The Brisbane Broncos have spent two weeks defending their NRL premiership without their three best forwards — and instead of cratering, they have produced what one Fox League panel called a performance "as good as Penrith." A 32-12 demolition of the Canterbury Bulldogs at home on Anzac Eve, following an upset win over the in-form Wests Tigers seven days earlier, has dragged the title-holders back into the top eight and cracked the season open.
"What a seven days for Brisbane," the Fox League call boomed during the broadcast. "Backs to the wall. Defiance, wonderful defence and two big wins. One against the in-form Tigers, and tonight lowering the colours of the Bulldogs. Batted them into submission."
The context is what makes the back-to-back wins remarkable. Brisbane were missing their starting middle forward trio — Patrick Carrigan, Payne Haas and Corey Jensen, the last ruled out after a blood clot on the lung — and were also without fullback Reece Walsh and rake Jeremiah Nanai for the Bulldogs game. By any reasonable measure they should have been outclassed.
"Two weeks in a row they've been the underdogs with key players missing, superstars out injured, and they get the job done yet again," the panel noted. "They come up trumps over the Canterbury Bulldogs in a dominant display, finishing off in style. The Brisbane Broncos move into fifth position and are doing a fair job of defending their title."
The architect was Adam Reynolds. The 35-year-old playmaker controlled the field for forty minutes with a kicking game the Bulldogs could not handle, helping Brisbane to three repeat sets in the opening half and a 20-0 half-time lead. "I thought it was a masterclass from Adam Reynolds, especially in that first half with his kicking game," the panel said. "And then Ezra Mam, he had a little bit of a slow start to the season, but he was absolutely on fire tonight. We end up finishing Canterbury off."
The most striking feature of the Broncos' renaissance, however, is not the attack — it is the defence that nobody saw coming. The panel pinpointed the trip to AAMI Park three weeks ago as the inflection point, when Brisbane trailed Melbourne 14-0 in possession-starved territory before scoring 18 unanswered. "I thought their defence in that first half set up the win," the analyst said. "Their defence through some of their wins has been remarkable. And it was again tonight. Tonight the opening 10 minutes set up the win."
That early stand was extraordinary. With Canterbury camped on the Brisbane line, the Broncos made 18 tackles in succession on their own try-line. "The dogs had a couple of chances, particularly down that right side, but the goal-line defence — I think they made 18 tackles straight at one stage. So they had the ball for 10 minutes, the dogs, and couldn't crack them," the panel said. "And from that moment on, the Dogs weren't in the game."
The other emerging story is loose forward Xavier Willison, who has come of age while Carrigan, Haas and Jensen sit in the stands. "Hasn't he just come of age in the last couple of weeks?" one panellist said. "He's a middle forward on 13 on his back, but certainly his metres are good, he's got an offload in him and he can play the big minutes now too. Knocking out 60-plus minutes tonight, which he needs to, because a lot of these other younger Broncos coming through, they tire quickly. He was the mainstay of the Broncos pack tonight."
When the panel were asked where the Broncos sat in the broader NRL pecking order with Carrigan, Walsh and Haas due back, the verdict was unanimous. "You put them right there with Penrith, I think. When they start to get Walsh back, Hunt, Haas, Carrigan, Jensen, Jesse Arthars who missed tonight too — when they get those guys back and the way they've set their defence up, because that was the issue at the start of the year. They were leaking a few too many points. They turned the corner there in Melbourne. They're right there. You got to put them next to Penrith as the favourites."
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, drop to 11th and have lost back-to-back games for the first time since their Penrith breakthrough. "A lot of soul-searching to do," as the Fox panel put it. The Broncos have a different problem to solve: holding their nerve until their stars come back.
