Broncos bulldoze insipid Sea-Eagles

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Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles v Brisbane Broncos

The Brisbane Broncos have capitalised on a dismal first half performance by Manly to get out to a 20 point lead at halftime, which they extended even further in a more evenly contested second half.

From the very outset, Manly turned the ball over cheaply in the first set of the game through some very poor ball handling, which would become a feature of their performance for the whole game.

The opening 10 minutes saw both sides turning the ball over, but it was the Broncos who settled down and scored first, when a Reece Walsh grubber close to Manly's line bounced perfectly for Selwyn Cobbo, who regathered and casually scored a try in the corner. Kotoni Staggs failed to convert from out wide.

A short restart by Manly failed to get them the ball back and a knock on at the end of Brisbane's set put the Broncos in great field position and it was Billy Walters who scored in the 14th minute when he scooted over from dummy half when Thomas Flegler (who played the ball) and Daly Cherry-Evans (who was at marker) were engaged in some pushing, creating the space for Walters. Adam Reynolds converted the try.

Manly's inability to shut down the Broncos grubber gave away another set of six where they send the ball out to the right side to Cobbo who dived over in the corner to score his second try of the game. Reynolds converted from the sideline.

Brisbane crossed again off the back of Manly errors in the 36th minute when they perfectly executed some lovely catch and passing providing enough space for Jesse Arthars who dived over to score in the corner. Reynolds failed to add the extras from out wide and at halftime, the Broncos had a 20-0 lead.

Manly's ball control was better in the second half, as was their defence, however errors still prevented them for building any momentum or pressure, but they at least kept the Broncos from blowing the score out even further. The Broncos finally scored again in the 69th minute when Cobbo juggled an intercept and raced 70 metres to score untouched. Reynolds converted the try.

Brisbane crossed again just 3 minutes later when Herbie Farnworth barged over from dummy half to score a soft try, which Reynolds converted. 

Manly finally got on the board in the 77th minute when Tom Trbojevic almost got across the Broncos line, but managed to get an offload away to his brother Ben, who scored in the corner. Reuben Garrick converted from touch.