Happy 'homecoming' for Staggs in successful injury return

Held back in the opening rounds with injury, Kotoni Staggs made his presence felt on his return to action, helping the Broncos post another Battle for Brisbane derby win against the Dolphins.

The match holds special significance for Staggs beyond being a local derby, having featured in an iconic moment after sprinting the length of the field to score the game-sealing try in the inaugural meeting and declaring 'this is our home' in an emotion charged celebration.

After scoring an impressive try from dummyhalf in the first half to further sink the Dolphins in their fifth encounter, he repeated the dose.

“Missing the first three games wasn't ideal, but missing those three games made me hungrier to get back and get into it and what a game to come back at; Redcliffe – away for us – but obviously this is still our home," Staggs said. 

“Our focus this week was more on ourselves and worrying about what we need to do; I think the boys, we backed ourselves up with our defence, I think our defence is our number one key there and we defended well … (it was an) arm wrestle … and I could feel it coming back in my first game.

“It was good to be back and against Redcliffe, it's another derby and good to get the win.”

Now one of the stars of the game, Staggs first made a name for himself as a player with the Redcliffe Dolphins Hostplus Cup team, where he won the competition in 2018.

“Redcliffe gave me my first opportunity when I moved there and I'm always thankful for that and won a Q Cup comp with them in 2018 and I've still got some good mates there that I've made who are friends with for life,” Staggs said.

“(But) I don't look at it like that, I just think I'm at the Broncos now and this is where I play my footy and I love playing my footy here.

"They're just another team in the comp for myself and I always have just got to go out and play my best footy.”

In a game punctuated by the performances of the centres – with Gehamat Shibasaki having a pearler of a game on his way to claiming player of the match honours – the battle between former teammates Staggs and Herbie Farnworth provided plenty of highlights.