Boyd blitzes it to get Broncos back on track

v BYE

A hatrick from fullback Darius Boyd  has helped the Brisbane Broncos get their season back on track, snapping a 3 game losing streak to comfortably defeat the Canberra Raiders 26-18 at Suncorp Stadium tonight.

The Queensland and Australian fullback was again outstanding for the home side, scoring 3 tries in an classy performance, which will have Queensland coach Kevin Walters smiling from ear to ear with Origin II fast approaching.

Coach Wayne Bennett will be very pleased with the performances of his Origin contingent, with Matt Gillett and Josh Mcguire in particular having huge games with some bone jarring defence, while Corey Parker managed to score the first try of the match as well as land 5 from 5 with the boot.

The win was soured somewhat, with backline utility Jordan Kahu leaving the field with a suspected pectoral tear, with scans to determine how much time he spends on the sidelines. Sitting next to him will be the man he replaced in centre Jack Reed who was a late withdrawal pre match with a shoulder injury.

The Canberra Raiders came into this match looking to make a statement and for the first 20 minutes they were in control with forwards Junior Paulo and Iosia Soliola making plenty of metres, which was complemented perfectly with some astute kicking from halfback Aidan Sezer.

In the 23^rd minute is all started to fall apart for the Green Machine, when an unnecessary penalty from centre Joey Leilua saw the Broncos given a piggy back up field where the Broncos took advantage, when captain Corey Parker scored next to the posts and it was only his support player Anthony Milford who got in his way rather than the Raiders defenders, but the veteran managed to push him out of the way for the first try of the night.

From the ensuing kickoff the Broncos sprung to life with prop Adam Blair immediately passing wide to half Ben Hunt and the Broncos charged downfield. The kick on the 5###sup

tackle found the in form Raiders winger Jordan Rapana who had been terrorising the Brisbane defence earlier in the night, however on this occasion he tried to offload to rookie fullback Zac Santo but the pass found the ground and was dived on by Broncos prop  Josh McGuire. Off the next set, Queensland and Australian fullback Darius Boyd found some space and dummied pass Aiden Sezer to score. Corey Parker converted and all of the sudden the Broncos lead was extended to 12-0.

Minutes later the Raiders made another crucial error in their own half when interchange forward Clay Priest dropped the ball in the play the ball, gifting the home side yet another golden opportunity. Brisbane didn't waste the opportunity and it was that man Darius Boyd who again made them pay, with an almost identical play from his first try to go through Aiden Sezer and Jarrod Croker to score. Parker added the extras and the Raiders were shell shocked at the break after a promising first 20 minutes.

Early in the second half, Darius Boyd again cracked the brittle Raiders line defence, scoring his first hat trick since Round 1, 2008. Corey Parker added the extras to extend the lead to 24-0 and things started to look grim for the visiting team.

The Raiders then finally got on the scoreboard when livewire bench hooker Kurt Baptiste threw a dummy down the blind side of the Broncos defence to score a clever try.

The Green Machine then backed that up minutes later when an ordinary pass to half Aidan Sezer saw him under pressure on the last, where he hooked a kick towards the posts which was contested by winger Jordan Rapana who knocked the ball back to into the path of Blake Austin who scored under the posts. Jarrod Croker made it 2 from 2 and the Broncos lead was cut to 12 points in just 6 minutes.

However yet again the Raiders ill discipline at crucial times cost them, when backrower Joseph Tapine gave away a silly penalty in front of the posts and the Broncos skipper quickly pointed to the posts and extended their lead to an unassailable 14 point lead with 4 minutes remaining.

Canberra to their credit never gave up and Kurt Baptiste scoried his second clever try from close to the line to give the scoreline some credibility, however it was a pretty convincing win for Brisbane in front of their home fans to get their season back on track prior to their much welcomed bye round next week ahead of State of Origin Game II at the same venue.

The Broncos next face the Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium in a fortnight. The Raiders go back to the drawing board and likewise welcome the bye before they face the Gold Titans in Round 16.