Warriors 20 – Broncos 18
An understrength Warriors side sealed a golden point thriller in a wet and windy clash in New Zealand. Despite being clearly the better team, scoring four tries to three, they made it hard for themselves late in the game. A rough night with the boot from Luke Metcalf kept the Broncos in the hunt for a comeback, but he redeemed himself by slotting a clutch penalty goal from halfway in golden point.
A fantastic win for the Warriors, especially considering they were missing key players like Nicoll-Klokstad, Fisher-Harris, and Tuivasa-Sheck, just to name a few. I thought Harris-Tavita was outstanding—his kicking game was on point, his defence just as solid, including an absolute bone-rattler on Adam Reynolds that’ll be on highlight reels all year. He also showed his versatility by slotting into hooker for a stint and setting up a slick try for the Warriors.
These young Warriors forwards continue to impress me more each week. The club needs to keep giving young guns like Halasima and Vaimauga time to shine—they’re going to be special players and genuine game winners in the future.
As for the Broncos, that was a really disappointing performance. I thought last week was just a blip, but if we’re being fair dinkum, they’ve been pretty average for about a month now—even in the games they’ve managed to win. Their attack is slow, sideways, and uninspired, and this spine combination just isn’t clicking.
With all due respect, Ben Hunt had an absolute shocker—an all-time Barry Crocker. He’ll want to forget that one in a hurry. With him well below his best and the team not gelling, it’ll be interesting to see what happens when Ezra Mam returns in a few weeks.
One of the few positives for Brisbane was the performance of Payne Haas and Adam Reynolds, who were both instrumental in getting the game to golden point. Unfortunately, they could only do so much and were let down by teammates. There’s plenty of work ahead if the Broncos want to be genuine contenders this season—as they should be.
Jack’s Dally M Votes
3 – Chanel Harris-Tavita
2 – Erin Clark
1 – Payne Haas / Adam Reynolds
Aaron’s Dally M Votes
3 – Chanel Harris-Tavita
2 – Payne Haas
1 – Erin Clark
Let me know in the comments who your man of the match was.
