Broncos
24
Match Complete
Dragons
28
| 80 |  | Z. Lomax | ||
| K. Staggs |  | 70 | ||
| T. Dearden |  | 69 | ||
| 58 | | Z. Lomax | ||
| 57 | | M. Ravalawa | ||
| 52 | | Z. Lomax | ||
| K. Staggs | | 45 | ||
| K. Staggs | | 43 | ||
| 30 | | M. Ravalawa | ||
| 29 | | Z. Lomax | ||
| K. Staggs | | 24 | ||
| C. Paix | | 23 | ||
| K. Staggs | | 19 | ||
| R. Kennar | | 17 | ||
| 6 | | Z. Lomax | ||
| 5 | | C. Norman | ||
| 3 | | Z. Lomax | ||
| 2 | | J. Kerr |
| 4 | Tries | 4 | ||
| 4 | Conversions | 3 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 3 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Round 15 of the NRL season continues as the Brisbane Broncos host the St George Illawarra Dragons at Suncorp Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:55pm AEST.
After another week from hell on and off the field, the Broncos will be desperate to get back on the park and put on a better performance in front of a home crowd.
The Broncos in recent weeks have played well in patches. Their first half against the Raiders last week was much improved, but the second half was diabolical. They were a completely different side.
They will sorely miss Payne Haas this week as he has made plenty of metres through the middle all season. David Fifita is improving week to week while Kotoni Staggs has showed us his class.
Tom Flegler joins Haas on the sidelines, so Joe Ofehangaue and Rhys Kennedy will be the starting props. Ethan Bullemor and Jamil Hopoate take their bench spots. Anthony Milford replaces Brodie Croft in the halves. Jordan Kahu replaces Jesse Arthars in the backline and Herbie Farnworth shifts to the wing. Isaac Luke also replaces the injured Jake Turpin.
The Dragons sent Paul McGregor out with an impressive win over the Parramatta Eels last Friday night. The question is whether they can back up that win with a first-up victory for new coach Dean Young.
The return of Ben Hunt to the hooker role worked for the Dragons and he was one of the better players on the field. Cameron McInnes got through a mountain of work in defence and Matt Dufty continues to cause problems for opposition defences.
For the Dragons, Tyrell Fuimaono was named but will miss the game via suspension. Jacob Host will likely start on an edge and Trent Merrin is likely to come into the 17. Paul Vaughan is set to be recalled after his COVID breach, perhaps at the expense of Tristan Sailor.
Prediction
Brisbane fans will be hoping their team comes out pumped for this one. However, the loss of Payne Haas is big, and this team has forgotten how to play for 80 minutes.
I’m not convinced the Dragons have completely turned the corner but they will be too good in this one.
Dragons by 14
Game information
Kick-off: 7:55pm (AEST)
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
TV: Nine, Fox Sports
Live stream: Kayo Sports, Foxtel, NRL Live Pass
Teams
Broncos
1. Darius Boyd, 2. Richard Kennar, 3. Kotoni Staggs, 4. Jordan Kahu, 5. Herbie Farnworth, 6. Anthony Milford, 7. Tom Dearden, 8. Joe Ofahengaue, 9. Isaac Luke, 10. Rhys Kennedy, 11. David Fifita, 12. Ben Te’o, 13. Patrick Carrigan
Bench/Reserves: 14. Cory Paix, 15. Jordan Riki, 16. Ethan Bullemor, 17. Jamil Hopoate, 18. Pride Petterson-Robati, 19. Jesse Arthars, 20. Sean O’Sullivan, 21. Brodie Croft
Dragons
1. Matt Dufty, 2. Jordan Pereira, 3. Euan Aitken, 4. Zac Lomax, 5. Mikaele Ravalawa, 6. Corey Norman, 7. Adam Clune, 8. Blake Lawrie, 9. Ben Hunt, 10. Josh Kerr, 11. Tyson Frizell, 12. Tyrell Fuimaono, 13. Cameron McInnes
Bench/Reserves: 14. Jacob Host, 15. Kaide Ellis, 16. Korbin Sims, 17. Paul Vaughan, 18. Trent Merrin, 19. Tristan Sailor, 20. Brayden Williame, 21. Eddie Blacker
Fraser
Roar Rookie
A few observations as a Broncos fan from the cheap seats (section 335). Tommy Dearden is a good footy player. He was busting his guts last night making try saving cover tackles. There was a point in the game where you could see he decided he was going to run the team in attack. If the rest of the team could match his enthusiasm they'll win plenty. What's up with the rubbish uncontested bombs from the Broncos kickers? Teams should grubber more. Captain Pat tries really hard, but as soon as he gets the ball the defence gets to reset because he's never looking to pass. Hopoate has the worst tackling technique I've ever seen. He fair dinkum looks at the grass and just lunges. Why oh why did Broncos think that short drop out with 7 minutes to go and only trailing by 2 was a good idea? Broncos have no attacking structure, and no defensive speed. Broncos back 3 don't know how to cover kicks.
Sydneysideliner
Roar Rookie
I was legit worried about Boyd's breathing last night, looked like he had his nose pushed back inside his skull!
elvis
Roar Rookie
Milford shouldn't be kicking unless he has something concrete in mind. His aimless bombs drive me mad.
matth
Roar Guru
Your comment mentions to superfit, speedy fullbacks who want to be in everything. We have Boyd. Nui was starting to get his involvement up but he’s very inexperienced so reading the play is his development area.
matth
Roar Guru
I assume the Milf would have been the primary kicker. Once he went off it fell away. But we still rely on a mistake from the catcher rather than competing for the ball
matth
Roar Guru
Yes, Dearden for all admirable qualities should review the tape vs when Fifita and Staggs have typical made line breaks in the past- early ball to allow them to use their footwork to get the defence hesitating. He should not go right to the line before offloading.
Tony
Roar Guru
They would all like to be on his salary
Tony
Roar Guru
I hope he puts him on a bus to somewhere else
Bob
Guest
Because it easier, kinda like calling the National Rugby League, the NRL. its really st george-Illawarra If u wanna get technical!
Dan
Guest
A different referee in that game (and no blind people in the bunker) and the score would have been something like 24 or 30 nil at halftime. What is it with these muppet officials that they need to keep under-performing teams In a game.
Barry Macockin
Guest
Why isn't it Brisbane vs St George? I've never understood why the NRL only uses the teams nicknames for everything.
thomas c
Guest
It was an improvement, but the dragons weren't really on. Broncos' forwards made a lot more metres than normal. But the attack was maybe too reliant on fitita and staggs, without necessarily giving them space to operate.
JGK
Roar Guru
So Dragons fans, are we a bit worried that Deano didn't get Merrin onto the field?
no one in particular
Roar Guru
They treated the game as an ad for their TPJ interview And it was so exclusive Nine showed theirs during the news, long before Fox showed theirs
JGK
Roar Guru
The Broncos won the last 76 minutes of that game.
Graham White
Guest
on the refereeing the video ref should be required to look at some plays at full speed. The two "tackled without the ball" penalties were both decisions made while looking at slo-mo footage. Its impossible to tell whether the penalties are fair slowed down. Human reaction time is 0.3-0.4 seconds before you even realize a player has passed or kicked. In slow mo that stretched to twice its length it can look like a conscious decision. Don't know if they were fair pens or not, but we all don't know unless its shown at full speed
Nat
Roar Rookie
Thanks David
David Holden
Roar Guru
Thanks all for following the blog and the banter as usual. Enjoy the rest of your weekend
Graham White
Guest
we at least looked like we cared for the last 70 minutes so at least broncos fans got something enjoyable to watch I'd like to see more sting in our initial contact. Big improvement from last week but still would like to see that initial contact a bit harsher
danwain
Roar Rookie
It's great how the fox interviewers ask Hunt if he is happy at hooker, answers honestly then they have a go at him for answering honestly. They ask him the question but get angry at him for answering the question, these guys are ridiculous.