Round 27 vs. Melbourne Storm Discussion

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos vs. Melbourne Storm
Suncorp Stadium, Thursday 31 August 2023
Kick Off: 7:50pm

1. Tristan Sailor 2. Corey Oates 3. Jesse Arthars 4. Delouise Hoeter 5. Jordan Pereira 6. Joshua Rogers 7. Jock Madden 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Tyson Smoothy 10. Corey Jensen 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Keenan Palasia

14. Blake Mozer 15. Cory Paix 16. Xavier Willison 17. Martin Taupau

18. Benjamin Te Kura 19. Israel Leota 20. Kurt Capewell 21. Kobe Hetherington 22. Selwyn Cobbo

1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. William Warbrick 3. Justin Olam 4. Young Tonumaipea 5. Reimis Smith 6. Jayden Nikorima 7. Tyran Wishart 8. Tariq Sims 9. Bronson Garlick 10. Tepai Moeroa 11. Chris Lewis 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Josh King

14. Sualauvi Faalogo 15. Alec MacDonald 16. Aaron Pene 17. Jack Howarth

18. Grant Anderson 19. Joe Chan 20. Keagan Russell-Smith 21. Cole Geyer 22. Tristan Powell​

 

[Big Pete]

The Brisbane Broncos will rest eleven front-line players on the eve of the finals when they face Melbourne Storm. West Australian product Josh Rogers will make his debut, alongside the highly touted Blake Mozer.

Benjamin Te Kura has also been named on an extended bench.

Melbourne have also followed suit and have rested the majority of their stars.

On paper it appears the Broncos have one eye firmly on the finals but it's still a big game. A win would ensure they're minor premiers which is a nice feat and something the club hasn't accomplished since 2000. A loss, especially a heavy one could affect morale and give Melbourne some momentum heading into the finals.

Xavier Willison was a real handful with the ball on the weekend. Ran for 285m and scored a try in the Seagulls sloppy golden point win. Defensively he has some deficiencies but he's starting to come of age.

Deine Mariner is also unavailable after he suffered an injury against the Brisbane Tigers in the final game in the regular season.

 

[XXXX Cap]

It's pathetic that Rugby League journalists describe Josh Rogers as "little known". As usual, their interest in the game extends no further than the NRL teams. Rogers has been a top player in the HostPlus Cup for five seasons, was 5/8 of the year in 2022 and has been leading points scorer for the competition for the past two seasons. He was part of Burleigh's Premiership winning team in 2019 (alongside another "unknown" named Jamal Fogarty).

It would be refreshing to have journalists who are interested in the code of Rugby League, not the narrow NRL part.

 

[icewind]

captains? I'm guessing Oates and Papanhuyzen.

 

[Big Pete]

captains? I'm guessing Oates and Papanhuyzen.

Flegler will captain the Broncos, I'm unsure on the Storm captain but Papenhuyzen would be a fair shout.

 

[Showtime]

Pretty disappointing loss even though we rested a heap of players. Willisons injury and Piakura’s likely suspension is a concern.

Playing Paix and Mozer on the bench was moronic and even more concerning was how gassed Paix was only playing 19 min. Madden just looks like a career back up.

 

[Big Pete]

Melbourne Storm 32 def. Brisbane Broncos 22 (Jordan Pereira 2, Thomas Flegler tries; Josh Rogers 5/5 goals)

18-6

Disappointing end to the season. The Broncos led 12-0 early and had several opportunities to extend but blown opportunities, errors at crucial times and some passive gameplay ultimately saw them lose their 14th straight game to the Storm.

It was a battle of the reserves and ultimately it was Melbourne's well drilled defence that allowed them to go on the counter-attack and with Papenhuyzen and Faalogo in their side, they had too much strike for the Broncos.

In some distressing news, Piakura faces a nervous wait at the judiciary while it appears Flegler picked up a rib injury. Replacement forward Xavier Willison also picked up a leg injury and he was unable to return to the field.

Stand-outs for the Broncos was Tristan Sailor who was their most likely player on the night. He was involved in both Pereira tries and put Brisbane in a fantastic position where he made a big 60m run that saw Reimis Smith sent to the sin bin. Jensen was the pick of the forwards and should come onto the bench before their home final next week.

Blake Mozer on debut had some nice touches but looked raw on this stage. Kevie's plan to play three hookers ultimately backfired with Paix barely making an impact and Smoothey being exposed in the middle.