Broncos Surge Back To Defeat Eels
The Brisbane Broncos have kept their finals hopes alive by charging back from a big early deficit to score a 30-24 win over the Eels at Suncorp Stadium.
The home side found themselves down 16-0 after just 10 minutes but rode on the back of workaholic lock Pat Carrigan (215 run metres and 54 tackles) and master playmaker Adam Reynolds to stage a huge turnaround in front of 36,289 fans.
Fullback Tristan Sailor, centre Kotoni Staggs and winger Selwyn Cobbo were also standouts as the undermanned Broncos found a way to win despite the absence of injured stars Reece Walsh (hand), Ezra Mam (ankle) and Payne Haas (foot).
The visitors shot out to a three-try lead in the opening exchanges after Will Penisini, Joe Ofahengaue and Maika Sivo all crossed before the home time woke up and started playing.
Brisbane worked hard to finally settle into the game and had the better of field position for the remainder of the half, going within inches of scoring through both Sailor and Staggs.
And it was Sailor who handed his team a lifeline back into the game in the 31st minute when the fullback received a nice pass from Reynolds on the right edge and turned on the jets to speed 40 metres for his first NRL try since 2019.
Reynolds converted to pull it back to 16-6 and within a minute the home side was back to 16-12 when they rode downfield on the back of a penalty and Josh Rogers put on a big left-foot step to score his second try in as many games next to the posts
Reynolds kicked the conversion and the Broncos had really warmed to the task, almost crossing again through Deine Mariner on the stroke of halftime only for desperate Eels defence to hold him up.
Parramatta kicked a penalty five minutes after the restart to edge out to an 18-12 advantage but the Broncos restarted their surge back towards the lead in the 55th minute when Sailor turned creator with a nice delayed pass on the right to Cobbo who scored in the corner.
Reynolds converted from the right touchline to lock it up at 18-all and bring the Suncorp Stadium crowd to its feet, and with 15 minutes remaining the Captain had them up and out of their seats again when he pounced on a dropped Eels ball to scoot 30 metres for the go-ahead try and a 24-18 lead.
The Broncos completed the comeback when they capitalised on another Eels error, Reynolds again regathering and lacing a grubber through the defensive line for Staggs to score a well-earned try on the right. Reynolds made it five-from-five conversions for a 30-18 lead with 10 minutes to go.
Shaun Lane scored from a kick as full-time approached to give the Eels some hope but the home team was able to hold on and ice their first win at Suncorp Stadium since Magic Round.
BRONCOS 30 (Tries: Sailor, Rogers, Cobbo, Reynolds, Staggs. Goals: Reynolds 5) defeated Eels 24 (Tries: Penisini, Ofahengaue, Sivo, Lane. Goals: Gutherson 4) at Suncorp Stadium. Halftime: Eels 16-12.
