LONDON Broncos’ rebirth got off to a rousing start against Widnes – but when captain Reagan Campbell-Gillard was asked what he took away from the historic day, he replied “about £200 in fines”.
With new owners Darren Lockyer and Grant Wechsel watching on along with 4380 fans (a final audit is being done tomorrow) the star-studded Broncos found themselves level 12-12 with Widnes just before halftime.
But after the break, the passes stuck as they scored 32 unanswered points to delight the large number of first timers in the crowd at Cherry Red Records Stadium and a healthy streaming audience around the world.
But former Australia and Fiji international Campbell-Gillard found himself on the wrong side of referee Tara Jones repeatedly during the first half, conceding two high tackle penalties and another for a shoulder charge.
The first of these sparked a melee and seemed like it might earn him a stint the the sin bin. He spoke to Jones at length as they left the field at halftime and in the second session the skipper was rewarded with a try.
Nevertheless, his reflections on a buoyant afternoon for rugby league in London, the UK and even globally – there were Papua New Guinea flags in the stands to reflect the Broncos’ strong Kumul contingent – were fiscal rather than romantic.
“I’ve got to pay £200, I think, in fines,” said the former Penrith Parramatta and Gold Coast star.
Coach Jason Demetriou responded: “Yeah, the penalties”, with Campbell-Gillard vowing: “I’ll be contesting that.”
With halfback Dean Hawkins mesmeric at times, the Broncos initially played their first game together conservatively and well within themselves
Early tries to former Parramatta and South Sydney star Dean Hawkins and Papuan centre Alex Max indicated a gulf in ability between the teams and one of them came from an RCG-conceded penalty when Jordan Abdull failed to find touch.
But the prop’s other indiscretions cost London, hooker Jordan Johnstone and second rower Sam Wilde narrowing the margin to two before Abdull posted his second goal from three attempt to square things up.
“A 20 minute period – sort of my behalf – brought them back in,” said Campbell-Gillard.
Then Hawkins pulled out the magic wand.
With a minute left in the half, he plucked the ball from dummy half one handed, bounced off three defenders with a deft change of direction and the delivered an overhead pass for centre Robert Mathias to score. It was the epitome of a ‘try from nothing’.
“He’ll be an elite level half over here for sure,” Demetriou said of Hawkins. “He’s been waiting to have his own team. He’s got it now and they’re growing around him.”
When play resumed in the second half, Kumuls fullback Morea Morea had shrugged of his nervous approach to Abdull’s kicks, James Meadows settled flawlessly into his role of deputising for Siliva Havilli at dummy half and there was no doubt about the outcome with five more touchdowns scored.
“Very nervous to start the game, I think Morea was,” said Demetriou. “I spoke to him at halftime about it – ‘just get under the footy’ – and he took probably the hardest catch of the game at the start of the second half.
“From that period we just dominated the second half, field position and then points as well. It’s so important that we’re catching the ball on the full.
“Jimmy (Meadows) is one of those players that every team wants. He’s just a ball of energy.
“You could put him out the back in a dark alley and tell him he’s playing one-on-one and he’d find a way to enjoy it.”
Demetriou said he would use next Saturday’s Challenge Cup game against Wests Warriors as “a chance to give some guys a runout that I haven’t had the opportunity to see play.”
“It was only our first game together,” said Campbell-Gillard. “It felt like a bit of a trial but it’s a win in the first round so we’ll take it.
“The boys are pretty stoked with the crowd that we got. They’ve never experienced a crowd like that before.
“We probably left another four tries out there – easily.”
As for the fine, Demetriou said to Campbell-Gillard: “Did you score a try, did you? You did! We might make it £150.”
LONDON 44 (Hawkins 2 Max 2 Campbell-Gillard Bienik Wallis Meadows tries Croft 6 goals) bt WIDNES 12 (Johnston Wilde tries Abdull 2 goals) at Cherry Red Records Stadium.
LONDON: Morea Morea, Elliot Wallis, Robert Mathias, Alex Max, Neal Tchammbe; Connor O’Bierne, Dean Hawkins; Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Saliva Havilli, Epel Kapinias, Luke Smith, Jack Croft, Sadiq Adibiyi. Res: James Meadows, Lewis Bienik, Emely Butengane, Gairo Voro.
WIDNES: Matt Fleming; Mike Butt, Jack Owens, Joe Edge, Ryan Ince; Joe Lyons, Jordan Abdull, Dan Murray, Jordan Johnstone, Jay Chapelhow, Sam Wilde, Max Roberts, Nick Gregoson. Res: Matty Fozard, Liam Bent, Jack Bibby, Morgan McWhirter.
Referee: Tara Jones.