First half blitz leads Broncos over Panthers

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Brisbane Broncos v Penrith Panthers

A 22 point first half helped the Broncos to heap more pain on the Panthers in a 32-18 victory in front of 21,464 fans at Suncorp Stadium.

Broncos put together an impressive display in the first half, scoring four tries that blew away a Panthers side whose season is rapidly headed to obscurity, with only two wins in their opening nine matches. 

Despite the Panthers rallying late to firstly, get off the duck through Trent Merrin followed two more quick tries to add some respectability to the scoreline which flattered the visitors who were out of the contest after 30 mins. 

James Roberts lit up the surface, firstly with a pacy effort that set Kodi Nikorima away for the first try. He then showed off why he is called Jimmy the Jet in the 17th minute when he paced 80 metres from a broken play to make it 10-nil. Jordan Kahu added the third from a determined effort, soaring above the whole Panthers backline. 

The home side now had their tails up, started to tear through the Panthers defensive line at will. None more evident when Anthony Milford spied the defense coming up and started a movement that ended with Tautau Moga making it 22-nil at the break. 

After being involved in several close contests, the Broncos had clicked and blown away the Panthers, whose closest effort to getting across the line in the first half was a fourth minute no try to James Tamou. 

Korbin Sims added his third of the season just after the break, to underline the dominance of the Broncos forwards, as the biggest casualty from his effort was a possible broken nose. Panthers season after being touted at pre-season favourites was almost sunk. 

The late rally which saw them score 18 points in just about ten minutes sparked by Matt Moylan - who has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons the last few week - took on the line to provide an assist and score one himself. 

After the rep weekend Brisbane are back at Suncorp Stadium - as the away team - as part of a double header against Manly which also sees Melbourne 'host' the Titans. Penrith are at home to the Warriors earlier the same Saturday.