Willison providing 'X' factor on the edge for Brisbane

Playing in just his second game in the back row, rising Broncos forward Xavier Willison helped set the tone in a winning ambush against the Bulldogs, despite only filling in on an edge.

Normally a prop, the Cook Islands international scored a try in the second minute of the match and said he was relishing his opportunity to play in the position of his idol Sonny Bill Williams, who ironically shone in the position for the Bulldogs.

“He was my idol growing up,” Willison said.

“I grew up watching union myself coming from Hamilton, New Zealand, Chiefs boy; so he played for the Chiefs too, and I liked how he switched codes and he was a second row too.

“Happy to watch his game and learn off him, and now I get to play my game.”

Back at home at Suncorp Stadium after back-to-back losses, it was a statement win from the Broncos, with the performance on Willison one that may give coach Michael Maguire a selection dilemma in the near future.

With the backrow stocks having taken a hit in recent weeks with Jack Gosiewski out with a broken arm and Jordan Riki with an infection, Maguire praised the way Willison had taken his new role on board after getting his first opportunity against the Warriors in Round 7.

“He's going well at the moment,” Maguire said.

“It takes a bit of time to understand your lines with your halves and I think between Reyno [Adam Reynolds] and Hunty [Ben Hunt], they’ve spent a fair bit of time with him, teaching him what to do there, but also too on the flip side, the defensive side of it, he moves really well for a big fella.”

Already, Willison has proven to be a quick learner and happy to take on the advice of his skipper to help him make the most of his opportunity to start in games.  

“I'm enjoying it a lot more, it's a starting position, so always happy for that and I'm just trying to do my job for the team and thought tonight we did that,” Willison said.

“We (he and Reynolds) watched some clips, I just had to get my timing a bit better off him, so I had to do some extras with him after training, get my timing because he likes to play real tempo, so … so I'm still learning.”