Panthers muscle up to starve Broncos in comfortable win
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Defending premiers Penrith have proven too good for the Broncos, cruising to a low scoring but comfortable 15-4 win at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
The Panthers never really looked too threatened against a Broncos side missing Adam Reynolds as they took an 8-0 lead inside 22 minutes via a try to Sunia Turuva and two goals to Nathan Cleary.
The visitors coughed up a further three try-scoring opportunities throughout the first half with Moses Leota spilling a Cleary pass over the line and Zac Hosking knocking the ball on leading into a Stephen Crichton effort.
Brisbane's big men Patrick Carrigan (69 tackles) and Payne Haas (45 tackles) got through a mountain of work in the lead-up to Origin I but it was equally matched by Leota and James Fisher-Harris, who went toe-to-toe in a heated battle.
The Panthers extended their eight-point lead at half-time to 14 after the break when Cleary threw a dummy to split Jordan Riki and Martin Taupau in defence close to the line.
Cleary splits them
Brisbane needed a spark and after Reece Walsh was denied a four-pointer in the 54th minute, the Broncos fullback conjured up his 13th try assist of the season when he kicked for Selwyn Cobbo five minutes later.
Another no-try to the Broncos through Kotoni Staggs - deemed illegal contact by Walsh on Tyrone Peachey in the lead-up - took the sting out of the home side's momentum.
Dylan Edwards, who ran for over 270 metres from 26 carries, appeared to have scored a try in the 67th minute but like the trend of the evening, the effort was missed by all.
Walsh, in line for an Origin debut for the Maroons on May 31, nearly pulled off a piece of brilliance to get the Broncos within distance of a grandstand finish until Ezra Mam knocked on in the final play.
Match: Broncos v Panthers
Round 12 -
home Team
Broncos
2nd Position
away Team
Panthers
3rd Position
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Match snapshot
- Penrith enjoyed a weight of possession and territory throughout the match with 60% in total.
- There were five disallowed tries during the contest with Penrith recording three and Brisbane two.
- Nathan Cleary became the youngest player to get to 1300 points in rugby league history when he converted his own try in the 50th minute.
- Cleary finetuned his game in his final before Origin I with 26 runs and over 190 metres including a try assist and three linebreaks.
- Penrith have now won five of the last six matches against the Broncos and have their past eight games at Suncorp Stadium.
- Selwyn Cobbo has now scored 18 tries in his past 18 games at Suncorp Stadium.
- Representative props James Fisher-Harris and Martin Taupau were both placed on report during the match.
- Penrith's back three Dylan Edwards (272 metres), Brian To'o (265 metres) and Sunia Turuva (216 metres) were all dominant coming out of yardage in a clear point of difference for the Panthers.
Play of the game
Try-saving plays don't come any better than this effort from Kurt Capewell on his former teammate Moses Leota early on in the game giving Broncos fans something to cheer about when the back-rower managed to dislodge the ball from his grasp.
Capewell with the try-saver
What they said
"We were really brave and I was happy with the effort but we just weren't quite good enough tonight with our execution and plays we wanted to do. It's all learning for us. They've been doing it for the last 3-4 years, the Panthers, and we're coming into learning about ourselves and what team we want to be. It was a good lesson." - Broncos coach Kevin Walters.
"I felt like we started OK but they probably got the best of the start and we defended our line early on well. We wrestled the momentum back and got ahead. We left a couple of tries out there. We dominated field position and possession in the second half. We didn't have the polish tonight but I thought we did a decent job. The last three weeks [it's started to come together]." - Panthers coach Ivan Cleary.
NRL Press Conference: Broncos v Panthers - Round 12, 2023
What's next
The Broncos are back in action next week in Round 13 with a tricky road trip set to McLean Park, Napier, where they'll take on the Warriors on Saturday night. Brisbane are expected to be without the likes of Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan and Selwyn Cobbo to Origin duty but should get Adam Reynolds back in a boost while Corey Oates (knee) is also a chance. The Panthers will have their second bye of the season in a timely one with plenty expected to be selected for the Blues.
