Broncos Burn Redcliffe in Derby Thumping

The Brisbane Broncos have turned on a thundering second half burst to beat Redcliffe 28-14 in the XXXX Derby before a sellout 46,224 crowd at Suncorp Stadium.

Forwards Xavier Willison, Pat Carrigan and Jordan Riki were powerful in laying down the foundation, with centres Selwyn Cobbo and Kotoni Staggs eating up the metres in attack and being brickwalls in defence at the heart of a third-straight win at home for the Broncos.

Brisbane looked to have scored a couple of time s in the opening 20 minutes through wingers Jesse Arthars and Corey Oates, but it was the visitors who eventually crossed for the opening try when Jarrod Wallace grabbed a spilled bomb in the 25th minute.

The home side stuck to the task and got into more of a grind as the half went one, eventually drawing a repeat set that saw Xavier Willison bulldoze over from close range off a nice dummy half pass from Tyson Smoothy. Walsh converted from next to the posts and it was 6-4 going into halftime.

Brisbane defended stoutly to start the second half and then turned that defensive intensity back into points when Ezra Mam lobbed a lovely long looping pass to the left wing for Oates to run onto and score in the corner for a 10-4 advantage after 45 minutes.

The Broncos continued to turn the screws and had the big home crowd on their feet when Redcliffe couldn’t field an attacking kick and Wals was fed the ball for a 90-metre run to the tryline. He converted from the right touchline and it was 16-4 after 52 minutes.

Brisbane were on a roll and went further ahead when Kodi Nikorima dropped a towering Jock Madden bom and Riki was on hand to toe the ball through for a flying Selwyn Cobbo to collect and score under the posts. Walsh converted again for a 22-4 lead in the 56th minute.

It was four tries in 14 minutes when Cobbo pounced on another Redcliffe error in attack off the back of strong Broncos defence, the big centre racing 60 metres to score under the posts to make it 28-4 with 20 minutes to go.

Coach Kevin Walters had the luxury of resting Mam for the final quarter of the game as Brisbane closed out their third win for the season to move to a 3-3 record.