Broncos dislodged
CALL it karma. Or just plain bad luck. Either way, welcome to first grade Matthew Lodge. The NRL is a brutal world.
Lodge’s month-long nightmare spilt on to the park last night, the NRL’s biggest villain throwing a disastrous intercept pass as former Bronco Ben Hunt drove the dagger into Brisbane at Kogarah.
Playing his first NRL game in 984 days, Lodge was left to rue the midfield brain explosion that ignited the Dragons and consigned the Broncos to a dismal 34-12 flogging in an error-riddled season-opener.
Brisbane trailed 10-2 at halftime but they imploded in the second stanza as the Red V embarked on a Kogarah cakewalk in a five-tries-totwo victory before 14,457 fans.
Lodge produced a wholehearted first half but his Broncos debut turned to tears in the 51st minute when Hunt swooped on to his looping midfield pass and raced 45m to score for a 16-6 lead. For Hunt, it was the ultimate poetic justice.
At the Broncos, he was derided as a half who couldn’t deliver a title and was the poster boy for Brisbane’s heartbreaking 2015 grand final loss to the Cowboys.
So it was rather fitting that the Dragons’ $6 million man should put the boot into his former Broncos teammates as he and Gareth Widdop gave Brisbane halves Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima a playmaking clinic.
While Lodge will rue his moment of madness, he was the only Broncos forward to run for 100m.
That is a damning statistic for a Broncos pack that was belted by a Dragons front six led by James Graham and Jack De Belin.
Equally, Brisbane’s halves were woeful. Nikorima was outpointed by Hunt, while Anthony Milford never found his groove and cannot afford to kick so loosely given his $1 million price tag.
Possession is nine-tenths of the law in rugby league and Brisbane’s ball control in the opening stanza was appalling.
A 47 per cent completion rate was below-par even by Round 1 standards.