Brisbane have sparked their NRL season with a thrilling 24-20 defeat of South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.
In years to come, the game might well be best remembered for the debut of teenage prodigy Payne Haas.
The 18-year-old reinforced his star qualities with an outstanding debut for the Broncos on Thursday night.
The 194cm, 117kg giant ran for 86 metres despite only being on the field for 21 minutes.
“You’re seeing the birth of a superstar,” Phil Gould said on the Nine Network commentary.
The Broncos have concerns over Josh McGuire, with the lock-cum-hooker spending most of the second half on the bench with an ankle injury.
The Broncos looked in control for much of the second term, however a John Sutton try in the 64th minute set up a grandstand finish.
The Rabbitohs threw everything at the Broncos in the final 10 minutes but couldn’t come up with a match winner for skipper Greg Inglis in his 250th first-grade game.
Kodi Nikorima, who was dumped last week from the starting side, sparked the Broncos off the bench.
He was controversially denied a try by the video referee just before the break as the home side carried a 12-6 halftime lead, thanks to an Alex Johnston runaround play.
But the Broncos’ super sub evened up the scores in the 50th minute when he darted between Sutton and Cody Walker.
Winger Corey Oates was also outstanding, running for 213 metres and scoring a barnstorming try in which he beat four defenders when there appeared to be nothing on.
Oates’ try gave the Broncos the lead for the first time before Anthony Milford displayed his vastly improved kicking game with a deft grubber for a flying James Roberts.
Earlier, it took just seven minutes for the Rabbitohs to strike first when Jack Bird made a mess of an Adam Reynolds grubber and Walker pounced on the spoils.
The Broncos evened things up when Milford ran it on the last and Oates beat Richie Kennar in a race for the ball.
But many believed scores should have been level after the bunker controversially ruled Nikorima had been held up by Johnston, despite some evidence he had grounded the ball.
Broncos coach Wayne Bennett revealed he pulled prop Matt Lodge because he was off his game, effectively leaving them with two men on the bench after losing McGuire.
On Haas, Bennett said: “You’ve got to get your kids ready at some stage and start the process.
“Obviously Payne’s going to be an NRL player for a long period of time.
“It’s just getting him into the game and how you do that and try and manage that. Because I don’t want them to get ahead of themselves. At the same time I want him to be able to handle the situation as well.
“He’s been in the state league for a while and he’ll probably spend a few weeks on the interchange bench and maybe then we’ll make another decision.”
Souths coach Anthony Seibold revealed winger Richie Kennar had suffered a potentially season-ending ankle/foot injury.
“We’ve improved, we’ve shown signs of our potential,” Seibold said of Souths’ first third of the season.
“The last five weeks I’ve been relatively happy, we’ve been building strongly and we took a step back tonight I thought.
“Particuarly in that second half, we went three from six in the first 20 minutes and didn’t give ourselves a chance. That hasn’t been us in the earlier games.”
Big Daddy
Guest
Impressive as it was and Trodden claiming as a player for NSWRL it is a long way from playing half a competition match to being picked for SOO. The kid has potential but let's not rush him into anything, the same as ponga and Cleary.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
I think it was Aiden Sezers fault this time.
steveng
Roar Rookie
kk, this Haas kid has allot to go, to me, he came in with 15 min to go and after 3 tackles, Gould calls him a champion? What??? And all this media hype is just ridiculous! He didn't do that much, Souths were hopeless at that stage, tired and a rabble. The kid is big, strong but, lets see how he pans out and how long he lasts?
steveng
Roar Rookie
HaHaHaaa 'Roberto' you are such a comedian, just like 'TB' who has transformed into a 'Parrot'...'YES TB' we've read that sarcastic comment, from you on another post! What sort of a reaction and/or answer do you want??? Yes, we know that you want this 'It was Josh Morris’ fault' because he took 'DIVE' (like a balerina, soccer style) against us and our 'Sammy B' got suspended blah blah blah lol lets see how the Dogs go tonight and then it will be conclusive that Josh Morris is wasting his time at the Dogs.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Our defence was awful last night, especially in the second half! The Oates try, was a shameful effort by Gagai, Reynolds and Crichton, the Boyd try, was a disgraceful perception of play by Kennar who should of had more urgency about him, he should have palmed that into the in goal as all good wingers do. I wouldn't be too cocky if I were the Broncos as Souths gave them that game (in the second half) which was a very poor effort by us. Souths need to play for 80 minutes and not 60 and 40 and especially their usual break 1/2 way through the second half, when things get hard. The score of 24-20 flattered us as the Sutton try was a 'No Try' but, the Nikorima so called try (whinge whinge whinge) was 'No way' a try also. Lets see what happens in the next few weeks with our boys as they have some pretty formidable opposition coming up like, Knights, Dragons, Cowboys, Warriors, Sharks, Titans, Eels and Cowboys again before the bye in round 17.
The Barry
Roar Guru
That was my take. Gut feel was that he got the ball over the line but nothing close to definitive on replay and a couple of angles that suggested he didn’t. Tough break but fair decision
The Barry
Roar Guru
It was Josh Morris’ fault
Kurt S
Roar Pro
With Broncos playing The Dogs next week, it might just be the game Brisbane need to start to click in attack. Dogs aren't going so hot right now and haven't looked to score too many tries against fair defense. Brisbane might be able to back their defense and get some combinations working well during game time. Let's hope for dry conditions.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
Nikorima to hooker for the next game then? He really sees to have more impact on the game when coming off the bench or from dummy half. I was really impressed with Milford's kicking game last night. Some deft kicks and good weight on them when around the in-goal area really kept the pressure on the Bunnies. Milford often gets a few good kicks in per game, be them 40-20 or in goal, but often bombs a few, too to take the pressure off. Last night as much more consistent. John Sutton is playing the best he has played in seasons and has been doing so for the last few games. He is hitting the line at pace and really is being a handful to opposition. Good on him. Bird for the Broncos is starting to run. I think 2nd row is his position in this team. Either that or back to the centres, but I think he will not see enough ball in the centres to keep him occupied. He's dropping ball and looks overweight, but he is not the only one spilling the pill in the Broncs at the moment. He is still coming back from injury and more game time will get his body going. More time under Bennett will get his mind on the tasks ahead of him.
Nervous
Guest
9 mins from end - penalty for bunnies 8:30 Souths player picks up ball in offside position after kick 6:42 Penalty to bunnies 6:16 Bunnies forward pass for Sutton try 4:06 2 bunnies players in tackle of Bronco for a steal - play on 1: 46 Bunnies penalty on 3rd tackle 1:02 Cook obstruction play behind Burgess and he plays on - no penalty where they usually take a dive Nothing for the Broncos and Bennett highlights the Nikorema 50-50 call. Bizarre.
uglykiwi
Roar Pro
why would you want the video ref looking at anything????? Did you not see the Roosters game?
uglykiwi
Roar Pro
why would you want the video ref looking at anything????? Did you not see the Roosters game?
Nervous
Guest
It was a 50-50 call yet Bennett deflected attention away from the amazing welter of decisions against his team in the last 9 mins - is he looking for payback from NRL - was he asked about the Sutton try
PNG Broncos fan88
Roar Guru
If it was Billy Slater instead of Nikorima, that would have been a TRY!
Emcie
Roar Guru
You only have to have one person disagree with a decision for it to be labled "contraversial" these days. I didn't think it was a try live, but going off the replay I thought he mights have just got there. Like you said though, there wasn't a clear angle for the Bunker to rule on and the decision was always going to mirror whatever it was sent up as. If the onfield ref didn't think it was a try I'm happy to go with that but I can also understand why some might be complaining about it
The Barry
Roar Guru
I cartwright was playing we could have a Haas-Hess-Hoss
Nervous
Guest
Don't you get it? - its all about a close game for TV especially on Free to Air>>.
RM
Guest
This article makes a point about calling the Nikorima no-try "controversial" - twice. I don't think there was anything controversial about that decision. It was the definition of a 50-50. If it had been sent up as a try, the Bunker wouldn't have overturned it either. For me, a 50-50 is not controversial - controversial is when it's just an outright wrong call that affects the game. What makes it especially strange is that there were some calls throughout the game that would actually fit the definition of controversial, the Sutton try chief among them. I'm also a bit bemused that the crackdown on playing the ball properly has been abandoned by the refs already. The Bunnies second try came after Burgess simply rolled the ball back between his legs with no attempt to even look like he was getting his foot on it - exactly the sort of thing the crackdown was supposed to be policing. Anyway, enough about the refereeing. Oates was outstanding last night and I'm shocked he didn't get Man of the Match. Pangai Jnr was excellent in the second half and Haas looked good on debut. Still question marks over the halves - a real mixed bag from them all night, but they got the job done in the end. Winning a match on the road against an in-form team without Gillett, McCullough and without McGuire for half the game was a huge effort.
johnno2
Guest
I'm not a Broncos supporter now and for me Bennett's decisions are the reason along with the questionable attitudes for issues eg LODGE Bennett made a commitment to BIRD in the past and Bennett hasn't got the fortitude to let him know he is not up to this level of football Bird let the first try in against the Rabbits , missed the tackle on Sutton and dropped the ball on a raid That would make the score more like 24 - 8 Some of the refereeing from both on and the bunker was pretty poor, forward passes, Nikorima's try The end result should have been far more extensive for the Broncos I said it when Bennett signed Bird that he is a lemon and now 7 rounds into the comp he hasn't improved on that assumption at all time for the bench in INTRUST CUP Funny ,as Hunt whistled for Ipswich , Bennett showed no mercy then, but persists in allowing Bird to let the team members, the club and the fans bedraggled with his bloody minded perception of Bird
Bargeall
Guest
Did you watch the game? Gutsy display by Cummins in last 8 minutes – 8 decisions for the Bunnies and none to the Broncos but still didnt get them over the line – 3 penalties,1 blatant forward pass for a try, 1 stripped with 2 in the tackle, 1 offside from a kick that went 2 metres forward, I obstruction let go – does it get any better than this. Cummins has sewed up SOO and he wont be dropped for the blatant forward pass - cant the video ref look at forward passes?? Its a farce