Round 24
Bulldogs 0 l. Broncos 30

2006 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Bulldogs season turned on head in devastating 25 minutes
Fri August 18, 2006
One week ago the Bulldogs were premiership favourites, on a six match winning streak and one of the few teams with their top roster fit and on the park.

It only took 25 minutes for such fortunes to turn on their head, highlighting the fragility of any teams bid for Grand final glory.

On the other hand it was the crowning moment of the Broncos season as they turned around thier miserable losing streak in style to put them into third place on for and against.

Heading into tonight's blockbuster against the Broncos suffering a five match losing streak, the Bulldogs were red hot favourites with even Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett admitting that a win might be out of the equation.

Trouble signs loomed early as the Bulldogs lost Sonny Bill Williams who couldn't take part in the match with an injury to his troublesome knee.

The Broncos struck early with a short pass and a show of strength sending Tonie Carroll over the tryline.

Two dodgy forward pass calls cost both the Broncos and then moments later the Bulldogs seemingly legitimate tries. While the passes floated forward in both instances, according to the letter of the law only the hands have pass in a backward motion for the pass to be legal. In both these cases, tries should have been awarded.

Following the Bulldogs disallowed try the match started to nose dive for the club.

Twelve minutes into the match the Bulldogs lost Roy Asotasi and then moments later Willie Tonga, both to potential season ending knee injuries. The two players will have scans tomorrow indicating the damage.

To make matters worse the Bulldogs lost Nate Myles by the 25 minute with another cork to his thigh and Dallas McIllwain 50 minutes into the game with a shoulder problem.

This left them with only one bench replacement for the majority of the match and no interchange players for the remaining 30 minutes (Myles did return to the field but was limping).

Gallantly the Bulldogs headed towards halftime with only a 6-0 deficit, but as the Broncos sensed the worsening plight of the Bulldogs their confidence rose.

Shaun Berrigan crossed five minutes before the break with a seemingly innocous try that replays later showed should have been disallowed with Berrigan losing the ball during put down.

A length of the field break from the restart ended with Darren Lockyer scoring under the posts to signal the end of the Bulldogs chances as Brisbane went into the break ahead 18-0.

After losing McIllwain in the 50th minute, Berrigan scored his second try after a brilliant Justin Hodges break downfield.

It was a gallant second half performance by the Bulldogs but the final nail was placed in the coffin when Brent Tate raced away to score a try in the final minute of play.


Opinion: Broncos' old legs have life in them yet
Fri August 18, 2006
Reading the newspapers on the Internet today, anyone would think that the Bulldogs have got not just the Broncos beat, but the whole of the competition beat with their "superior" forward pack. Now, I'll admit that the Bulldogs pack is full of superstars, but some of them are a little on the overrated side and I'm just not convinced.

Ok, so I'm a Broncos supporter who lives in, of all places, Bankstown. Still, that's nothing to do with it.

The Bulldogs have really only got 3 true superstars, these are Willie Mason, Mark O'Meley and Sonny Bill Williams. Guys like Reni Maitua, Andrew Ryan, Tony Grimaldi, Nate Myles and Roy Asotasi would not be half the players they are without the first three guys.

On the other hand, the "old" Broncos have Shane Webcke, Petero Civoniceva, Brad Thorn and Tonie Carroll who would all be considered superstars. Not a bad list of forwards there, is it?

No doubt, the Bulldogs have been the form pack of 2006. However, they are not as far ahead as the media would have us all believe.

The Broncos have been disappointing lately much to my frustration. I have watched us slide for the last few seasons and have gotten battle-hardened as a result. This year, I am hoping that we can do something different because it's been 5 and 3/4 seasons since we last won a competition and as a Broncos supporter since 1990, that's a very long wait. I think it can be different.

The Broncos pack has life in it. Last week against the Storm, I think the Broncos got over the top of the Storm. The Storm showed why they are competition leaders by managing to win a game they were outplayed in, but the Broncos put in. The Bulldogs do not have the magic that the Storm have in their backline, so I am confident that if we match the Bulldogs pack, our backline will see us through. And I think we can match it, and get over the top of the Bulldogs.

The Broncos are big enough to match the Dogs in the collision stakes. On a slippery Friday night at Telstra, both packs will play in the middle of the park, so our slight disadvantage in mobility won't be a major factor. The key will be reducing the offloads, and we've got plenty of guys with big arms like big Brad Thorn and Petero Civoniceva who can wrap up the ball better than anyone. The Bulldogs pack will be easy to contain once the offloads are snuffed out, and then the forward battle gets decided by the better dummy half runners. The Broncos have the edge here, with Berro and Hodges right up there, although big Tame's absence probably hurts us a little. The Bulldogs lack penetration from dummy half, with Grimaldi and Corey Hughes being too slow and only Luke Patten able to make inroads (and I remember the 2004 massacre at Suncorp). This is where I think we'll win it.

After we've won that part Lockyer, Tate and Hodges will simply be too much for the Bulldogs backs. The Bulldogs are too small and too slow in the backline to contain our speed men, and I expect us to get over the line more times than the Dogs because of this.

So, the Broncos' old legs have life in them yet. Shane Webcke won't be leaving anything in the tank in his final season, and he'll lift us to glory one last time. And we'll start tonight.

Jimmy Chen is a Broncos Supporter and we welcome all reader contributions.

Mon July 17, 2006
• Behaving Bulldogs get Friday Night reward
  

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