Kennedy keen to repeat 'money play' in finals for Broncos

Broncos interchange forward Rhys Kennedy came up with an unheralded big play last week against the Eels that he intends to unfurl in the weeks ahead.

With the NRL’s leading offloader Tevita Pangai jnr suspended the Broncos need their forwards to step up and fill the breach.

Kennedy did exactly that when a late offload to Darius Boyd sent the Brisbane captain on a scintillating run. From the ensuing play-the-ball David Fifita, who received plenty of plaudits after the 17-16 win, crashed over and the Broncos had their first try.

It all started with Kennedy and a play coach Anthony Seibold calls a "sighted offload" that creates vital second phase.

"If I can keep doing it then it is a positive for the team. You just can’t getting carried away and flicking it out the back all the time," Kennedy told NRL.com ahead of Saturday’s away clash with the Bulldogs.

"It is all about sighted offloads. If it’s on then it’s on."

Kennedy had just one offload against the Eels but it was the money ball that got the Broncos attack firing.

"If I can get one good one away then I will be happy, especially if we can make a break from it," he said.

"I was lucky to get the ball away and Darbs ran down the field. Then we give it to Davey and he gets straight over the white stripe. I was stoked when that happened."

The 197cm forward has been a tower of strength for the Broncos in defence this year where he has made 101 tackles and missed just two.

He listed the examples of his older brother Jarrad and workhorse defenders Nathan Hindmarsh and Broncos teammate Shaun Fensom as several quality defenders that had always stood out to him.  

In all but two of his eight games this year Kennedy has maintained a clean sheet and he said he was determined to continue that record while improving his attacking game.

"When you are not playing big minutes you’ve got to do that really. When you are on the field for 20 minutes you are more likely to have better stats in terms of tackle-win percentages," he said.

"Coming through the Melbourne Storm system I always prided myself on my defence. That is probably why I have been working on my attack more the last couple of years."

Kennedy signed with the Broncos mid-way through the season from Souths and has been a key member of successful Brisbane performances, the side winning six of the eight games he has played.

With Joe Ofahengaue (calf injury) still out and Pangai suspended until week three of the finals Kennedy’s presence at Red Hill has been vital to the club’s late-season surge and will be again against the Bulldogs

"It has been a strange old year. I never knew I’d end up north like this at the beginning of the year," he said.

"I haven’t played finals before so it would be really nice if we can win this game and set ourselves up.

"We need to build some momentum from this game [against the Bulldogs] and it is going to be a tough one. They have lost one of their last five and obviously we want to have a win to get some confidence going into the finals."

A win for the Broncos over the Bulldogs will assure the club of seventh position on the NRL ladder. A loss will likely result in Brisbane finishing eighth unless Wests Tigers and the Sharks play out a draw on Sunday in which case Brisbane will drop to ninth.

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