Sydney crush Wayne Bennett's Brisbane Broncos in ominous opening to NRL season
Date March 6, 2015 - 7:16AM
South Sydney 36 Brisbane 6
Wayne Bennett's new era of prosperity for the Brisbane Broncos must wait another week. South Sydney, the defending premiers, burst the bubble without mercy on opening night to show there remains a tangible gulf between the game's best and the ambitious rest.
The 36-6 victory at Suncorp Stadium was completed in stifling heat, with the mercury still lapping 30 degrees at kick-off. Yet it would be the Queenslanders that would fade in the furnace. Bennett wanted signs of progress upon his return; he was greeted with errors, poor handling and a lack of generalship from his playmakers behind a beaten pack.
The Rabbitohs featured some new faces but played to the same template that saw them claim their first title in 43 years. No Sam Burgess presented no discernable problem against the smaller Brisbane pack, while Glenn Stewart had a mostly bright start as he found his feet in the cardinal and myrtle.
Issac Luke ran riot under the newly quickened ruck rules, which saw both sides incur early penalties for failing to release. Greg Inglis was predictably sublime and Luke Keary's star only continues to rise, even if he fumbled a certain runaway try in the second half. Little wonder Queensland and NSW want so desperately to count him among their own.
The truth for Brisbane is that Bennett was never promising miracles, although a few fans may now suggest he has to conjure one if the Broncos are to resemble contenders this season. The biggest watch was on new five-eighth Anthony Milford, who was thoroughly outplayed by his opposite number but remains a rare talent.
Souths led 10-2 at the half but unleashed in the second, silencing the bulk of the 36,057-strong crowd as they poured on four second-half tries to blast the Broncos out of the water. Brisbane's 300-game man Corey Parker deserved better but his resistance was in vain.
In the greatest tradition of Billy Idol at the 2002 grand final, rugby league in 2015 began with a power outage that cancelled the pre-match entertainment. In a dire omen for Eurovision aspirant Guy Sebastian, his desolate set was wheeled off down a dark tunnel with nary a chord struck in anger.
And thus, with the promise of a soul-infused pop prelude now up in smoke, officials decided to kill some time by starting a game of football. With that, the season burst into life, or at least ground its way forward as the sides traded early penalties to be locked at 2-2 after 15 minutes.
The referees, in a bid to earn more respect, ditched the pink shirts and opted for lime green instead. But they made good on their intention to sharpen the speed of the ruck, catching both sides with early penalties to back up the talk with action.
Rabbitohs centre Dylan Walker would be the first man over the line for the year, skipping away from a handful of defenders on the right fringe to give his side an 8-2 lead after half an hour of draining play.
A high shot from Sam Thaiday on Luke gave new Broncos captain Justin Hodges reason to talk things over with officials, while Reynolds found a home for his long-range penalty to give South Sydney a 10-2 margin at the half.
It was quickly stretched. Jordan Kahu dropped a sitter of a bomb and John Sutton scored under the posts just three minutes into the second half. And with Brisbane deteriorating quickly in the midfield, Souths would pounce again, sending it wide to Inglis, who made it 22-2 after 50 minutes.
Matt Gillett bustled over for the Broncos, but Souths were lining up by that stage. Keary and Joel Reddy both saluted to ensure Souths were firing on all cylinders at the start of their title defence.
James Gavet finished the night on report for a high shot on Luke, adding to a horror night with his hands. Souths lock Ben Lowe was also placed on report for a crusher tackle on Thaiday.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...us-opening-to-nrl-season-20150305-13wgmz.html
