Broncos rule Brisbane after Cobbo double act sinks the Dolphins

NRL
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Brisbane Broncos v Dolphins

The Broncos have defeated the Dolphins by 28-14 in front of a packed Suncorp Stadium tonight.

After a tense first half, Brisbane poured on four tries in just fifteen minutes to blow their local rivals out of the water with Selwyn Cobbo bagging two tries for the home side.

The loss for Wayne Bennett's side was further soured by a hamstring injury to star fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow who was ruled out of the match in a huge blow for the Dolphins night and potentially for Queensland, with State of Origin just over six weeks away.

It was a frenetic start to the Battle of Brisbane with both sides testing each other's resolve early on. Brisbane were camped on their goal line early, turning away the Dolphins for five consecutive sets.

After both sides went close to scoring, it was the Dolphins who struck the first blow when Broncos winger Corey Oates spilled a bomb on his own line. Kenny Bromwich then picked up the scraps for Redcliffe, with the backrower finding a steaming Jarrod Wallace fresh off the interchange bench to score the first try of the game.

The good news for the visitors quickly soured, as star fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was ruled out of the match with a hamstring injury in a huge blow for the visitors chances.

After being camped on their line for the majority of the first half, the pressure was on the Broncos to score before halftime. The Broncos interchange bench then made the desired impact, with Tyson Smoothy finding the giant Xavier Willison close to the line who reached out to score next to the posts. Reece Walsh took the goalkicking duties and put his side up by 6-4 at the end of the first stanza.

Following the halftime break Corey Oates made up for his error in the first half, collecting a beautiful cut out pass from Ezra Mam to score in the corner to extend the Broncos lead to 10-6 to give the home side the ascendency.

The game then got away from the Dolphins as they simply imploded, first through a loose kick that saw Reece Walsh race 85 metres down the sideline to score. Then makeshift fullback Kodi Nikorima spilled a spiral bomb which saw Selwyn Cobbo pick up the ball to score an easy try. Cobbo then had a double minutes later, as the Queensland outside back pounced on a loose pass to run 70 metres to give the Broncos a commanding 28-4 lead.

Redcliffe rallied late to see rangy winger Jack Bostock leap over in the corner, which was followed by Jamayne Isaako who turned the defence inside out to score a late consolation try to narrow to final score to 28-14.

Brisbane return to Suncorp in Round 7 for a clash with Canberra next Saturday, while the Dolphins head north to Darwin where they will play Parramatta on Friday night.

Brisbane Broncos 28 - Dolphins 14

Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Milton / Yuggera-Turrbal
Crowd: 46224
Halftime Score: Brisbane Broncos 6 Dolphins 4

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:
3 points - Selwyn Cobbo
2 points - Patrick Carrigan
1 points - Ezra Mam

BRISBANE BRONCOS (28)
Tries: Xavier Willison, Reece Walsh, Corey Oates, Selwyn Cobbo (2)
Conversions: Reece Walsh (4/5)

DOLPHINS (14)
Tries: Jarrod Wallace, Jamayne Isaako, Jack Bostock
Conversions: Jamayne Isaako (1/3)


See how it happened in our Match Centre