The Sydney Roosters lost at home on Thursday night at Allianz Stadium to the Brisbane Broncos 14-50.
For the first game of season 2025 in Australia, the Roosters and Broncos did not disappoint! What a night it was, 12 tries across both teams, a sin bin, debutantes and unfortunately Victor Radley suffering a head knock. Radley collided heads with teammate James Tedesco in the 13th minute and did not return to play, as he was determined with having a Category 1 HIA. Besides that, no other injuries were reported, but Brendan Pikakura and Angus Crichton are facing time on the sidelines after a sin bin and being put on report, respectively.
The Broncos started off their new era under coach Michael Maguire in a dominant way, their 50-point win is their biggest ever over the Roosters. Brisbane looks revitalised this season, a lot fitter and faster than I've ever seen. Patrick Carrigan played about 50 minutes in his first stint, which is quite long for him. The Broncos didn't use an interchange until 28 minutes in, by that time the Roosters had used three. You can see that the Broncos have the stamina and awareness on the field that is required to beat quality teams.
In saying that, the Roosters did have some debutantes and no big names, among them missing was Sam Walker - which according to the commentators means they had no creativity in the halves - and it was evident. They were hardly cracking the Broncos 20 or half for that matter until the later part of the game. They had a few good moments though, like Toia's line break that let Young open the scoring and Smith's try in the 59th minute. I think that once they get their team back together, they will be more confident and not let another scoreline like this happen.
Brisbane really showed up tonight - and I like to think it was because they knew us Brisbanites needed something to distract us from our… friend - 9 tries totaling in 50 points. Cobbo scored a third of those tries whilst the rest were spread out amongst the team. It was really a team effort, the Broncos are looking cohesive and happy with one another, which makes for good viewing (when you're not desperately inputting all the tries they're scoring).
Haas and Carrigan were stand outs. Haas had 15 runs for 165 metres and Carrigan made 24 runs for 246 metres. I think Carrigan and Haas will work well as props together this season, knowing that they're fit and have that experience puts Brisbane in safe hands. However, I would've liked to see a little bit more from Walsh. He is still the best fullback in the comp, don't get me wrong, but I feel is a bit weary and hesitant and for good reason, he copped a few high hits which were not called out. This is really a competition wide issue, as fullbacks are targets of sorts for the opposition team and it needs to stop. Player safety is paramount and with fullbacks being some of the most ‘marketable' players the NRL has, everyone should want them to be healthy and thrive on the field. He did have a bit of the talk with the trainer at one stage, so maybe he is harbouring a small issue, but hopefully we get to see him back at full confidence soon.
For the Roosters next week, they take on the Panthers at Commbank Stadium, possibly without Victor Radley, while the Broncos fly to the nation's capital to play the Raiders.