Brisbane come from behind with lethal precision to stun Cronulla

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Brisbane Broncos v Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Despite trailing by 16 points on two occasions, the Brisbane Broncos have completed a remarkable come-from-behind victory to stun the Cronulla Sharks 34-28 at Suncorp Stadium this afternoon.

Brisbane were made to pay for their early jitters after Jesse Arthars spilled a regulation bomb. From the ensuing play, the Sharks went down the short side down the left edge and it was Siosifa Talakai who crossed in the unaccustomed position of left centre for the opening try after five minutes.

Brisbane were poorly disciplined but hanging in there as Cronulla rushed most of their attacking plays. But, following a break from Jesse Ramien, the Sharks hit their stride. A brilliant short ball from Trindall put Teig Wilton into space, the backrower put a lethal step on Walsh before linking up with Kennedy who put it down under the posts and it was 10-0 early.

However, the Sharks conceded a plethora of six-agains and penalties and put themselves on the back-foot. On the goal-line, Cory Paix atoned for a poor start to the game by throwing a dummy and fooling the Sharks defence for the much needed try for the hosts at the half-way mark. Brisbane had several chances to tie the game up, but their short kicking game continued to leave a lot to be desired. Off their first chance in decent field position for an extended period, the visitors punished the Broncos. A brilliant short ball from Nicho Hynes sent Briton Nikora away who found Kennedy for his second try.

Off the back of a cheap penalty coming out of their own end, the Sharks worked play out to their left hand side of the field and it was Trindall putting a great pass to Hynes to stroll over next to the posts. Brisbane got a much needed try prior to the break after their much maligned forward Kobe Hethrington after an inside ball from Adam Reynolds delivered a great pass to Xavier Willison to go into space. The Cook Island international found Mam to score in the shadows of half-time. Sione Katoa committed 2025's biggest brain snap by deliberately tackling Mam in an offside position in the half's final play.

It was a frantic start to the second half for both sides with end-to-end footy the order of the day. But, the tide broke and it was the Sharks capitalised despite being a man down. Blayke Brailey was in great form this season and continued that in this one by scoring the first try of the second half, and his first in 28 games.

Brisbane capitalised on a Ronaldo Mulitalo error to get back into the contest. A bullet pass from Reece Walsh found Gehamat Shibasaki on the chest who juggled it to slam it down for the home side to keep in touch. Cronulla were imploding and the Broncos were finding their mojo. Following Trindall's kick out on the full, the Broncos attacked to the left edge and while Hynes was playing for obstruction, the Broncos kept playing football, Mam went through the gap and Josiah Karapani goes over for the Broncos.

Back to back penalties conceded by the Sharks gave Brisbane field position. It was then the magic of Reynolds, beating several defenders before launching the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch to Karapani for a second. A sideline conversion by Reynolds put Brisbane in front. The game was practically secured when Walsh split the defence to find Shibasaki into space and the Broncos claimed a six point verdict.