Round 22 vs. Newcastle Knights Discussion

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos vs. Newcastle Knights
Suncorp Stadium, Saturday 13 August 2022
Kick Off: 7:35pm

1. Te Maire Martin 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Brenko Lee 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jordan Riki 13. Kobe Hetherington

Interchange: 14. Jake Turpin 15. Rhys Kennedy 16. Corey Jensen 17. Keenan Palasia

Reserves: 18. Cory Paix 19. Ryan James 20. Jordan Pereira 21. Delouise Hoeter 22. Zac Hosking

1. Tex Hoy 2. Enari Tuala 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Dominic Young 6. Anthony Milford 7. Adam Clune 8. David Klemmer 9. Jayden Brailey 10. Daniel Saifiti 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Brodie Jones 13. Mathew Croker

Interchange: 14. Phoenix Crossland 15. Jacob Saifiti 16. Pasami Saulo 17. Simi Sasagi

Reserves: 18. Jack Johns 19. Sauaso Sue 20. Chris Randall 21. Edrick Lee 22. Hymel Hunt​

 

[Big Pete]

The Brisbane Broncos welcome back Te Maire Martin as they look to get their season on track against the Newcastle Knights. The Broncos have missed Te Maire in recent weeks, especially in defence as teams have been able to create overlaps relatively easily.

I think that's going to be the key for the Broncos. If they can repel the Knights and turn defence into attack they should have too much fire power. However if they allow the Knights to get a roll on early and give up a couple of soft tries it will be a long night.

Brenko Lee was originally slated to return but he failed to complete the Captain's Run due to a hamstring injury. Delouise Hoeter returns to the team and will get to play his first game in his preferred colours. He's going to be a key figure as the Knights will rely on Milford, Gagai and Young for points so he's going to have to make his mark.

Interestingly Turpin has kept his place in the 17. It appeared his time was all but over at Red Hill and there was talks he'd join the Knights mid-season but it never came to fruition. Paix has struggled since his return and had an unhappy weekend in QCup so it appears Kevie is going for the more experienced option in the mean time.

 

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos 28 (Cobbo 3, Oates, Mam tries; Reynolds 4/5 goals) def. Newcastle Knights 10

13-8

It was a scrappy win but the Broncos prevailed to get their season on track.

The Knights dominated possession early when Selwyn Cobbo's kick back in-field just beat Ezra Mam in the in-goal. From that point the Knights camped inside the Broncos 20m area, but the Broncos defensive line held firm. Te Maire Martin on return was instrumental physically positioning players and directing traffic to give them the defensive steel they were missing.

After a tough opening, Reynolds hit a miss-kicked bomb that gave Dominic Young nightmares and gave the Broncos an opportunity on the Knights line. They then ran a simple shape down their right side and Bradman Best fell for the decoy line of Staggs opening up space for Cobbo to score the pivotal opening try.

Just when it appeared the Broncos were getting on top of the Knights a series of errors from Corey Oates, Ezra Mam and Selwyn Cobbo forced them to do some more goal line defence. Brisbane once again held firm and were able to turn defence into attack through Staggs and Cobbo. After Cobbo received a luxurious penalty after referee Peter Gough deemed his error was made at the duress of a not-square marker the Broncos once again capitilised.

This time it was skipper Adam Reynolds who lofted a pass to Delouise Hoeter. Hoeter was given the benefit of the doubt from the officials despite a suspicious pass and Oates did well to jag try #19 for the season, a PB for the Broncos stalwart.

Then the Broncos lit up the stadium when Ezra Mam ran onto a great ball from Te Maire Martin. Martin appeared to be certain to score but a determined effort from Young forced the fullback to flick it back to Mam who gave the Broncos a commanding 18-0 lead at HT.

Caxton st. once again received all the action as the Broncos had a number of opportunities to extend their lead but errors at key moments continually halted their momentum. It was the visitors who eventually struck first in the second half with Daniel Saifiti running off a nice inside pass from dummy half. The try came off the back of two infringements from the returning Ryan James.

Then in the 66th minute, Bradman Best cut the lead to 8 after Adam Reynolds was found inside the 10m late in the tackle count. On replay it appeared the Broncos skipper had been interfered with in the lead-up but in a controversial moment the bunker cleared Jones' contact on Reynolds and only checked the grounding which was difficult to over-turn despite Martin's best attempt at keeping the ball up.

Former marquee Broncos player had the opportunity to lock the scores up but his kick travelled far wide of the goal. Then moments later he kicked out on the full to relieve the pressure for the Broncos. Moments later, the Broncos worked a smooth right-side play to put Cobbo over in the corner. Reynolds sideline conversion made it a 14-point lead to all but seal the game with 7 minutes remaining.

Then to put the cherry on top, Reynolds found Cobbo with a pin-point cross-field kick and the young winger found the line to give the fans something to cheer about on the way home.

The win puts the Broncos into 6th position and all but assures them a place in the 2022 finals.

 

[DeeJ]

Broncos need to respect the ball and opposition more. They had a flying lead then decided to go with 2 trick plays instead of playing for position and invited the Knights back into it.

Defence had definitely improved and there was more intensity in their line speed.

 

[Showtime]

Pretty sloppy game but a win is a win and hopefully we’re back heading in the right direction. I still like TMM influence on the team, he seems to straighten us up in attack and makes better choices with the ball than Niu. It’s a shame he’s leaving next year.

Staggs and Oates were impressive as was Jensen off the bench, he has been a really underrated buy.

I’d like to watch a game where a broncos edge forward hits a hole at pace. I’ve watched Nikora, Crichton, Kolomatangi, Arrow, Lane, Papalii, Kikau and Bromwich run around this week and we’re stuck with Riki who’s first up contact in defence is pathetic. Personally I saw more from Zac Hosking in 2 games than I’ve seen from Riki all year.