BRISBANE shrugged of the drama surrounding assistant coach Ben Te’o’s midweek resignation to again put their premiership defence back on track.
Te’o quit after a reported disagreement with Michael Maguire which occurred before the round three away win in Melbourne.
The Broncos had to fight all the way against their cross-town rivals the Dolphins tonight to clinch their second successive win after a poor start to the year, 26-12, in front of the biggest NRL crowd of the year.
A highlight was Brisbane interchange forward Ben Talty’s 43rd minute unsighted flick pass for Reece Walsh to score.
But in the 58th, Ezra Mam lobbed a mis-directed pass on his own side of halfway and Dolphins centre Jake Averillo swooped to make sure of a grandstand finish.
The result was put beyond doubt with six minutes to go however when a wicked bounce from a downfield kick which had been allowed to bounce ended up in the arms of Gehamat Shabasaki.
BRISBANE 26 (Staggs 2 Reynolds Walsh tries Reynolds 3 goals) beat DOLPHINS 12 (Isaako Averillo tries Isaako 2 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Crowd: 45,882.
Teams:
BRISBANE: Reece Walsh; Josiah Karapani, Kotoni Staggs, Deine Mariner, Grant Anderson; Ezra Mam, Adam Reynolds (c); Corey Jensen, Corey Paix, Zavier Willison, Brendan Piakura, Jordan Riki, Pat Carrigan. Res: Ben Hunt, Ben Talty, Aublix Tawa, Gehemat Shibasaki, Jaiyden Hunt, Va’a Semu.
DOLPHINS: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow; Jamayne Isaako, Jake Averillo, Herbie Farnworth, Selwyn Cobbo; Kodi Nikorima, Isaiya Katoa (c); Tom Gilbert, Max Plath, Felise Kaufusi, Connelly Lemuelu, Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, Morgan Knowles. Res: Brad Schneider, Tom Flegler, Oryn Keeley, Ray Stone, Trai Fuller, Francis Molo.
Referee: Ashley Klein
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