Andrew Pelechaty reviews Brisbane’s massive win over Parramatta.
Result
Brisbane Broncos 54
Tries: (9) Deine Mariner 30th, 43rd; Billy Walters 26th, 52nd; Adam Reynolds 19th; Herbie Farnworth 38th; Ezra Mam 46th; Kurt Capewell 66th; Reece Walsh 73rd
Goals: (9) Adam Reynolds 6th, 21st, 28th, 39th, 44th, 47th, 53rd, 67th, 74th
Parramatta Eels 10
Tries: (2) Sean Russell 63rd; Dylan Brown 69th
Goals: (1) Clinton Gutherson 70th
Report
Unlike Nasser Hussain, Broncos captain Adam Reynolds made the correct call early at The Gabba, taking a simple penalty goal after six minutes.
Reynolds backed it up 14 minutes later when he chased a Kurt Capewell grubber to score.
Billy Walters extended Brisbane’s lead, stepping from dummy half and fooling Parramatta’s defence. Reynolds nailed his third straight goal for a 14-0 lead.
Brisbane extended their lead to 18-0 with a beautiful “Harbour Bridge” pass from Reece Walsh to Deine Mariner.
It was 24-0 at half-time after Mariner intercepted a long Bailey Simonsson pass – with Parramatta in scoring position – and offloaded to Herbie Farnworth, who ran 65 metres to score: while Mitchell Moses tried to tackle him, Farnworth got up and ran backwards over the line.
A bad night got worse for Parramatta when Moses went off with a fractured cheekbone, which could have huge implications for the rest of Parramatta’s season.
Mariner scored his second try early in the second half to push Brisbane’s lead to 30, and then 36-0 when Ezra Mam scored.
Walters scored his second, pinching the ball off Mam before touching down.
Walsh then kicked a 40/20, but Parramatta held on for once.
Parramatta finally scored when Sean Russell dived in the right-hand corner, managing to ground the footy while airborne.
Brisbane continued the march to 50 when Capewell scored.
But then Dylan Brown scored to give Parramatta a little bit more credibility.
Brisbane raised the bat for 50 – at the home of Queensland cricket – when Walsh scored off a Selwyn Cobbo grubber. Reynolds converted for his 1,000th NRL goal.
Mariner appeared to score his hat-trick try, after Reynolds gave Brisbane territory with a 40/20, but Mariner’s foot was over the line.
The massive win not only gave Brisbane a 3-0 record at The Gabba, but also pushed them back to equal first with Penrith. And the Broncos get two free points from next weekend’s bye. It also gave Brisbane some revenge after a heavy loss to Parramatta at Lang Park last year.
Parramatta’s season is all but over now, though they’ll also get two bye points in the final round after facing the Sydney Roosters and Penrith.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Reece Walsh (Broncos)
2 – Patrick Carrigan (Broncos)
1 – Deine Mariner (Broncos)
