Missing Milford found at Suncorp in time for finals

v BYE

Brisbane five-eighth Anthony Milford was finally located at Suncorp Stadium tonight after fears he may not be found in time for the Broncos fading finals charge, with the hosts prevailing 38-16 over Parramatta.

The electric Broncos number six sprung to life just before the halftime break when he exploded through a gap and made his way to the tryline, fended away from the Eels cover defence of Michael Gordon and then Bevan French and then found the composure to kick inside for winger Corey Oates who scored the second of his three tries just before halftime to give the home side the lead just as the siren sounded. 

Brisbane led 14-10 at the break, however came out in the second half and blew the Eels away scoring an impressive 8 tries in a comprehensive 38-16 victory in front of their loyal fans at Suncorp Stadium. The win sets up a mouth watering clash with fellow Top 4 contenders Canterbury next Thursday night, who despite winning 7 from their last 8 matches are the other premiership contenders along with Brisbane who have been written off by critics as out of form with just 3 rounds until the finals series commences. 

If the Parramatta Eels season is over someone forgot to tell Brad Arthur's men as they got on top of Brisbane early in the first half with a try to winger Bevan French opening the Eels account. The speedy winger was almost away minutes later, however the pass from Clint Gutherson was called forward and gave Brisbane some field position. Brisbane took the opportunity, when Australian fullback Darius Boyd gifted debutant Jonus Pearson with a dream passage to the tryline in just his second touch of the match. Corey Parker missed the conversion from the sideline and the visitors led 6-4 after 12 minutes.

The Broncos then received back to back penalties and with a shot right in front, skipper Parker typically took the two points on offer to lock things up at 6 all. 

Mistakes started creeping into the contest with both sides making some fundamental errors, however it was Brisbane who finally took advantage when a quick shift to the left found winger Corey Oates out wide and he scored with a trademark put down for his 13th try of the season.

Just as the Broncos looked to be edging ahead, interchange forward Jarrod Wallace knocked on from the first hit up from the kickoff in a solid hit from Eels forward David Gower to putting his side under pressure. Eels half Jeff Robson then grubbered towards tryscorer Oates who spilt the ball backwards into his own in goal and that deservedly fell towards Eels forward Gower won the race to lock the game up once again. 

Anthony Milford then changed the momentum of the match when he exploded through a gap and set up winger Oates, who moments earlier gifted the Eels with a try to prop David Gower to redeem himself by scoring his second try just before halftime to give the home side the lead just as the siren sounded. 

Milford backed up his first half line break when he found some space 20 metres from the tryline, where he jetted past Eels hooker Isaac De Gois to score under the posts to extend the Broncos lead to 10 points early in the second half.

The Broncos then produced some quality long range kicking from their halves duo of Milford and Ben Hunt, as well as hooker Andrew McCullough to pin the Eels down in their own half and starving them of possession. Despite winger Corey Oates making some fundamental errors under the high ball during the match, he scored a hat-trick in the 56th minute, when he received a spectacular flick pass from young gun prop Tevita Pangai Jr to score in the corner. Corey Parker again missed the conversion and the Broncos were gone.

Successive tries to Ben Hunt and a second for debutant Jonas Pearson saw the Broncos kick clear and the result was never in doubt. The Broncos had found form after a horrible mid season slump just in time for the finals in three weeks time. 

Parramatta prop Danny Wicks did show some speed and strength when he received the ball on the last and pushed past Anthony Milford to score near the posts to give the Eels some respectability on the scoreboard.
Man of the Match Milford then put an exclamation mark on the performance when he broke through three would be Parramatta defenders who just couldn't get a hold of the livewire number 6, who then found Pangai Jr who scored as the siren sounded, leading to a Broncos victory by 38-16. 

The Broncos now face the Bulldogs as mentioned on Thursday night at Suncorp Stadium in what promises to be the match of the round, while the Eels travel to Canberra where they face the Raiders at GIO Stadium on Sunday, which should see the return of superstar winger Semi Radradra who they welcome back from injury.