The Brisbane Broncos produced a first half blitz to shock fellow finals contenders Parramatta 36-14 tonight at a soggy CommBank Stadium.
Freshened up by a team camp this week at Kingscliff beach, Brisbane looked sharp as they played dry weather football on a rainy night to dominate the opening half and set up an important victory in the race to the finals.
Playmakers Adam Reynolds, Ezra Mam and Tesi Niu were dominant as the Broncos piled on 24 unanswered points during the opening stanza to shock the home side, while prolific winger Corey Oates collected a double for a third-straight game to make it 16 tries for the season.
The platform for the performance was laid by huge games from middle forwards Payne Haas (225 metres from 22 runs, 9 tackle breaks, 29 tackles and a try), Thomas Flegler (151 metres from 17 runs and 4 tackle breaks) and Pat Carrigan (139 metres from 15 runs and 31 tackles).
Brisbane’s win catapulted them into fourth spot on the NRL ladder with 26 competition points from 12 wins and just 6 losses.
They now play four of their next five games at home at Suncorp Stadium, and have the luxury of a nine-day break heading into their next fixture against the Wests Tigers on Saturday, July 30.
Against the Eels, Brisbane started slowly and struggled to get out of their half from the opening whistle with repeat handling errors in the slippery conditions gifting Parramatta field position – and the home side capitalised when a shift to the left saw Maika Sivo cross for an easy try out wide for a 4-0 lead in the 4th minute.
But the Broncos steadied and started to control the ball better, hitting back in the 10th minute with some nice work down the left by centre Brenko Lee who grubbered through from 40 metres out, regained the ball off a rebound, and then rolled another grubber through to find Corey Oates who toed the ball through himself before diving on the ball to cross for his 15th try of the season. Reynolds converted from out wide for a 6-4 lead.
And the visitors extended their lead in the 19th minute when they charged upfield off the back of a one-on-one strip by Reynolds on Waqa Blake, and then an offload by prop Flegler that yielded a six-again.
Brisbane continued to attack the Eels middle, with Haas eventually bumping his way through to score under the posts from 20 metres out to score under the posts. Reynolds converted to make it 12-4.
