The Brisbane Broncos host the Parramatta Eels, with the former pressing their finals claims as the regular season draws to a close. Join The Roar from 7:50pm (AEST) for live coverage.
Wayne Bennett’s men have struggled in recent weeks, having only beaten the Rabbitohs and Dragons from their last five.
Their halves have failed to fulfil expectations in the second half of 2016, with Anthony Milford in particular unable to replicate his early-season form.
Milford needs to find form if the boys from Red Hill are to be any chance of posing a premiership threat, and their meeting with the 13th placed Eels shapes as the perfect opportunity to do so.
Parramatta’s season has turned into a nightmare since the NRL handed down their salary-cap punishment.
The blue and gold have been riddled with injury and player departures, after Kieran Foran left the club, Semi Radradra was sidelined with injury, and Corey Norman copped an eight-week suspension for off-field indiscretions.
Radradra is likely to return from a knee injury as a late inclusion tonight, in what will be a huge boost for the club, with Vai Totuai to make way.
The key for the visitors will be their halves pairing of Jeff Robson and Clinton Gutherson, who replaced Foran and Norman. They need to settle into the game and provide some attacking spark.
The Parra pack will also play a major role, with Beau Scott replaced by David Gower and Rory O’Brien.
In 35 meetings during the NRL era this pair have been well matched, with Brisbane taking 18 wins to the Eels’ 17.
They last met in Round 1, with the Broncos taking bragging rights as Milford steered them to a 17-4 victory.
The Eels have a 50 per cent win rate at Suncorp Stadium, with six victories from 12 games.
Prediction
Brisbane will only just hang on and secure a spot in the finals.
Broncos by 6.
Join The Roar from 7:50pm (AEST) for score updates and debate in our live blog.
You can find Riley on Twitter @rileypettigrew
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Tough to take the 1 off Oates due to the hattrick but I thought McCoulloughs kicking out of dummy half was pivotal to this win. Put Brisbane right on the attack plus some really smart running out of dummy half. Having said that though Oates put me in pole position in my fantasy league final so let him have it.
Jara W
Guest
Haha Yep. Unfortunately ten tries might be the easier option.
Emcie
Roar Guru
coincides with McCullough coming off
Emcie
Roar Guru
or score some conversions... could have very nearly been 50-16 with Kahu kicking
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
If only EJ, what a performance!
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Milford should get all 6 points.
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
That concludes The Roar’s coverage of Brisbane Broncos vs Parramatta Eels. Be sure to join us over the remainder of the round with Scott Pryde bringing you live coverage of Wests Tigers vs Gold Coast Titans from 2pm (AEST). I’ll be back on Sunday morning from around 6am (AEST) for live coverage of the women's singles tennis gold medal match at Rio 2016. Thanks for following along.
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
The ladder as it stands 1. Melbourne Storm - 38 2. Cronulla Sharks - 37 3. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs - 32 4. Canberra Raiders - 31 5. North Queensland Cowboys - 28 6. Brisbane Broncos - 28 7. Penrith Panthers - 24 8. New Zealand Warriors - 24 9. Wests Tigers - 24 10. Gold Coast Titans - 23 11. Manly Sea Eagles - 20 12. St George Illawarra Dragons - 20 13. Parramatta Eels - 14 14. South Sydney Rabbitohs - 14 15. Sydney Roosters - 12 16. Newcastle Knights - 7
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
The week ahead Wests Tigers versus Gold Coast Titans - Saturday, 13 August, 3pm (AEST) at Campbelltown Stadium New Zealand Warriors versus South Sydney Rabbitohs - Saturday, 13 August, 5:30pm (AEST) at Mount Smart Stadium St George Illawarra Dragons versus Cronulla Sharks - Saturday, 13 August, 7:30pm (AEST) at UOW Jubilee Oval Newcastle Knights versus Penrith Panthers - Sunday, 14 August, 2pm (AEST) at Hunter Stadium Sydney Roosters versus North Queensland Cowboys - Sunday, 14 August, 4pm (AEST) at Allianz Stadium Canberra Raiders versus Melbourne Storm - Monday, 15 August, 7pm (AEST) at GIO Stadium
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
MVP Nominations 3 - Anthony Milford 2 - Ben Hunt 1 - Corey Oates Brisbane Broncos 38 Parramatta Eels 16
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
FULL-TIME Possession: 53% - 47% Completions: 28/38 (74%) - 22/33 (67%) All Runs: 147 - 142 All Run Metres: 1486 - 1196 Line Breaks: 9 - 2 Offloads: 10 - 12 Tackles: 279 - 300 Missed Tackles: 24 - 23 Penalties: 6 - 5 Errors: 12 - 9 Brisbane Broncos 38 Parramatta Eels 16
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
FULL-TIME The Broncos are back after Anthony Milford led the boys from Red Hill to a convincing win at home. The Eels were first to score with Bevan French going over in the corner after just three minutes. The Tingha junior scored after Clinton Gutherson created an overlap with Manu Ma'u helping the rookie over. The Broncos hit back through a rookie of their own seven minutes later with Jonus Pearson scoring on debut after some great hands from Ben Hunt and Darius Boyd. They drew level through a Corey Parker penalty goal before a period of dropped balls and penalties galore. The scoring lull was broken after Oates produced a typical play, swerving around the corner post to edge Brisbane in front. It wasn't long until the winger conceded a try though after knocking on a Jeff Robson in-goal for David Gower to dive onto the ball and score just his second career try. It looked as though we were going to go into half-time with scores level however, Anthony Milford has something to say, breaking the line and grubbering with 5m to go giving Corey Oates his second try of the evening. It put the Broncos in front by four at the break with Milford extending the lead early in the second half showing some brilliant footwork. A botched James Roberts offload resulted in a repeat set for the Broncos just over ten minutes later with Tevita Pangai picking it up and passing to Oates for a hattrick. Ben Hunt continued the onslaught by throwing a dummy to fool the Eels' defensive line. Jonus Pearson scored his second try soon after before Danny Wicks sent us back to 2008 with a strong effort to score a consolation try. Tevita Pangai scored on the siren with Anthony Milford evading tacklers to send the big man over and secure a 22-point win. Brisbane Broncos 38 Parramatta Eels 16
Jara W
Guest
Still plenty of errors and defensive lapses in the Broncos. Suppose they just have to learn to score ten tries a game and should be right.
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
FULL-TIME The Broncos are back after securing a 22-point victory. Match report, statistics and MVP Nominations to come. Brisbane Broncos 38 Parramatta Eels 16
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
CONVERSION UNSUCCESSFUL! Parkers misses to the left. Brisbane Broncos 38 Parramatta Eels 16
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
TRY! TEVITA PANGAI JUNIOR 80' Milford sets up Pangai and thats all she wrote. Brisbane Broncos 38 Parramatta Eels 16
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
DECISION PENDING... 80' The Broncos attack on the last tackle, Milford evades the tackle. He passes to Pangai to score. On-field decision is try Brisbane Broncos 34 Parramatta Eels 16
Zedman
Roar Rookie
Does Robson get a try assist for that?
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
79' Gutherson chips, French can't get to it and Boyd gets the Steeden. Brisbane Broncos 34 Parramatta Eels 16
V.O.R.
Guest
Typical Broncos effort....put the game away by 60 min mark then fail to put their opposition to the sword.