Brisbane Broncos 36 (Oates 2, Frei, Binge, Adams, Capewell, Oates; Cullen 6/6 goals) def. Penrith Panthers 34
Great finish to the season.
A very forward oriented game from the Broncos with Molo, Timu, Lee & Frei in particular causing a handful up the middle. However, without a doubt the pick on the field (at least for the Broncos) was Oates who just ran with so much confidence & determination that Penrith found it difficult to handle him.
Despite getting to my seat around the 8th minute mark, I missed most of our 4 tries. My phone had the uncanny ability to go off just before the Broncos made a break & without a crowd I never knew when to look up. From what I saw though, our first two tries came through territory and our forwards making tough runs close to the line. Oates' try came from an inside pass and him charging onto it with speed. Very Te'o esque. The other two were momentum tries, Binge scored on a fringe while Adams came from a break at half-way and being fresh on the field he was good enough to be there in support.
And then Vaipuna Tia Kilifi came onto the field. I haven't seen an interchange have that much of an impact on a game since Johns in Game 2 2000. Tia Kilifi just tore us up on our right fringe and Penrith scored 3 tries to really put a damper on what was for the most part a great half of footy from us.
Thankfully boys didn't let it get us down and we found our footing in the second. Took it to them and was rewarded with a try to Capewell who spotted a gap on a typical third man play down the right. Penrith hit back going for the VPK play later in the half but we were able to hit back with Oates who scored a very similar try as Matt Gillett did against Manly in R10. Penrith would score enough VPK inspired try and despite a very determined defensive effort from us (by 20s standards) Penrith earned themselves a scrum feed with a beauty of a grubber kick that put Capewell in all sorts but thankfully he was smart enough just to kick it over the line.
With 30 seconds left and 20m out from our line, Penrith somehow lost the feed at the scrum and we were good enough to hold on. Even earning a break from Oates. Although, there was a scary moment at the end where Timu lost the ball, Penrith went out-wide but thankfully the scramble forced an error.
Misc. notes:
- Nikorima was the king of making half but inconsequential breaks although it wouldn't surprise me he did that in the lead up of the Adams try. Would beat a tackle, run 10m get tackled and they'd lay all over him. Reminded me a bit of Norman except not as clumsy.
- Cullen was good in attacking range but pretty average elsewhere. Similar player as Hunt except smaller which makes him a bigger defensive liability. Thank god he wasn't on VPK otherwise it would have been more ugly.
- Young guns (pretty sure Arrow is '95) were solid. Berrell is bit of a scooper from dummy half which I don't like but he offered more passes from dummy half than Lee who I say was better because physically he's a better presence as you'd expect. Arrow had an impressive cameo. Made a really good run late in the game where he drove them back a good 20m or so.
- Palau went down injured late in the game meaning Binge had to shift to the centres which made the finish that more tense. Palau is a bit like Nikorima in his ability to make inconsequential half breaks, good prospect though although I just don't think he has the speed out-wide to make anything of it.
-Coombe deserves a wrap for his defence. I paid a lot of attention to this and Coombe was doing a lot of extras which allowed him to make a lot of crucial tackles. He isn't anything special but he's all-round very solid.
Overall I was impressed, especially when you consider how good this Penrith side is. Plenty of talent here who could very well play a big part in our NYC 2013 squad and who knows? Maybe the likes of Frei, Binge, Oates, Molo or Timu could make the NRL squad.
