Broncos
15
76
Roosters
10
| 74 |  | L. Mitchell | ||
| J. Isaako |  | 70 | ||
| J. Segeyaro |  | 69 | ||
| A. Milford |  | 64 | ||
| 35 | | L. Mitchell | ||
| J. Isaako | | 27 | ||
| J. Isaako | | 17 | ||
| P. Haas | | 15 | ||
| 8 | | L. Mitchell | ||
| 7 | | J. Tedesco |
| 2 | Tries | 1 | ||
| 2 | Conversions | 1 | ||
| 1 | Penalty Goals | 2 | ||
| 1 | Field Goals | 0 |
We return to the scene of the Magic Round, with just the one game being played this weekend, and the Brisbane Broncos come off a last round win to face the presently all-conquering Sydney Roosters. Join The Roar from 7:50pm (AEST) for live scores and blog of the game.
Last week was an unnecessarily tough win for the Broncos, who took out the two competition points against an undermanned Manly Sea Eagles, a team that just cannot seem to keep fit players on the park.
Brisbane are having a less than impressive season, that is not exactly over-stating the matter, but what will be of the most concern to Andrew Siebold is that Brisbane this year are more of the schoolyard bully than the imperious NRL juggernaut they have been in the past.
The three wins that Brisbane have accrued so far this year have relied heavily on coming up against less than full strength opponents, where the Cowboys, Sharks and the Sea Eagles all suffered horrendous injury blows that played into Brisbane hands.
Otherwise this season, when the Broncos have come up against full strength opponents, they have struggled, the South Sydney game being the prime example.
Brisbane then are facing their own injury concerns, and the loss of Jack Bird, who was finally playing himself into the type of form to justify his price tag and get him back into representative discussions, has happened at just the worst possible time.
So while Brisbane will take confidence in notching up their third win of the season, the loss of troops and continuing to piece together combinations remains a difficulty that Siebold is doing well to juggle while trying to justify his own big-money move across the border.
And coming up against a rampaging Sydney Roosters won’t help the Broncos at the moment.
The Roosters are looking pretty good at the moment.
Having said that though, their record against the other top three opponents, while it reads two wins, one loss, suggests that the Roosters are not quite yet the complete product.
The Roosters have managed a 1-point and 6-point win and an opening round loss, so Trent Robinson will know that his team still need to iron out kinks in their premiership defence.
Otherwise, the Roosters have made light work of all other teams before them.
They will go into this contest with confidence, however the loss of Boyd Cordner is a big blow, and history has shown that when the Broncos play the Roosters, anything can happen.
The Roosters also welcome off-season recruit Ryan Hall into the side, who comes in for Daniel Tupou.
The Roosters have the edge int he head-to-head over the last five games, but absolutely towelled up Brisbane in the round four clash, and while the result should not be as much of a blowout this time around, the Roosters should still get the job done handsomely.
Prediction
First is playing 11th, and that should be enough to see the Roosters maintain their authority over this opponent, and keep their title defence on track.
Roosters by 20.
Join The Roar from 7:50pm (AEST) for live scores and don’t forget to leave a comment in the comments section below.
When: Friday, 17 March 2019, at 7:50 PM
Where: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
TV: Channel 9, Fox Sports 502, Kayo and NRL app
Betting: Broncos $2:82, Roosters $1.45, line 6.5 $1.90
Brisbane Broncos
1. Darius Boyd, 2. Corey Oates, 3. Kotoni Staggs, 4. Gehamat Shibasaki, 5. Jamayne Isaako, 6. Anthony Milford, 7. Tom Dearden, 8. Matt Lodge, 9. Jake Turpin, 10. Payne Haas, 11. Alex Glenn, 12. Matt Gillett, 13. Thomas Flegler.
Interchange: 14. Patrick Carrigan, 15. David Fifita, 16. Tevita Pangai Junior, 17. Joe Ofahengaue.
Sydney Roosters
1. James Tedesco, 2. Ryan Hall, 3. Latrell Mitchell, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Matt Ikuvalu, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Victor Radley, 10. Siosiua Taukeiaho, 11. Mitchell Aubusson, 12. Angus Crichton, 13. Isaac Liu.
Interchange: 14. Nat Butcher, 15. Xane Tetevano, 16. Lindsay Collins, 17. Sitili Tupouniua.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Yes, fully agree, playing at Suncorp is a very big advantage for the Broncs, its at least a 4+ penalty count advantage and when its close, the Broncs 9 out of 10 get there. Never mind, I dont think the Broncs will beat the Roosters the next time around. It was a great game, very entertaining.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Yeah, that too.
Insider
Roar Rookie
Souths don’t play cynical football LOL
Insider
Roar Rookie
And a good ref
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Yeah, but how much did that take from them? Travelling to Warriors after they have put a few good games together and smashed Penrith. Usually I'd say it would be a certain Broncos win, yet I'm not convinced. They may not get up well after that effort.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Yeah, well that comment is pretty much on the mark so it shuts down the commentary. lol. What Broncos (and to a less extent - Dragons) have done is show that chooks can be beat.. You need to bring a bit to the table though, decent game plan, plenty of energy and aggro and attitude, quieten their game breakers (Teddy and Mitchell) reduce the impact of the game organisers (Keary and Cronk), don't lose heart, steel in the face of their unrelenting pressure, confidence in yourself so you don't implode, 80 minutes playtime (rules out Dragons as much as other issues), some serious forward muscle and speed in the backs. Simples
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Boyd is absolutely entitled you are right, so fair penalty. Nevertheless, I am 100% certain, given the angled run away from him, Boyd had no chance of making the tackle and he knew that in advance. I am also 100% certain, given that it is a tactic used regularly by QLD in Origin, that Boyd was ONLY interested in drawing the penalty. The fact that he grinned and had a laugh about it after the penalty just gives away the fact that he set that penalty up and played the referee like a puppeteer. And yes, he probably learned that from Wayne Bennett, but Souths don't play cynical football so Bennett has to adapt. Good win to the Broncos by the way and well deserved.
matth
Roar Guru
God no, but they might scrape into the 8. Let’s remember the Roosters were down on troops, had a 5 day turnaround and were playing at Suncorp. If the Broncos were ever going to beat them it had to be today . Broncos are still a 5th to 10th side this year.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Do we have the Broncs winning the comp now? They have been winning the comp all year, it must be a certainty now, surly?
Fraser
Roar Rookie
Yep. Coming into this week, after the first 9 rounds the Broncos had played every team in the Top 7. There are definitely some winnable games coming up. They also shouldn't be too impacted by Origin with only Gillett and Oates guaranteed selections. Haas is likely to be selected for NSW, and maybe Milf and Joe O on the bench for QLD.
matth
Roar Guru
The Broncos are through the hardest part of their draw, so a run is possible.
thomas c
Guest
Nice performance from the broncos. If they can win next week (I'm not that optimistic) then they'll have made a good effort to fixing their season. The bigger issue is that if they can do that a few more times before the end of the season, the coach will be vindicated and the players will want to stick around if they can feel something brewing. You feel for Roberts and Bird. It isn't Robert's fault that the broncos never quite worked out how to bring him into the game and most of the defensive lapses in that one game were due to uncertainty about the new halfback.
perry cox
Roar Guru
I didn't. Wish I'd seen the Fox coverage now!
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
Ah Segeyaro. If only we could learn to play by the rules we could have kept him in the Shire. Quality footballer, I’m surprised he hasn’t landed a starting spot somewhere. Great game tonight, the Broncos have finally arrived.
Fraser
Roar Rookie
Really enjoyed seeing Segeyaro in a Broncos jersey. I think he can renew his career at Brisbane given he's a lifelong Broncos fan, which showed through his enthusiasm and attitude. In saying that, really impressed with Turpin. He's tough, consistent and crafty, and really gets the team on the front foot. Time to put Macca out to pasture, he doesn't deserve to get back into the side.
Insider
Roar Rookie
Apparently a pelican ran a decoy? I didn’t see one on the FOX coverage but Adam swears by it, did you see a pelican ?
perry cox
Roar Guru
I disagree that the refs decided this tonight Steven. The last minute obstruction call was the right one.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
Well played by the Broncos - particularly the young forwards. The no call on Segyaro tackling Cronks legs when kicking is a huge no call (as well as about three dropped bombs from Broncos back three which somehow were missed, but on the whole Broncos played with more energy and made fewer errors coming out of their own end and deserved the win
perry cox
Roar Guru
Cheers mate. The game lent itself to a good call tonight. It was a lot of fun.
perry cox
Roar Guru
Didn't say otherwise Luke. It was more a comment on Boyd than anything else.