Broncos Blitz! Milford Magic Roasts Chooks

v BYE

Missing in action for the opening five rounds, the Brisbane Broncos announced themselves as the forgotten premiership contenders, with a second half blitz of the second placed Sydney Roosters, thrashing the Tricolours 32-8 at Suncorp Stadium tonight.

Led by mercurial five-eighth Anthony Milford, who was back to his livewire best, the Broncos put in easily their best performance of the season to date, with Milford a constant menace for the Roosters defence. 

Milford was ably assisted by halfback Ben Hunt, who left the field late in the second half with a hamstring injury, both players constantly looked to put the strike centre pairing of Tautau Moga and James Roberts into space, causing the defence on the Roosters edges headaches on numerous occasions. 

Brisbane came into the game under a bit of pressure, after only registering two wins from their opening five games. And it was the home side who came out with a point to prove, when in just their third set of the match the forwards led by Matt Gillett and Josh McGuire charged downfield and hooker Andrew McCullough caught out Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves hesitating at marker to score close to the line. Jordan Kahu added the conversion and it was Brisbane off to a great start, leading 6-0 after four minutes.

Off the next set, back to back penalties from first Wearea-Hargreaves for not rolling away in the ruck, and then front row partner Isaac Liu for a shoulder charge right in front of the posts allowed Kahu to extend the lead to 8-0 and it was all the Broncos early.

The Roosters hit back when given their first opportunity, when Test centre Blake Ferguson burst through the line, only to be brought down just short before second rower Mitchell Aubusson poured onto a short pass from Luke Keary and the Roosters were awake, trailing by just four points. 

Minutes later, Ferguson hit a hole outside Tautau Moga and strolled over to score and the Roosters had two tries in as many minutes. Michael Gordon was unable to convert and the scores were locked at 8 all. 

Sam Thaiday then made an immediate impact coming off the bench, with just his second touch, steameing onto a short ball from Anthony Milford and the Broncos number eleven wrestled his way past three Roosters defenders to score. Kahu then landed the conversion from out wide to extend the home side's lead by six points nearing halftime. 

Broncos hooker McCullough then looked to have turned the match with a crucial 40/20 but was denied, after placing a big toe on the 40m line to deny the Broncos a huge chance to kick away before the break. The Roosters were then denied a try to winger Daniel Tupou, when the lanky winger scooped up a loose pass from Ben Hunt, however the Video Referee agreed with the on field decision of no try, with Latrell Mitchell knocking down the pass. 

Brisbane struck first in the second half, when prop Korbin Sims ran onto a great short ball from McCullough close to the line to score next to the sticks. Kahu added the extras and the home side extended their lead to 20-8 after 52 minutes. 

The game continued to be a thrilling contest, with both side counterattacking each other on a variety of occasions. This was best demonstrated in the 56th minute, when speedster James Roberts looked set to score from a Milford grubber, the man they call ‘the Jet' then sprayed his follow up kick across field and the ball was pounced on by Roosters utility Connor Watson, who took off up field and was tackled on halfway. Off the ensuing play, giant winger Daniel Tupou sprinted through the line finding an unmarked Michael Gordon backing up in support. Gordon looked set to score when he was ankle tapped five metres out by a desperate Andrew McCullough ankle tap. Gordon then looked to pass to his Roosters support players, which was then intercepted by a flying Tevita Pangai Jr pinching a certain Roosters try. The play proved decisive in the end, with the visitors giving away a penalty a few sets later through Latrell Mitchell right in front of the posts for tackling Matt Gillett without the ball. Kahu extended the Broncos lead to 14 points and from there thinks got out of control for the visitors.

The Broncos then ran away with the match with tries in quick succession to outside backs, James Roberts and club debutant David Mead to thrash the Roosters by 32-8.

The Broncos now face little brothers the Gold Coast Titans back at Suncorp Stadium on Good Friday, while the Roosters will also play on Good Friday, when they will travel up the M1 to face Newcastle as they look to snap a two match losing streak after winning their first four matches to open their 2017 season.