Paul Gallen

The game itself was not the most attractive nor the most intriguing but the Brisbane Broncos will take the win, recording a 10-2 win against the Cronulla Sharks away from home to record their first win of the season.

Whilst both sides fought hard and muscled up in defence throughout the game, the score at half-time was remarkably 2-0, the sole points coming from a penalty goal to the Sharks Michael Gordon.

In what was the ninth straight home defeat for the Sharks, their woes were not helped by a torrential downpour five minutes before the end of the game.

The first try eventually came in the second half and it was not void of controversy with a suspect pass leading up to it, though the video ref was unable to overrule it, given they cannot rule on forward passes.

Both sides had their chances to score more points but it was a dogged affair overall, as both sides fought valiantly to try and make the most of their opportunities.

The game will not be remembered for the attacking side of things, despite some promising moments from the likes of Ben Barba, Anthony Milford and Jordan Kahu.

Their attack clearly needs some work but Broncos coach Wayne Bennett happy with the overall effort of his side.

“We were under a fair bit of pressure at different stages in our defensive line today and we kept turning up,” Bennett said.

Club captain Justin Hodges re-iterated the thoughts of his coach and praised his team-mates for the way they dug deep.

“I’m proud of the boys how they dug in to hold them to two points is a great effort… it’s a credit to the lads,” Hodges said.

Life is not about to get any easier for the Sharks, as they come up against the Melbourne Storm in Rd 3. And if they are to win, Sharks coach Shane Flanagan knows that they will have to improve dramatically to cause any problems.

“We turned over too much footy again,” he said.

“Definitely I thought we competed. We tried real hard.

“Effort was definitely there. Commitment was definitely there.”

Player of the Game:

3. Paul Gallen
2. Ricky Leutele
1. Corey Oates

Brisbane Broncos 10 (Oates, Maranta tries, Parker goals) defeated Cronulla Sharks 2 (Gordon 1 goal) at Remondis Stadium. Crowd: 8,369

By ricky

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.