Baby Broncos win big

by NRL

The Brisbane Broncos have scored an impressive 40-22 win over the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the slippery surface, the young Broncos side posted seven tries, all without the help of their State of Origin stars.

The opening exchanges of the match were a real arm wrestle, as both sides adjusted to the conditions. It became clear that whoever controlled possession would go a long way to winning this match, with the wet weather making handling difficult.

Despite this, both sides were making their presence felt, and with some of the most promising young forwards in the game on display, it was good to see plenty of big hits from the next generation.

The Broncos opened the scoring in the 17th minute through Ben Te'o, who made himself counted in the absence of some of the more experienced Broncos second rowers. The Roosters weren't able to contain a powerful run from Te'o close to the line, and Peter Wallace added the extras to make it 6-0.

Broncos hooker Andrew McCullough kicked an important 40/20 soon after to put the visitors on the front foot, and they almost capitalised when he barged over the line in the resulting set. But he was denied by the video referee, who ruled he had lost the ball over the line.

The Roosters hit back through Jake Friend in the 24th minute, when he scooted from dummy half to charge over in the corner. Braith Anasta was successful with his conversion to level the scores.

It didn't take long for the Brisbane side to respond, and they did so through Gerard Beale. Te'o was involved again, somehow managing to flick the ball to Beale who dived over untouched in the corner.

But the half wouldn't end without controversy, with a contentious try awarded to each side. Tinirau Arona and Wallace were the beneficiaries of calls which could have gone either way, leaving the score at 16-12 at the break.

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It didn't take long for the Broncos to score again, this time through Alex Glenn. On debut, Lachlan Maranta skipped away from the Roosters defenders, making plenty of metres and allowing Glenn to dive over on the next play.

However the Roosters weren't about to lie down, and responded with some slick hands from Anasta, who found Joseph Leilua on the left side in the 50th minute.

The Broncos were beginning to control the game, and when a Wallace kick bounced off the posts and into the arms of Corey Norman, they took a good 28-16 lead.

A penalty to the Roosters deep in the Broncos' half led to a try to Tautau Moga, and it looked as though a late fightback was on the cards. But when the home side spilled the ball at the kickoff, the Broncos capitalised and scored via Maranta with three minutes left to put the result beyond doubt. Jack Reed crossed right before fulltime to stretch the difference, leaving the score at 40-22 after 80mins.

In Round 15 the Brisbane Broncos travel to Dairy Farmers Stadium to face the Cowboys next Friday at 7:35pm.

BRISBANE BRONCOS 40
(Te'o, Beale, Wallace, Glenn, Norman, Maranta, Reed; Wallace 5/6 Goals)
Defeated
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 22
(Friend, Arona, Leilua, Moga Tries; Anasta 3/4 Goals)

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