BRISBANE BRONCOS 26 NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS 12
TOM SMITH, Suncorp Stadium, Saturday
REECE WALSH put his hand up for a Queensland jumper by leading the Broncos to an impressive win over the Warriors.
With Maroons fullback Kalyn Ponga ruled out of the interstate decider by a foot injury suffered in Newcastle’s loss to Canberra on Friday, Walsh auditioned for the vacancy with a try assist, four tackle busts and 124 dangerous running metres.
Knee injuries to fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and halfback Luke Metcalf undermined the New Zealand club’s efforts.
An inch-perfect Adam Reynolds grubber gave Kotoni Staggs the opener after just two minutes, before left winger Josiah Karapani finished off a beautiful Ezra Mam cut-out in the corner and a scrum infringement handed Reynolds a penalty goal.
Then with seconds remaining in the first half, Walsh sent Gehamat Shibasaki in for his first.
The desperate Warriors held Walsh up over the stripe soon after the restart, and were rewarded when Roger Tuivasa-Sheck dived over.
An escort penalty gave Reynolds another two points, before Shibasaki fumbled a Reynolds kick over the line.
The Aucklanders had a sniff of a miracle comeback once Leka Halasima grounded a Chanel Harris-Tavita bomb to close the gap to eight with 13 minutes left.
But Shibasaki crashed over at the death to wrap up Brisbane’s third straight win – a run which has got Michael Maguire’s maiden Broncos campaign back on track.
BRONCOS: 1 Reece Walsh, 2 Josiah Karapani, 3 Kotoni Staggs, 4 Gehamat Shibasaki, 5 Jesse Arthars, 6 Ezra Mam, 7 Adam Reynolds, 8 Corey Jensen, 9 Cory Paix, 10 Payne Haas, 11 Brendan Piakura, 12 Jordan Riki, 13 Patrick Carrigan. Subs (all used): 14 Billy Walters, 15 Kobe Hetherington, 16 Xavier Willison, 17 Jack Gosiewski
Tries: Staggs (3), Karapani (15), Shibasaki (40, 76); Goals: Reynolds 5/6
WARRIORS: 1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2 Edward Kosi, 3 Adam Pompey, 4 Rocco Berry, 5 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 6 Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7 Luke Metcalf, 8 James Fisher-Harris, 9 Wayde Egan, 10 Marata Niukore, 11 Kurt Capewell, 12 Jacob Laban, 13 Erin Clark. Subs (all used): 14 Te Maire Martin, 15 Jackson Ford, 16 Demitric Vaimauga, 17 Leka Halasima
Tries: Tuivasa-Sheck (46), Halasima (66); Goals: Metcalf 1/1, Pompey 1/1
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 10-0, 12-0, 18-0; 18-6, 20-6, 20-12, 26-12
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Broncos: Reece Walsh; Warriors: Erin Clark
Penalty count: 8-5; Half-time: 18-0; Referee: Adam Gee; Attendance: 43,434