Round 16
Sea Eagles 10 l. Broncos 16

2006 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Broncos withstand Manly comeback
Sun June 25, 2006
Brisbane came within a whisker of their second successive last minute loss when Steve Matai threw the ball into touch when he was all but certain to score as the Broncos held on to overcome their Brookvale hoodoo to defeat Manly 16-10 in a cracking game.

The Broncos started the match extremely well to go into half-time leading 10-0.

Impressive youngster Darius Boyd crossed in the 20th minute and Justin Hodges intercepted a poor pass from Steve Menzies to run 40m to score with Corey Parker successful in converting the Hodges try.

Brisbane continued on where they left off in the second half with Brent Tate scoring eight minutes after the break to push the Broncos 14 clear with Parker unable to further extend the lead.

Manly found their way with Brett Stewart continuing his excellent run of Brookvale form when he scored his 26th try and 26 appearances at the Sea Eagles fortress to bring Manly back into the match trailing 14-6 with plenty of time remaining following Travis Burns' conversion.

Matai crossed in the 68th minute to setup a thrilling last 10 minutes when a Matt Orford bomb was tapped back to Matai to score. Manly were within four points and couldn't close the gap as Burns was wide with his conversion attempt.

The Sea Eagles threw everything at Brisbane with their defence holding strong. Brisbane received a penalty with three minutes remaining when Darren Lockyer was taken high with a forearm when putting a clearing kick from Mark Bryant. Manly captain Ben Kennedy whinged about the incident but replays were very clear that Bryant collected Lockyer high, late and with his forearm and whether it decided the outcome or not doesn't matter as Bryant was in the wrong. The way Kennedy spoke to referee Shayne Hayne probably should have warranted the sin bin whether it was in frustration or not.

Even though the Brisbane kicked themselves six points clear, Manly weren't to be done getting the ball back from a short kick-off and setting up a thrilling final minute of play. Manly worked a play to the left where Matai half got through the Broncos defence and probably didn't realise that he was over the line when he tried to offload to his winger where the ball went sailing into touch.

It was a crucial game for both sides as Brisbane cement themselves in the top four and Manly are still in the top eight log jam. Both sides will be there come Finals time and these two points could be the difference where they finish.

The only down side for the Broncos was lock Tonie Carroll who started from the Interchange bench being concussed heavily in the 25th minute and took no further part in the match. It's unknown at this stage whether Carroll will be available for Queensland in the State of Origin decider should he be selected.

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