Broncos 32 Defeat Rabbitohs 18
25 Apr 2008
The Brisbane Broncos have defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs 32 points to 18 at Suncorp Stadium tonight (Friday) in front of 34,112 fans.
The Broncos held an eight-point lead at the break, extending that to 14-points with a last minute try to young centre Joel Moon.
Two second half tries to Rabbitohs winger Nathan Merritt gave the Rabbitohs a sniff of a comeback but the home side were able to hold the young Rabbitohs side at bay to register their fifth win of the season.
The Broncos were the first to score in the sixth minute of play, when Denan Kemp touched down in the left hand corner. A Michael Ennis penalty goal followed by a 23rd minute try to Joel Moon gave the home side a 10-nil lead.
The Rabbitohs struck back in the 29th minute when Kiwi international David Fa’alogo scored a magnificent individual try. Fa’alogo busted three tackles from 15 minutes out to score the Rabbitohs’ first points. Issac Luke converted the try to bring the Rabbitohs within four points.
Brisbane centre Justin Hodges scored the Broncos third try in the 36th minute, finishing the scoring for the opening stanza.
The Rabbitohs kept themselves in the half with some solid defence, but a better goal kicking performance from Ennis could have seen the Broncos holding a much healthier lead at the break. Veteran centre Nigel Vagana was punishing in defence, and five-eighth Ben Rogers showed he can be dangerous on occasions during the first half. The Broncos looked a lot more structured in their attack, and it was paying dividends on the scoreboard.
The Broncos came out firing in the second half, with tries to Kemp and Ennis extending the lead to 26-6.
Then winger Nathan Merritt led a Rabbitohs comeback with two tries in ten minutes to bring the red and greens within eight points of their opposition. His first try in the 63rd minute came from a clever grubber kick from halfback Eddie Paea. His second four-pointer in the 73rd minute came from two smart dummy-half runs from Issac Luke and George Ndaira, the latter putting Merritt away for the try. Splitting the tries was an excellent defensive effort from Merritt to hold up Michael Ennis over the line, saving his side another four points.
Joel Moon scored his second try in the final minute of play to seal the victory.
For the Rabbitohs, Vagana was strong in defence and Merritt was strong in both attack and defence throughout the game. The Rabbitohs gave the Broncos far too much ball and way too many opportunities to apply pressure and score points.
The Rabbitohs move on to play the North Queensland Cowboys next Sunday afternoon at ANZ Stadium.
Brisbane Broncos 32 (Denan Kemp 2, Joel Moon 2, Justin Hodges, Michael Ennis tries; Michael Ennis 4 goals)
defeated
South Sydney Rabbitohs 18 (Nathan Merritt 2, David Fa’alogo tries; Issac Luke 2, George Ndaira goals)
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In the Toyota Cup match, the South Sydney Rabbitohs have defeated the Brisbane Broncos 28 points to 16 at Suncorp Stadium. Winger-cum-second rower Dave Tyrrell starred for the Rabbitohs, playing in front of his home crowd in Brisbane. Sam Huihahau scored two tries for the red and greens, with Chris Sandow racking up a personal tally of 12 points from a try and four goals.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 28 (Sam Huihahau 2, Trent Trotter, Chris Sandow, BJ Nathan tries; Chris Sandow 4 goals)
defeated
Brisbane Broncos 16 (Jharal Yow Yeh 2, Josh Hoffman tries; Ben Hunt 2 goals)