Broncos end win drought with sloppy win over dismal Dogs

Embed from Getty Images

Brisbane Broncos v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

Brisbane have won their first game since March with a 26-8 drubbing of a listless Canterbury-Bankstown tonight at Suncorp Stadium.

The Broncos got off to an impressive start but only managed to pull away from the struggling Bulldogs late in the game, as both sides were guilty of bombing a multitude of opportunities.

Brisbane opened the scoring in the 7th minute after an energetic start when a late Tevita Panagai Junior offload allowed the Broncos to send the ball right onto Corey Oates who positioned his outside men nicely before going himself, steamrolling over the top of Marcelo Montoya to score a good try. Jamayne Isaako failed to convert from touch.

The Broncos looked to score in the 15th minute though Xavier Coates, however the Bunker found that he bobbled the ball forward into a Bulldogs player. From the scrum, Tolman dropped a pass which Pangai Junior grubbered ahead, followed through and grounded for a good try against the run of play. Isaako added the extras to give the Broncos a 10 point lead.

The Bulldogs though they had got on the scoreboard in the 28th minute when Reimis Smith somehow ended up with the ball after tackling Isaako. The Bunker found that he had illegally stolen the ball and the try was disallowed. From the next set though, Thomas Flegler dropped the ball and the Bulldogs got a second chance, which they took.

Keiren Foran sent a stunning flat, short, cut-out pass to Nick Meaney, who dives over in the left corner for a good try. Meaney was unable to convert.

Play was sloppy from both sides for the remainder of the half.

Brisbane opened the scoring in the second half after just 4 minutes of play, when Anthony Milford spotted the Bulldogs wingers were up. He put in a delicate low kick early in the set and Isaako came flying through to ground the ball for a clever try. Isaako's sideline conversion curled back around and through the sticks superbly.

In the 55th minute, Reimis Smith was put on a report for a cannonball style tackle, which resulted in Alex Glenn getting a serious knee injury and had to be helped from the field. Isaako slotted the penalty goal from 37 metres out.

The Broncos crossed again in the 60th minute courtesy of a simple scrum play that created an extra man and Coates strolls in for a soft try. Isaako was unable to convert from out wide.

The Bulldogs struck back in the 69th minute with a carbon copy of the try they scored in the first half, this time with Foran's pass finding Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who scored in the left corner. Meaney again failed to kick the difficult conversion.

In the 76th minute Pangai Junior ran to the left sideline, taking 3 defenders with him and then getting a remarkable offload back infield, before going into touch. Isaako picked up the loose ball and casually dived across the line to score in the corner for his second try. Isaako again failed to convert from out wide.

More sloppy play brought the game to a close with the Broncos winning comfortably in a largely ill-disciplined and scrappy encounter.