Awesome stuff. I didn't think it was possible but, touch wood, he looks back to his best. From the minute he ran onto the pitch with no strapping and no obvious favouring of the other knee you could tell there was a lot more there than there was last season. His first few carries were bone jarring, particularly where he tried to ride a couple of tackles around the shins.
He has always been a fighter and tonight was another Rocky-esque show from him.
Superb game all in all I think. The lack of games under belts for the Broncos was more than offset by the Aussie referee and the injuries Saints were carrying. Some superb efforts on both sides, how brave was Tiday (Spelling?). That lad took an absolute battering from Fozzard, Cunningham and Graham and despite not knowing where he was for half the game never willingly threw the towel in.
I was impressed by a few of the Broncos lads, Innis, Michaels and Parker in particular. Boyd looked out of place on the wing and Carlaw would have angered Bennett with his lack of discipline, giving away a couple of dumb penalties on half way when they were under no pressure.
For Saints I thought Gardner showed a lot of character tonight to win Saints the game. To make such a shocking error then fire back by finishing his tries so well took some guts. He could have hidden and not gone up for that bomb, but he wasn't going to let anyone else have it.
I thought Roby continued his excellence at the highest level with some superb defense and he displayed a brilliant eye for a dart meaning Saints were constantly moving forward. Sculthorpe and Cunningham though were the aces in the pack. Both injured according to Anderson all week, but they were both immense. Lockyer said in the week that half their preparation has gone on shutting Cunningham down. He comes on and they couldn't cope with him, the guy is a wizard and from 5 out cannot be stopped, his passing is magical.
The down side for Saints was Sean Long. He was looking to impress the NRL clubs but if anything tried too hard and forgot the basics, like his kicking game which made it a lot more difficult for Saints than it could have been.
An Aussie lad staying with friends bet his bed at his digs on the game tonight, so sure was he of an Brisbane win. Max the yorkshire terrier will now enjoy his room, whilst Bevy spends the night on the kitchen floor.
Great night had by all. Decent crowd too.
