After a big win in Round 1, there was plenty of hype about the Broncos but that was brought back to earth as the Canberra Raiders go two from two to start the NRL season with a 32-22 win over the Broncos in front of a bumper crowd in the Nation's capital.
The Canberra Raiders started fast in front of their home fans despite an early few minutes of pressure from the Broncos when Matty Nicholson broke through some soft defence to score. The Green machine extended their lead when fan favourite Josh Papali'I was able to get over after Seb Kris knocked the ball backwards and the Raiders big man scored under the posts.
The Broncos showed their class making a comeback with a 10 minute double to Jesse Arthars, the first coming when he just burrowed with power at the line and got it down despite the attention of three defenders whilst the second saw a peach of a pass find Arthars from Ben Hunt to score in the corner.
A late second try to Matty Nicholson fighting his way to the line again gave him a first half double and extended their lead to 16-12. The conversion attempt from close range was surprisingly missed by Jamal Fogarty.
The second half started positively for the Green Machine as Tom Starling put himself over for a try with some luck after his last tackle grubber kick rebounded perfectly for him to score. Fogarty missed the conversion again meaning it was only an 8 point lead for the Raiders.
It was a quick bang-bang job for the Raiders when Matt Timoko got his way to the line after 52 minutes set up by a run from Corey Horsburgh before new Raiders recruit Savelio Tamale scored out wide. Jamal Fogarty had his kicking boots back as he converted both tries.
The Broncos found some momentum, but had a Selwyn Cobbo effort overturned by the bunker when it was ruled that he grounded the ball on the touch ingoal line and try line at the same time. It was second time lucky for Cobbo though as the boot of Adam Reynolds set up Cobbo with a magical 40/20 putting Brisbane in position then a pinpoint kick for Cobbo to score.
Canberra were looking nervous with some errors and poor defence but the Broncos were handing the ball back to them with poor passing. The visitors were denied by the bunker again when they supported referee Wyatt Raymond's live call of a double movement.
The Broncos had an outside hope of a miracle when Jesse Arthars completed his hattrick off an Adam Reynolds kick but it wasn't to be for Brisbane as the Green Machine held on to a 32-22 win.
Next week, the Raiders head to Brookvale to take on the Sea Eagles on Sunday night whilst the Broncos head to Suncorp for the first time in 2025 to take on the Cowboys.