharks, Storm, Roosters etc, who seem to have signed a ton of expensive players.
Lou
Guest
Spot on Eye !! There a rabble , fancy having to buy an ageing half back because there isn't one throughout the entire state of QLD , , , There's only one team that's any good from the north and its made up mostly of southern based players , the canetoads is all they have left ,,, pity the fools
The eye
Guest
Realistically the Broncos are gone in 2013.They threw nothing at the Tigers in the 2nd half very disappointing performance.
Tiger Fan
Guest
Realistically the Tigers are gone in 2013. They should start putting a young team on the field in preparation for 2014. Yes they will get beaten nearly every week but the experience to the young players would be a massive bonus.