The Brisbane Broncos are staring down the barrel of four straight defeats and need to raise their game against the in-form Canberra Raiders. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:50pm (AEST).
After a great start to the season, the Origin period has begun to take its toll on the Broncos, with last year’s beaten grand finalists on a three-match losing streak.
The Raiders on the other hand have strung together three straight wins and look capable of unsettling Brisbane at home.
Although Canberra’s record at Suncorp is poor, the Raiders possess the confidence required to upstage the Broncos, particularly if trio Aiden Sezer, Jordan Rapana and Blake Austin play well.
The battle upfront should be tremendous, with both sides blessed with strong and mobile packs. The Raiders have lost Shannon Boyd to suspension but Paul Vaughan should slot in nicely and negate Boyd’s absence.
Matt Gillett and Corey Oates meanwhile are important inclusions to a Broncos team that lost convincingly to the Warriors last week, bringing a stabilising presence.
While they have impressed in recent weeks, and Ricky Stuart has put together a formidable team that on its day can beat any opposition, tonight’s contest against a desperate Brisbane really serves as a litmus test for the Green Machine.
Canberra’s defence remains an issue against the top sides in the NRL, and with Ben Hunt and Anthony Milford eager to fire, the Raiders face a stern test.
Prediction
If they can absorb the pressure that will come their way, the Raiders possess the class to secure a good win.
Raiders by 6.
turbodewd
Roar Guru
The Raiders goal line D style of sliding WITHOUT a fullback in the line is terrible as the players are no good doing it. Croker, Sezer and Austin's D is below avg. Leilua too.
SpongeBob
Guest
Best game he's had all season! So far below first grade material it's extraordinary. Super League must be very average.
Jono
Guest
Sticky said they could afford to play like they did in the last twenty last week so the Raiders responded by playing 50-60 minutes like it instead. Stupid errors, poor decision making and soft defence. Best you can say is this game confirms what any sensible person knows: Raiders aren't top 4 material. Easily outclassed by an off Broncos. Didn't expect the Raiders to win, but had hoped for a better performance. Hodgson was off. Might be suffering what Edrick was early with new baby blues. Not many players stood up. Both flanks from the halves out were diabolical with their goal line defence. Thought Santa was solid, but looked a player who hasn't played at this level for a while and has had only a small amount of time with the team. Baptiste was good when he came on, added speed to the game. The better team won and probably deserved to win more comfortably than they did. Down sides would be their injuries and a winger who looked like he turned up to the wrong game.
Joe
Roar Rookie
That was a pretty poor performance by the Raiders masked by their points late in the half. Have to realize though that Broncos had Glenn and Kahu out and a two men bench for pretty much all of that half so there were some tired forwards out there. They really need to fix their defense which was leaking like a sieve, especially when on their goal line. Some of the Broncos tries were training run tries. Broncos did very well to handle the loss of two key 80 minute players and they should be very happy with that win. Their defensive effort in the first 60 was very good and something they can build on. Hopefully the injuries aren't serious, especially Kahu who has had a wretched run with injuries. Game didn't quite hit the high I was expecting but still was pretty high scoring.
Emcie
Roar Guru
To be fair, if Milf didn't kick the ball out on the full they probably would have been kept in their own half
turbodewd
Roar Guru
Raiders commentary: 1. The Raiders goal-line defence style is - Fullback NOT in line and DO NOT rush up. This seems to be our style all the time and doesnt work at all. They must change this style. 2. Fumbles by Bateman, Croker, BLee, Leilua - no help. There was probably another. 3. Kurt Baptiste is great - small and knows how to burrow! Legendary effort. Raiders best player. 4. Leilua very hard to tackle and is never forced back. Teams are well aware of this and concentrate on wrapping him up. Him and Rapana always look dangerous. Both have a bad habit of forcing offloads which fail once per game.
Rellum
Roar Guru
So that penalty we took in the last 5 minutes has to be one of the sillier penalty goals ever taken. Not only was it not needed but we then gave the ball back and let in a try straight away.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Better second half by the Raiders. Not taking advantage of their dominance in the first 20 and some terrible errors and defence in the next 20 killed them. Baptiste was great when he came on. Provided a lot of spark and two smart tries. Ricky - bring him on earlier - please!! Hodgson is a great player but sometimes makes some dumb plays by trying too hard. Happy with Santo's effort. The Broncos only had to play for 25 minutes to win. Hope that Stuart and the Raiders learn something from this. Did Soliola get injured? Was brutal in the first 20 and didn't see him again.
Alan
Roar Guru
An odd game here sees the Broncos secure a scrappy 26-18 victory over a Raiders side that trailed 24 nil at one stage in the second half. To their credit, Canberra fought back well and earn a respectable defeat against a premiership contender. Poor errors in the first half cost them dearly, not to mention some soft defence on their line. Brisbane were professional enough and got the job done again at home, like they do against most teams. Dally M Points: 3- Darius Boyd: Scored a hat-trick tonight and always full of class while in possession. 2- Josh McGuire: Made nearly 200 metres tonight for Brisbane and paved the way forward for his side. Great effort 1. Corey Parker: Opened the scoring with a rare try and was perfect with the boot. Throw in another strong performance upfront and one could argue that he is getting better with age.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Why is it that some teams can't turn it on until they're 20 behind
Alan
Roar Guru
FULLTIME Broncos 26 Raiders 18
Alan
Roar Guru
Canberra have done well in the second half. Brisbane only have a penalty goal and a try to show for their efforts in the second half. What could have been for Canberra had they not produced those poor errors in the first half... Broncos 26 Raiders 18
Kowalski
Guest
Bennett wont be happy with this performance.
Alan
Roar Guru
Well the Raiders have scored three tries to one in the second half. CONVERSION SUCCESSFUL Broncos 26 Raiders 18
Alan
Roar Guru
TRY RAIDERS Broncos 26 Raiders 16
Alan
Roar Guru
Baptiste darts from dummy-half for his second try! Video referee Broncos 26 Raiders 12
Alan
Roar Guru
Raiders with the short kickoff and they get the footy back. Good play. Broncos 26 Raiders 12
Alan
Roar Guru
75' - Broncos still right on the attack and they will take the two and that is game over now... PENALTY SUCCESSFUL Broncos 26 Raiders 12
Planko
Guest
Shocking call a trained monkey would be better than Perinara ....
Alan
Roar Guru
74' - Match point for Brisbane. Parker looking for a rare double. Intercept put down by Lee and the Broncos get the feed. Broncos 24 Raiders 12