Brisbane Broncos v Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
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Broncos v Sharks preview
Thursday night Football heads to Suncorp Stadium where two big winners will be looking to continue their momentum from last week as the Brisbane Broncos take on the Cronulla Sharks.
Things have been up and down for the Brisbane Broncos this season with a handful of good performances mixed with heavy defeats and some near misses so far across seven rounds. Last weekend, it was a bit of a struggle for the Broncos for the first hour of their contest against a heavily depleted Bulldogs side which summed up their season so far.
Taking a 34-14 victory, things weren't as easy the scoreboard suggested for the Broncos with the understrength Bulldogs side pushing Brisbane for the best part of an hour where Canterbury were able to lead despite being significantly under strength. The Broncos though kicked up a gear where the Bulldogs couldn't and ran in five tries in 25 minutes to run away comfortable winners.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters has had the gift of team stability this week, naming the same 17 that ran out victors last weekend over the Cowboys. The only change is Delouise Hoeter is out of the squad having been 18th man last week.
Coming into the contest sitting in 4th spot, the Cronulla Sharks have lost just two games this season and arguably their performance in their loss to the Storm would have seen them beat almost any other team in the competition.
Last weekend, the Cronulla Sharks left many shocked with their first half performance when they ran out to a 32-0 lead at the break against an in-form Manly Sea Eagles side. The Sharks were impressive during their opening 40 minutes in particular the efforts of big man Siosifa Talakai in the centres who single handedly dominated Eagles centre Morgan Harper. The second half efforts of the Sharks would be a concern given that they allowed Manly to run in 22 unanswered points in the second half before a Nicho Hynes penalty goal confirmed the 34-22 victory for the Shire side.
In a boost for the Sharks, Dale Finucane returns from a head knock which pushes Cameron McInnes back to the bench and Braydon Trindall into the reserves list. Wade Graham has been named by Craig Fitzgibbon on the reserves bench but it is very unlikely that the veteran will return from injury this week.
Last meeting: Round 24 2021 - Sharks 24 Broncos 16
Who to watch: Broncos' halfback Adam Reynolds came to the club with much fanfare having been one of the stars of the game for a long time. It was a struggle for Reynolds in the early weeks having missed Round 1 due to COVID but the past few weeks have shown a glimpse of what he can do for the Broncos. Reynolds caused issues for the Panthers a fortnight ago despite the big loss and a clever kicking game can play havoc with the Sharks.
Having been a stop-gap solution in the centres, Siosifa Talakai has been a star for the Sharks in the centres absolutely dominating anybody in front of him and setting a brilliant combination with Ronaldo Mulitalo. Talakai possesses size and strength which gives any defensive line nightmares but also has speed and a beautiful passing game that can rip the opponents to pieces as shown last week. The Broncos will need to mark him heavily if they want to keep the Sharks quiet.
The favourite: The Sharks are heavy favourites for victory on Thursday night.
My tip: It's hard to go past the Sharks, the Broncos have been ok but they could only dominate late over the Bulldogs whilst the Sharks went bang early against Manly. The Broncos will be in the contest and can push the Sharks as they did Penrith for a good part of their game a fortnight ago, but Cronulla possess the X Factor where the Broncos still don't quite have that extra spark. Sharks by 10.
1. Te Maire Martin 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Tyson Gamble 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Corey Jensen 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jordan Riki 13. Kobe Hetherington 14. Cory Paix 15. Rhys Kennedy 16. Thomas Flegler 17. Keenan Palasia 18. Brenko Lee
1. Will Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Siosifa Talakai 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Matt Moylan 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Toby Rudolf 9. Blayke Brailey 16. Royce Hunt 11. Briton Nikora 12. Teig Wilton 15. Cameron McInnes 10. Aiden Tolman 14. Jack Williams 18. Braydon Trindall 19. Wade Graham 17. Andrew Fifita
Referees: Ashley Klein; Sideline Officials: Michael Wise, Darian Furner; Video Referees: Grant Atkins;