Inept Broncos anger fans
ALARM bells – and boos – are ringing for Brisbane after being upset 30-12 by NRL battlers Gold Coast Titans at Suncorp Stadium last night, their fifthstraight loss.
Already under the pump, Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold is now under enormous pressure after the Broncos were ambushed by the Titans, who grabbed a shock 22-0 halftime lead. The 6262-strong faithful allowed into the ground for the first time at a Broncos game since the competition’s resumption booed their team off the field at the break.
Their mood didn’t improve as the Titans sealed their biggest win over the Broncos, eclipsing their 34-18 result in 2009, and their third-straight win over their arch rivals.
Nothing went right for Brisbane. They were reduced to 11 men on the field in the dying moments after enforcer Matt Lodge went off with left-knee injury in the 65th minute, then winger Corey Oates was sinbinned and they ran out of interchanges.
Adding further insult, Brisbane will drop to the bottom of the ladder if Canterbury defeat Wests Tigers today.
It marks the first time in eight years Brisbane have dropped five straight and the ninth time in club history.
The club record is eightstraight losses.
Arguably more surprising than Gold Coast’s 22-0 halftime lead was the fact Brisbane had not scored a second-half point since the competition’s resumption last month – until last night.
The Broncos finally broke their drought, cutting the deficit to 24-12 by the 57th minute when veteran Ben Te’o (49th minute) crashed over and centre Herbie Farnworth pounced on a clever Brodie Croft grubber.
But after Xavier Coates was denied a 62nd-minute try due to an obstruction, the Titans iced the result with Phillip Sami crashing over in the 75th minute. It was the Gold Coast’s second win in 18 games.
Remarkably, they notched four first-half tries including a double to winger Anthony Don. Fullback Tesi Niu had a nightmare starting debut, with the Titans making the Broncos pay for two of his errors.
Niu dropped a towering Ash Taylor bomb and Tyrone Peachey regathered to cleverly offload for giant prop Sam Lisone to crash over in the 30th minute. Niu was left red faced again when his pass was intercepted by Don who raced 50m to score.