Broncos stun Sydney 22-8

The Sydney Roosters’ minor premiership hopes appear dashed after a disappointing 22-8 loss to a faultless Broncos outfit on Saturday night at Allianz Stadium.

The win was Brisbane’s second in as many weeks over title contenders and is even more surprising given that only a fortnight ago Wayne Bennett’s men were at risk of missing the finals.

They ensured their spot in September on Saturday night and consequently sent massive shockwaves through the rest of the competition as another one of the heavyweights stumbled.

In the afternoon’s earlier game, South Sydney were run down by a rampant Raiders outfit 24-12. And in the match afterwards, the Storm suffered a massive scare as they pipped the Titans 10-8.

Saturday’s results proved that this year’s competition shapes as one of the tightest in history, with no side really commanding premiership favouritism heading into the final round of the regular season.

The loss sees the Roosters sit two points adrift of the first-placed Storm while the Broncos move up into seventh place with a genuine chance of securing a home ground advantage in the opening weekend of the finals.

Coming up against what was the best defensive side in the competition coming into Round 24, the Broncos took advantage of an early penalty in the fifth minute to kick out to a two-point lead.

They quickly found themselves behind though after Blake Ferguson scooped up a Luke Keary grubber to score out wide.

Ball handling plagued the Roosters all night and an error from Sio Siua Taukeiaho on the first play after points gifted the Broncos field position – and they capitalised with Corey Oates crossing over in the corner.

Brisbane returned serve with Tevita Pangai-Junior dropping the ball in the ensuing set and a penalty saw the Roosters lock it up at eight points apiece after 20 minutes.

The contest already had plenty of feeling in it, with two imposing forward packs bashing each other in the middle, but it turned ugly in the 23rd minute.

Dylan Napa, who was controversially sin-binned in the Roosters’ last meeting with the Broncos for what was ruled an intentional head-high tackle, was again penalised for a similar effort which floored Brisbane hooker Andrew McCullough.

He was again marched for ten minutes and will potentially have a case to answer at the judiciary given his history of careless tackles.

Brisbane quickly took advantage of the one-man overlap when Jamayne Isaako soared over out wide.

A penalty in the 35th minute saw them extend their lead to six after Isaako failed to convert his own try.

Three minutes later, miscommunication at the back saw James Tedesco and Daniel Tupou collide attempting to catch a bomb, with Kodi Nikorima picking up the scraps to give Brisbane a 20-8 lead at halftime.

Brisbane afforded the Roosters few chances to get back into the contest, with Anthony Milford controlling the game brilliantly with his long-range kicking game.

An Isaako penalty goal was the only points in the second half, seeing Brisbane run out 22-8 victors to prove they can go all the way in 2018.