The Brisbane Broncos used a dominant first half display to take a 14-point victory over the Penrith Panthers at Suncorp Stadium in the opening match of Round 9.
Brisbane ran on four tries to none in a first half shutout, leading 22-0 after the first 40 and despite switching off during the back end fo the second half, were never going to be caught by a Penrith side who have plenty of work to do.
Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima controlled the Broncos attack, while Darius Boyd did plenty. For the first 60 minutes, it was hard to point out a poor Brisbane player, but they stopped attacking, put the cue in the rack and were given a scare by a Matt Moylan inspired Panthers at the back end.
After ten minutes, it looked as if the Panthers had turned up to play. While their defence hadn’t yet been put to the test, they had what almost looked to be a certain try disallowed, and they were in the contest physically.
Unfortunately, that was where the errors and poor defence began, with 31 missed tackles for the first half.
Penrith barely got another look at putting points on the board before the break, and with the Broncos having their first opportunity from a scrum, they didn’t make any mistakes.
On halfway, it was a spread right with nothing happening until James Roberts put the foot down into a gap, went through the defence and found Jordan Kahu on the wing. He stepped back inside, then linked with Kodi Nikorima in support, who ran away to score.
The errors kept piling up for Penrith, and it was Roberts himself who scored the second try just seven minutes later. Penrith were building, but made an error which allowed Nikorima to find Roberts, who burnt the defence on an 80-metre run.
Brisbane would force a number of repeat sets in the next segment of the game, and after making an error of their own looked to be losing momentum.
Penrith made yet another error though, allowing Brisbane back onto the attack with Jordan Kahu scoring the next try with Milford putting up a bomb. No defenders wanted a piece of it, and Kahu ran through, flying to take the ball and then continuing to the try line.
From the kick-off, Brisbane went the length of the field from a Milford offload. He found Glenn who went through the line, found Darius Boyd and he then linked with Tautau Moga who scored easily.
At the half, it was 22-0.
The Broncos showed no signs of letting up early in the second half though and despite a similar start to the first half, it would be Korbin Sims who broke the line, scoring through some incredibly soft defence.
From there, the Broncos stopped attacking, just looking to get to the end of the game, but with so long to go it seemed to be a catalyst for them to switch off, as they began to make mistakes on both attack and defence.
The Panthers still looked awful in attack, but eventually, it was Trent Merrin who picked out Kodi Nikorima, reaching out to score what, at the time, felt like a consolation try.
Matt Moylan would score in the next set for the Panthers, and suddenly there was the fleeting hint of a comeback. The try was created from well withi their own end, with Moylan scoring a soft try on the left-hand side.
Penrith added another try just minutes later through front rower Regan Campbell-Gillard, who looked like he was running between a pair of tackling bags after an inside pass from Moylan.
With seven minutes to go, the gap was down to ten but the Broncos seemed to finally snap out of their trance, putting the effort into their defence and closing the game out with another try to Matt Gillett down the short side off a scrum, right on the siren.
Brisbane then, taking a 14-point victory, but struggling to close out the game.
Brisbane Broncos 32
Penrith Panthers 18
Tony Jugoslav
Roar Rookie
Like they just did in the Eels vs Cows game?
Britexit
Guest
Yeah right - make up anything to suit your view of this great comeback...
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Nah they always call back anything in the scrum that seems funky.
Zedman
Roar Rookie
They sacked Cleary.
Rupert
Guest
Support you about Barry the Bunker Man and Coach Griffen. In a strong club, when a persuasive coach sets down the rules and is supported by persuasive senior players then the rest of the team fall into line. I am not sure that Griffen has shown the influence over players' performances that other coaches can muster. Looking at the stats: 2011 - 2014 Griffen coached Broncos to 54 wins from 101 matches. 2016+ Griffen has coached Penrith to 17 wins from 34 games. Pretty ordinary record considering the talent he has had to work with. The club should have appointed Ivan Cleary - anyone who can get the Warriors into the finals must be talented.
Britexit
Guest
last night had great examples of evening up at 0-28 for Free to air TV . At 55min Penrith feed the scrum and it knocked into Penrith legs and went straight thru to the broncos - it should have been play on as the ball never left the scrum till it reached the Broncos lock. The scrum was reset and people wonder why there are dark murmurs about NRL reffing. Sutton will get SOO after this though his partner was responsible for the scrum farcical decision.
andrew
Guest
The only thing more shocking than the "no try" decision, was that the NRL came out today and backed the decision as a correct one....! Actually the more shocking thing is that I am surprised by that..
Zedman
Roar Rookie
As bad as the Panthers were, if the disallowed try had been paid there would have been four points in it with about five to go. Fanciful stuff i know but the Broncs didn't put the Penny's to sleep till the death.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Yeah I think they did. Macca went for the sideline when they were in an attacking position and shanked it poorly out on the full. That was the catalyst.
Gary Russell-Sharam
Guest
I could not believe the decision of the bunker when over ruling the ref when Maguire was seen to punch the ball out of the tryscorer arm, the bunker said he lost possession. It should have been knock on by the broncos and a try awarded. Maybe the game might have been a bit different if this had been the case. IMO I think Hook has lost the dressing room, the players don't look like they have their heart in it. I have seen this before when teams go bad and look like they are not trying a 100%, it's a sure sign that the players do not believe in the coach.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Edwards to fullback, Moylan to five eighth, Cartwright to NSW Cup, Anthony Griffin to Centrelink. Simples.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
With the Kahu try it was a shocking miskick from Milford. That should have never have been allowed to happen.
jeandetroyes
Guest
If the coach goes then Gould has to go. He put his reputation on the line in sacking Cleary - a move that is even more bewildering in retrospect than it was at the time. Perhaps the most over-rated man on the face of the planet?
Jara W
Guest
They made about 5 tackles in that ten minute period though. Their commitment in defence was very ordinary.
Jara W
Guest
Agree it was an ordinary game. Even from a Broncos fans perspective. Both teams pretty much took it in turns to play ordinary. Luckily for Brisbane they contained their period to 20 or so minutes. James Roberts and Josh McGuire were the only things that livened it up.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Not sure the broncos put the cues back so much as they didn't see the ball for ten minutes, they regained possession twice while the panthers were on the attack and the panthers were given the ball back both times. They did kick for the corner at one stage but their forwards needed a break and sims was off getting a HIA at the time. They looked good once they got the ball back
kk
Roar Pro
Hi Scott, Hard to rate the game higher than a 75/100. The loss of Josh Mansour has made winning a distant memory for the Penrith Panthers. Without him the team seems incapable of recovering from set backs,self inflicted or at decisions from bunker or whistle. Mansour is due back in three weeks and even with him in full cry it is problematical if the team can make the eight. Dreams shattered. The Broncos are in a similar position if they lost the services of James Roberts. IMO he was the difference last night and in the best form of his career and worthy of a start in Origin or the green and gold. I hope the injury is bruised bone only.
Rupert
Guest
There are a few things I hope come out of this game. 1. Barry the Bunker Man is sacked for incompetence after 2 clangers. (Paging Mr Maguire, Mr Maguire wanted on the red phone please) 2. Waqa Blake learns how to mark his opposite number. 3. Corey Harawiri-Naera makes better use of any opportunity to play in the first grade.. 4. Two players near an opponent should not assume the other person will do the tackling dirty work. 5. A 55% completion rate is unacceptable. 6. When a team like Broncos punch the ball out of your hands it's not a strip - it's a punch. Because of the punch rule, ball security becomes a must. 5. The coach impresses on young players that potential, athleticism and flair are not enough. 6. The coach impresses on older players that they will be measured on current performance not former glories.
The Barry
Roar Guru
McGuire was outstanding last night. I don't particularly like the bloke but credit where it's due. One of Queenslands challenges this year is to find a forward leader in the wake of Matt Scott's injury. McGuire will probably need to be the one to step up and last night he showed he's got the ability and desire. Panthers were a rabble. Ok, they're not playing well but they're not showing a lot of heart and are making continuous simple errors. Lost count of the number of dropsies and arm tackles last night. The Kahu try was a farce. Three Panthers defenders tried to block the chasers but no one competed for the ball or positioned themselves to tackle Kahu once he caught it. Simple stuff.
Bonza
Guest
So will Gus hook the Hook and if so he might want to think about putting the ole coaching hat back on as the alternatives are woeful. Interesting times.