Adam Reynolds made a masterful return for the Broncos to oversee a clinical 34-10 defeat of Wests Tigers before hobbling from Campbelltown Stadium in the dying minutes.
Reynolds turned on a kicking masterclass to lay on tries for Reece Walsh and Jock Madden but he was one of four stars who failed to finish the match, along with Walsh, Madden and Wests Tiger captain Api Koroisau.
The veteran playmaker was in everything and set up Walsh's second try, while he even managed an intercept as he sat on the ground before coming from the field in the 78th minute, leaving the Broncos to finish the match with 12 men.
Adam Reynolds defying all odds
Both Reynolds and Walsh insisted after the match that they had succumbed to cramps, but there were concerns that Madden had suffered a pectoral muscle injury.
Koroisau was reportedly in pain from a cork to his back.
Wests Tigers overcame a horror start after fullback Jahream Bula fumbled an Adam Reynolds kick and winger Charlie Stains was unable to clean up, but Broncos winger Deine Mariner spilled a Reece Walsh pass with the line open.
However, Mariner quickly made amends after Walsh again chimed into the backline and unleashed the speedster towards the tryline before crossing with a spectacular dive to score in the corner.
Deine Mariner Try
The sinbinning of second-rower Samuela Fainu for a professional foul after he tackled Corey Oates as the Broncos winger caught an Aidan Sezer kick in-goal and tried to race to the 20m line for a quick tap was a blow for Wests Tigers.
Broncos five-eighth Jock Madden made his former Wests Tigers team-mates pay almost immediately after he raced through to snatch a Reynolds kick intended for Walsh.
Jock Madden Try
Wests Tigers captain Api Koroisau had a try disallowed in the 25th minute after the Bunker ruled that he had lost the ball reaching out to score and that was as close as the home team got to scoring in the first half.
Walsh inflicted a bigger blow to Wests Tigers when he backed up a break from Mariner, who fielded a kick from Reynolds, to score on the stroke of halftime to give the Broncos a 16-0 lead at the interval.
Madden scored his second try five minutes into the second half after Reynolds opted not to kick on the last tackle and instead sent second-rower Brendan Piakura racing through a gap before passing to the five-eighth.
Jock Madden 2nd Try
Walsh then grabbed a double of his own after Reynolds turned the ball inside for the flying fullback to weave his way over to score in the 55th minute and put the result beyond doubt.
Payne Haas capped his return from injury by crashing over to score in the 65th minute before Wests Tigers winger Charlie Staines scored two late consolation tries.
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Match snapshot
- The match was the second successive sell-out crowd at Campbelltown Sports Stadium this season.
- Wests Tigers have now lost their last 10 matches at Campbelltown.
- The Broncos have won their past eight games at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
- Broncos forward Patrick Carrigan played the first 62 minutes and carried the ball 162 metres from 17 runs.
- Wests Tigers centre Justin Olam suffered his first loss against the Broncos in nine appearances - the previous eight being with the Storm.
- Broncos winger Deine Mariner has scored 11 tries in 12 NRL appearances.
Play of the game
Wests Tigers probably would have gone into the halftime break happy to be trailing 10-0 but a stunning Reece Walsh try as the siren sounded was a huge dent to their confidence. The movement started with a kick from Brisbane's 40-metre line by Adam Reynolds for winger Deine Mariner, who caught the ball before stepping inside Wests Tigers rookie Solomon Alaimalo and linking with Walsh to score.
Reece Walsh Try
What they said
“I just said to the team that we’ve got some good things about us, we’ve played back-to-back grand finalists two weeks in a row and there's a lot of good stuff to take away. But there's also a lot of learnings about how to manage a game and how to actually execute a game. They’re a great side, I think they're the best team in competition, but we let them get away with too many cheap things, too many soft tries and ultimately penalties and errors just hurt us," - Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall.
Wests Tigers: Round 8
“The Tigers have been good this year, so it was a bit of a danger game for us, but I felt that if we played the football that we know we can play that it would be okay for us. The first half was good but the second half, we just fell away a bit. We’ve been doing this for about a month now and it hasn’t hurt us yet but it will if we continue to do it. I want to be happy, but I want to demand more from our club as well. The expectations are much higher on the Broncos now than three years ago and as players and as staff we need to make sure that those expectations are met. I didn’t feel that they were tonight," - Broncos coach Kevin Walters.
Broncos: Round 8
What's next
Wests Tigers captain Api Koroisau will be racing the clock to be fit to face the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium next Saturday.
Tongan centre Starford To'a is a chance of being available after suffering an ankle injury in the Round 2 loss to Canberra. Winger Junior Tupou missed the match against Brisbane with a foot injury and it remains unclear when he will return.
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The Broncos host the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night, with coach Kevin Walters hoping to have star five-eighth Ezra Mam (finger) and centre Selwyn Cobbo (shoulder) back from injury.
Five-eighth Jock Madden will undergo scans for a pectoral muscle injury.
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