Knights
26
Match Complete
Broncos
12
| M. Lino |  | 70 | ||
| M. Lino |  | 68 | ||
| 60 | | K. Staggs | ||
| 60 | | K. Staggs | ||
| M. Lino |  | 56 | ||
| 42 | | K. Staggs | ||
| 41 | | T. Flegler | ||
| M. Lino | | 26 | ||
| S. Kenny-Dowall | | 24 | ||
| M. Lino | | 19 | ||
| L. Fitzgibbon | | 18 | ||
| M. Lino | | 10 | ||
| E. Lee | | 8 |
| 4 | Tries | 2 | ||
| 4 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 1 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Round 15 of the NRL will see the Brisbane Broncos in 12th place travel south with their season on the line as they take on the Newcastle Knights. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 5:30pm (AEST).
The Broncos will take on a Knights side sitting comfortably in fifth, coming off a reality check in Round 14 courtesy of competition leaders the Melbourne Storm.
There are several big ins for both sides in this game. The Knights have named NSW Origin front-rower David Klemmer on the extended bench in Jersey 19. He will need to play through the pain of a broken wrist in order to convince Brad Fittler he is ready to return to the fold for the Blues in Game 3 in Sydney.
The Knights have also named QLD pair Kalyn Ponga and Tim Glasby, both of whom had minor injury concerns coming out of game 2 in Perth.
For the Broncos, Andrew McCullough returns after recovering from a knee injury suffered in May. He has been named at starting hooker in place of deputy Jake Turpin who has moved back to the bench in Jersey 14. Don’t be surprised however if Turpin, who impressed in McCullough’s absence, starts the game.
Jamayne Isaako has been dropped in place of Richard Kennar on the wing, despite a strong showing for Samoa in last weekend’s rep round, while NSW front-rower Payne Haas is back after an injury kept him out of Game 2.
A strong performance could see him back in the Blues side for Game 3 if any other front rowers get hurt this weekend.
Finally, there is some talk that skipper Darius Boyd could switch to five-eighth in this game, with Anthony Milford moving to fullback. It’s hard to know what to make of this. Many have suggested this move for Boyd in the past, although he is well past the peak of his powers now. Whether the swap eventuates or not, it’s clear that the Broncos are desperate to win this game.
Prediction
The hopes of each side in this game depend largely upon the experienced playmakers – that is Mitchell Pearce for the Knights and Anthony Milford for the Broncos.
Milford had his best game of the year for Samoa last Saturday, leading for calls to have him wear the Samoa jersey under his Brisbane jersey when he turns out for his club every week!
Mitchell Pearce was quiet against the Storm before getting injured, but is coming off some red-hot form prior to that with 6 man-of-the-match performances in a row.
Adding to the intrigue of this contest is the level of desperation in the Broncos camp. They are beginning to lose touch with the top 8 – victory in this game is crucial to keeping their finals hopes alive.
However, it’s hard to see anything but a Knights win in this game. With the return of Klemmer to the side and the red-hot form of Pearce, this Newcastle side has too much firepower for the Broncos to contain away from home.
Knights by 12.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 5:30pm AEST.
Game information
Where: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
When: 5:30pm
TV: Fox League
Streaming: NRL Digital Pass, Kayo Sports
Knights
1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Edrick Lee 3. Hymel Hunt 4. Jesse Ramien 5. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 6. Kurt Mann 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. James Gavet 9. Connor Watson 10. Daniel Saifiti 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon 12. Sione Mata’utia 13. Tim Glasby 14. Jamie Buhrer 15. Herman Ese’ese 16. Josh King 17. Pasami Saulo 18. Mason Lino 19. David Klemmer 20. Jacob Saifiti 21. Aidan Guerra
Broncos
1. Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Richard Kennar 6. Anthony Milford 7. Sean O’Sullivan 8. Matthew Lodge 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Payne Haas 11. David Fifita 12. Matt Gillett 13. Tevita Pangai 14. Jake Turpin 15. Joe Ofahengaue 16. Thomas Flegler 17. Patty Carrigan 18. Xavier Coates 19. Jaydn Su’A 20. James Segeyaro 21. Shaun Fensom
steveng
Roar Rookie
Yes but the Bunnies are on 2nd place 20p no bye (335f and 244a +91/10x-5l) and the Broncos are on 13th place 12p with a bye (231f and 297a -66/5w-9l) now, never mind the 4 losses as Seibold’s record in comparison to Bennett’s can never ever be compared, 2019 is a perfect example. Seibold didnt do anything miraculous with the Bunnies in 2018, the Bunnies in 2019 are doing exactly the same as with Seibold in 2018, its from now on that will matter!
Emcie
Roar Guru
Dunno, Seibold’s only on a three game losing streak, not a four game losing streak ???? Dunno too many broncos fans that actually wanted Bennett to go though, we weren’t exactly given a choice there
Stuart Thomas
Expert
#inconsistent
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
LOVeryL
Insider
Roar Rookie
Rabbids loves him to
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
Yeah but I think Isaako is the only one of the two with any hope of turning it around. But if another option were to present itself, that would be good...
Emcie
Roar Guru
Moneyball? Bit harsh blaming a guy for the team when the board let all our experienced players go before he even arrived. We're also down both first choice centres, our first choice halfback, our gun winger is way down on form and we've got a ton of inexperienced guys with potential getting shuffled around to fill in the gaps. I find it had to believe this is a strategy that's failing...
Luke S
Roar Rookie
I thought the answer was Seibold - the others were all competent coaches!!!
Daniel Szabo
Roar Guru
Fulltime Full time here at McDonald Jones Stadium and the Newcastle Knights have defeated the Brisbane Broncos 26-12 in what was frankly a bizarre game of rugby league. The Broncos were poor from the outset, showing a terrible lack of desperation and urgency despite the fact they were playing essentially for their season. The Knights in contrast started off very strongly off the back of a huge first half from the returning David Klemmer, who played 40 minutes straight with a broken wrist. He was extremely damaging through the middle, making plenty of post-contact meters. The Knights opened the scoring in the 8th minute through Edrick Lee, who crossed in the corner after Kurt Mann fended away from some poor Brisbane defence. This was followed by tries in the 18th and 24th minutes to Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Shaun Kenny-Dowall respectively with replacement five-eighth Mason Lino converting all 3 for an 18-0 lead. The Broncos received a barrage of penalties close to the end of the half, but were diabolical in attack, failing to threaten the Knights' defense whatsoever. The score remained 18-0 to the Knights as both sides went to the sheds for halftime. The second half started off in bizarre fashion, with James Gavet sent to the sin bin for a fairly innocuous high tackle with referee Ashley Klein yelling "too many penalties" as he stuck his 10 fingers in the air! Thomas Flegler crashed over on the right edge for his first NRL try less than a minute later, leaving the Knights' faithful less than pleased with the officials. Poor ball control from both sides saw this match descend into a fairly stop start affair. Brisbane received several penalties gifting them good field position, but failed to capitalise as their attack continued to falter. Mason Lino kicked a penalty goal in the 56th minute after Anthony Milford failed to get his drop out away before the shot clock sounded. This gave Newcastle a 14 point lead heading into the final 20. However, Kotoni Staggs was able to cross for a try after an error from Hymel Hunt gifted the Broncos more ball in the 60th minute. He then converted his own try for the Broncos to trail 20-12. The Broncos received more penalties and more field position, but the story for the night remained the same as their clunky attack, dominated by the likes of Matt Lodge close to the line, failed to come up with points. Mason Lino then crossed for his first try in Knights colours in the 69th minute to seal the game. It was a great play from Jesse Ramien to set the try up, as he made Darius Boyd, David Fifita and Tevita Pangai Jr all look silly in defence before passing to Lino who scored untouched. Lino converted the try, and the scores would remain 26-12 at fulltime. A biff erupted as the fulltime siren sounded, but nothing was made of it as the whistle was blown for full time, the Knights sitting comfortably in 5th place again while the Broncos will be lamenting both their effort and execution after yet another poor performance. Thanks for joining me Roarers! Stay tuned for The Roar's coverage of the Raiders vs the Eels from Darwin up next! Knights - 26 Broncos - 12
Sideline Eye
Guest
Boyd has been making Alfie look good.
John Allan
Guest
Pick the odd one out. Henjak. Griffin. Bennett. Seibold. Answer: Seibold. The others were all sacked.
Superspud
Roar Rookie
In 1999 they were 5 wins and a draw after 14. Unfortunately they won their next 10 after that. Can't see that happening in 2019
Emcie
Roar Guru
I dunno, Isaako's been making Boyd look good lately
Sideline Eye
Guest
Shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic.
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
MIlford can go back to 5/8, Kennar can stay on the wing so Isaako can go to fullback and Boyd can figure out what to go do with himself...
Sideline Eye
Guest
Prior to Round 1 the local media were in love with Anthony. Sleeping in separate beds now?
Luke S
Roar Rookie
So Mr Moneyball Seibold's Darius Boyd/ Anthony Milford experiment was an utter failure!!! The coach doesn't appear to have the confidence of the team after the board decided to knife Bennett!! The fans hate Siebold's 'moneyball' approach (that doesn't appear to be working at all)!!! 'Man overboard", I say!!!!!
MarkD
Guest
Ball boy?
Sideline Eye
Guest
Bit of fisticuffs at full time. Broncos showing some "fight" when it's too late. Need to recruit Payne Haas's mum. She'd add some starch.
Emcie
Roar Guru
How many games in a row are we up to with the Knights starting a fight at the end now? Ah well, you can do what you want when you're a good news story...