Round 14 vs. Canberra Raiders Discussion

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos vs. Canberra Raiders
Suncorp Stadium, Saturday 11 June 2022
Kick Off: 7:35pm

1. Te Maire Martin 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Corey Jensen 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. TC Robati 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

Interchange: 14. Cory Paix 15. Kobe Hetherington 16. Thomas Flegler 17. Keenan Palasia

Reserves: 18. Delouise Hoeter 19. Rhys Kennedy 20. Jordan Pereira 21. Brenko Lee 22. Ryan James 23. Xavier Willison 24. Brendan Piakura

1. Xavier Savage 2. Nick Cotric 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. James Schiller 6. Jack Wighton 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papali'i 9. Zac Woolford 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Adam Elliott

Interchange: 14. Tom Starling 15. Ryan Sutton 16. Corey Harawira-Naera 17. Corey Horsburgh

Reserves: 18. Semi Valemei 19. Matt Frawley 20. Trey Mooney 21. Harry Rushton 22. Adrian Trevilyan

​

 

[Big Pete]

The biggest news story to come out of the team announcement is the withdrawal of Tyson Gamble. According to the Broncos website, Tyson developed lower leg soreness and they're currently determining the extent of the injury.

Otherwise it's difficult to gauge what this match will be like until after Origin.

 

[ALX25]

Staggs shoulder.
Carrigan might be a bit sore.
Haas was quite.
Cobbo you could rest.

 

[Big Pete]

Haas and Carrigan will back up.

Fortunately for the Broncos Staggs' shoulder injury wasn't too serious and it's been diagnosed as a cork. He'll sit out this week but he could be back for the Melbourne game. Cobbo will also be rested after making his State of Origin debut.

Lee and Pereira come in. Both impressed in the trials, including a try on the buzzer to help salvage a draw against the Titans.

Gamble's scans came back and he's got a stress fracture on his lower leg. He's expected to be out until at least Round 17.

It will be a good test tonight, Brisbane haven't beaten Canberra since 2018 but Canberra haven't won at Suncorp since 2010.

For the Broncos, they'll need that left edge to fire. It helped get them out of jail against the Gold Coast but the Raiders are playing better footy so they'll have to look after Mam. Robati was one of the Broncos best in his last stint, but he'll have to be on his game to protect Mam. The middles will have to work hard as well, especially with Tapine who likes to skip across field and use his size to bring his edge runners onto the ball.

Raiders like to attack left as well. Lee has stepped up his defence in recent times but he'll need to make a statement early to put the Raiders off.

If the Broncos win, it'll be their longest winning streak since 2015 where they won 8 games in a row.

 

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos 24 (Farnworth 2, Mam, Pereira tries; Reynolds 4/5 goals) def. Canberra Raiders 18

9-4

Brisbane have pulled off one of the gutsiest wins in club history to keep their winning streak alive. With Haas (AC Joint), Reynolds (Ribs) and Farnworth (Bicep) all coming from the field at various stages the Broncos had to dig deep for the majority of the second half.

Canberra had various opportunities but the Broncos scramble defence stood up time and time again securing the precious competition points.

The opening half was a tit for tat affair. With ball in hand the Broncos did well with their left-side formations with Reynolds combining well with Mam to give Robati, Farnworth and Oates opportunities. The Broncos were relentless with their edge play and it paid dividends for the majority of the match until those players had to come from the field.

Reynolds kicking game also troubled the Raiders all evening and often helped swing the momentum Brisbane's way.

One stand-out feature was Billy Walters' from dummy half. Billy kept scheming around the ruck which put the Raiders defence on tilt. It put the Raiders defence on the back-foot which worked out well for players like Flegler and Robati who have that foot-work to exploit gaps in the defence and create opportunities.

On the otherside of the ball, the Broncos defence was a little flimsy. As expected the Origin game took some wind out of the sails of the defence and they couldn't handle Tapine, Horsburgh and Elliott early on. It did improve in the second half when Hetherington and Palasia made their way to the field.

Of all the games, this may sum up how far the Broncos have come this season. They had every excuse to drop their bundle but they kept turning up and used that scoreboard pressure to their advantage. It's a very valuable win and they really needed it with away trips to Melbourne and Townsville without some key personnel.

I'd be remiss not to mention the performance of Carrigan who backed up his Origin performance with another tireless effort. He didn't quite have the sting he showed on Wednesday but his resillience was inspirational and it ends the biggest week of his career so far.

 

[Big Pete]

More injury news to come out of the game.

Oates (Hand)
Paix (Knee)
Martin (Ribs)

Paix sounds the most serious and could be season ending.

Farnworth sounds like he's all but gone for the season which is a huge blow for the club.

 

[CQLeaguey]

Great performance but these injuries will make the remainder of the season very difficult.

 

[ALX25]

No release for Turpin now.