Before the game it's been ear-marked that the Broncos' strength lies in the forwards while Souths' strike is in the backs.
When we break down where both sides got their running metres, Souths back-three outran the Broncos 341 metres to 277 metres but the Broncos generated their metres through the forwards, led by Flegler (188), Haas (183) and Carrigan (201).
The Brisbane middles outran the Rabbitohs 371 metres to 151 metres.
With the Brisbane pack laying the foundation, Kotoni Staggs benefitted, picking up his first career hat-trick off the back of the go-forward.
We saw how important 'go-forward' was last week when both front-rowers had fantastic first spells.
Play-the-balls
No doubt when South Sydney are making metres, it's off the back of Damien Cook who loves a quick play-the-ball! Brisbane won the play-the-ball speed by half a second which makes a big difference when you're a Dummy Half trying to get out quickly and play direct.
Traditionally, South Sydney favour their left side on shifts, but over the last couple of weeks we've seen them find James Roberts earlier which has given him room to burn defenders in attack.
Campbell Graham got through a mountain of work running for 149 metres off 13 runs.
First Half vs Second Half
- Completions: While Souths managed to get more ball in the second 40, their competition rate was down - only completing 13 of their 21 second half sets (as opposed to the 13 of 15 they completed in the first).
- Penalties were even in the first half at four-apiece but the Broncos built pressure on South Sydney's line in the second, leading the penalty count 6-1.
- Possession: Despite giving away more penalties in the second half, possession was even. While Souths were starved of possession in the first half (38%), they proved that they don't need much time with the ball to cross the line, stealing the lead 12-10 at the half.
Kicking
If Souths are kicking well, it often goes a long to them winning the game. Brisbane out-kicked Souths for total kick metres, especially in the second half (286 to 166) and also produced more line drop-outs than the short-kicking specialists, South Sydney.
