ROBERTS STAKES HIS ORIGIN CLAIM

JAMES Roberts turned on the afterburners to catapult the Broncos into the NRL top four before being carried from the field as the pressure mounted on Penrith coach Anthony Griffin.

“The Jet” was at his brilliant best in front of 21,464 at Suncorp Stadium last night, tearing Penrith to shreds in a 32- 18 win to magnify calls for a State of Origin initiation.

But Roberts’ night ended in pain after some friendly fire from Broncos teammate Matt Gillett in the final minutes left him nursing a knee injury.

Earlier, another howler by The Bunker killed any chance of Penrith kicking off in style and the Panthers showed little resistance once the tide turned against them to sink to their fifth straight defeat.

The Broncos on the other hand are sitting pretty near the top of the ladder following an encouraging start to the season with six wins from nine rounds, including four straight victories.

Brisbane’s form had not been convincing before last night with their previous eight matches decided by single- figure margins.

But the most important thing is they are winning and coach Wayne Bennett will be pleased with where the Broncos are sitting following the opening third of the season with the dreaded State of Origin period looming.

Bennett dismissed his poor record against Griffin – only one win from their previous 10 encounters – as “rubbish” in the lead- up to the game and was proved right.

There was little Griffin, the man sacked to make way for Bennett’s return to Red Hill, could do in the away coaches box as the Panthers turned in what could only be described as a deplorable first half effort, missing 31 tackles.