Tigers 22 Broncos 34
IN THE big games, the champions step up. So up steps … Peter Wallace?
In a team which is used to Darren Lockyer dominating and decimating, a new hero is emerging in Brisbane. With Lockyer clearly hampered - again - by a knee injury which must place his Test spot in some doubt, the flame-headed halfback was outstanding in perhaps the game of the centenary season so far.
Wallace might not play for NSW in the opening game of the State of Origin series this year. Indeed, he probably won't. However he showed last night that he should.
Twenty-four hours after playing for City against Country, albeit for just 23 minutes, Wallace orchestrated the Broncos' first-half dominance and took the heat off Lockyer in the second - scoring Brisbane's final try - on the same ground where NSW will do battle with Queensland in just a weeks.
The match had repercussions for NSW, Queensland and Australia.
Lockyer emerged after half-time with his right knee strapped and his limp became worsened as the game wore on. He later threw away the tape, but he was clearly feeling the effects of his continuing problems with the knee.
Broncos fullback Karmichael Hunt, meanwhile, was outstanding, only marginally pipped by his fellow Queenslander Sam Thaiday, who put in the type of performance which will be so important at this ground on May 21.
The Tigers dominated much of the first half yet they trailed 16-0 at half-time. They began to turn pressure into points in the second half, however.
Sparked by the introduction of Stuart Flanagan, fellow benchman Ben Te'o scored two tries and winger Shannon McDonnell scored one, aided by Te'o, to leave the Broncos clinging on at 22-18 in front.
McDonnell's 63rd-minute effort was superb, with quick hands by much of the Wests Tigers side ending with Mathew Head kicking for the winger - he was held up but forced the ball when Te'o came in to force the issue.
The win gave the Broncos the premiership lead and their performance shows this is richly deserved. Importantly, they repelled the home side twice just as the Tigers were at their best.
Their quality was never more evident than early in the second half, when the Tigers launched themselves at the Broncos and scored early through Te'o to drag the deficit back to 10 points. But the Broncos ended any resurgence in the Tigers' confidence by scoring through Hunt, who returned from a knee injury without missing a step.
The match had been alive only six minutes when the Tigers, already without stars Robbie Farah and five-eighth Benji Marshall, lost another key player.
This time second-rower Todd Payten, not quite as valuable as the injured pair but not far off, suffered a hamstring tear as he pounded into Brisbane's defence close to the line.
It summed up the early stages of the game. The Tigers threw everything at the Broncos in the opening exchanges; Corey Payne was held up and Dean Collis was held over - as in, a few millimetres over the line when Denan Kemp forced him back into the field of play.
But the Broncos repelled them and, as the Broncos do, made them pay.
Their opening two tries would have showcased everything that's great about the NRL, only they included more basketball and soccer skills than rugby league moves.
After 14 minutes, Hunt sent Wallace on a wonderful scamper. After play broke down, Michael Ennis flicked, Tonie Carroll batted, Lockyer sent a no-look ball over the shoulder before David Stagg sent Reece Robinson over for a wonderful try.
Six minutes later, Lockyer's cut-out ball was trapped by Kemp, who soccered on for a try almost as breathtaking. If you didn't know better, it appeared as though Lockyer's ball was deliberately sent to Kemp's right foot, as if Lockyer knew the former Australian under-15 soccer representative would do the rest.
Little was going the Tigers' way by now. From the kick-off, the Broncos' Ben Hannant played at the ball with his foot still inside the dead-ball line, yet Brisbane received the penalty, with referee Tony Archer seeming to suggest he had erred by telling the Tigers: "The penalty's already awarded."
Soon after, Thaiday continued his brutal form by barging over following more wonderful work from that man Wallace.
BRISBANE 34 (R Robinson 2 K Hunt D Kemp S Thaiday P Wallace tries M Ennis 4 P Wallace goals) bt WESTS TIGERS 22 (B Te'o 2 D Collis S McDonnell tries B Hodgson 3 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: T Archer. Crowd: 11,177
