Adam Reynolds inspires Broncos comeback to down decimated Dogs

An Adam Reynolds-inspired comeback has seen Brisbane come back from a 14-6 deficit to defeat a Covid-weakened Canterbury Bulldogs team.

The halfback scored one and created four others in a stellar second half performance that brought the Broncos back from the brink of an embarrassing defeat.

His performance was the standout of a second 40 that also saw the Broncos complete at above 90%, allowing them to turn that deficit into a 34-14 win.

They will worry about the fitness of Payne Haas, who went off injured early with a shoulder complaint but returned to play on through the pain barrier.

Broncos coach Kevin Walters said the football in the second half was ‘the Broncos way’ and that Reynolds was getting the rewards that he deserved.

“He’s good, that’s why we got him,” said Walters. “That’s going to continue to grow for him. He’s getting used to the players and their skills, so I was happy for Adam because he’s been under as much pressure as anyone through no fault of his, just because of being captain of this club comes with great responsibility.

“He’s been there for us in all games this season, but the results haven’t reflected that. He’s a cool head but when it’s time to go, he knows when to put the foot down. Even right at the death, they were trying to get points. That’s the Broncos way.”

“Very happy. I’d like to know where that was. The talent is there and it’s good to see it get a bit of joy. It’s been a slog for the last month but we got a bit of joy in the last 20 minutes and started to play some good footy.”

The final score was harsh on the Bulldogs, who fought hard and defended well despite missing a host of players through Covid and injuries.

They had flown out of the blocks and were good value for their lead early in the second half, but as the efforts piled up, the resistance weakened.

Jacob Kiraz, impressive on his first grade debut in the centres for Canterbury, was emblematic: he went down with cramp in just the 53rd minute. From there on in, the Broncos scored five unanswered tries.

Trent Barrett was again disappointed as his team turned up for some periods of the game, but failed to maintain their performance.

“Last week was a little bit similar,” he said, referencing their defeat to South Sydney on Good Friday.

“I probably got 30 good minutes last week and 50 good minutes tonight. Again, we’re searching for 80 minutes and at this level, you need to play for 80 minutes.

“I’m disappointed that scoreline got where it did at the back end because it wasn’t indicative of the contest really, but disappointing that we let it get away from us.

“We contributed to letting Brisbane back into the game. Where we were handing the ball over from a field position point of view, compared to where Reynolds was giving us the ball, was completely different.

“That took its toll in the end. We’re gifting them field position and three tries from kicks when they shouldn’t have been down there.”

The coach also said that his team were often trying hard, but trying individually rather than working together.

“We’re still working out that you can’t solve things on your own when things get hard,” he said. “That’s what some of us tried to do. It’s not through lack of effort, but you can’t solve things on your own in tight contests.”

The Dogs attacking problems continued, with plenty of attacking ball but few chances created. In their defence, they did slowly build pressure, with Te Maire Martin denying Paul Vaughan and Jeremy Marshall-King over the line and Matt Burton forcing repeat sets.

With 20 tackles within the Broncos end in the first 20 minutes, the pressure was eventually going to tell. Aaron Schoupp was the creator, taking the ball into contact with Jordan Riki and smuggling the ball out to Josh Addo-Carr for the opening try.

It would get better yet. This was perhaps the most fluent the Dogs attack had looked all year: Kyle Flanagan looped onto the left edge, found his halves partner Burton and his pass released Addo-Carr for a second.

The Broncos were looking battered, but pulled a rabbit out of the hat. With the ball in centre field in the Dogs’ end, Corey Oates came on a big looping run from his position on the left edge steam onto an Adam Reynolds pass and crash over.

Tevita Pangai Jnr had been at his bustling best, and came up with a series of big plays to swing it back towards the Bulldogs. First, he stopped Herbie Farnworth in his tracks in defence, then caught a Tyson Gamble kick and raced away.

The forward was chased down, but a few tackles later, came up a characteristic late offload to get the ball to Matt Dufty. The speedy fullback did the rest.

Neither of these two teams are very good, but this was fast becoming a very good game. The Broncos managed to consolidate field position via series of set restarts conceded by the Dogs – the bin might have been used – with Corey Paix eventually taking advantage of tired tacklers to burrow underneath.

There was yet more drama. Reynolds sent a chip and chase in the direction of Selwyn Cobbo – the winger was blocked off by Addo-Carr, but Riki picked up and dumped inside for Reynolds to go behind the sticks. Suddenly, it had all turned around.

Reynolds was having a field day. The halfback served up a long looper of a pass that caught Addo-Carr under the ball and allowed Cobbo to extend the lead yet further.

The Dogs weren’t done yet. Addo-Carr had another chance on the left, but Cobbo raced into his face and prompted a knock on.  

The winger would put a tin hat on the victory. He touched down a Reynolds kick that he had no right to get near, and then created the last. Kotoni Staggs, otherwise quiet, finally got himself into the game with a slick offload to his winger, but kicked on for Rhys Kennedy to grab just his third try ever.

The Bulldogs had made them work for it, but the Broncos got there easily in the end.