BRISBANE BRONCOS 6 NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS 40
CALLUM WALKER, Suncorp Stadium, Saturday

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS made light work of Brisbane to go level on points with second-placed Penrith.

Both the Warriors and Panthers remain two points behind leaders Sydney Roosters, but the former looked every bit a champion side in this demolition of reigning NRL premiers Brisbane.

Jacob Laban kicked things off in the ninth minute before Chanel Harris-Tavita made it 10-0 moments later.

And Alofiana Khan-Pereira rubbed further salt into the Broncos’ wounds as the first half reached its midpoint, showing no ill-effects of having lost Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to the sin bin following a hip drop tackle.

Despite the man advantage, the Broncos were dismal at best and Harris-Tavita made it 20-0 at half-time with two penalties for the visitors.

The Warriors’ procession didn’t stop with the half-time whistle, either.

Nicoll-Klokstad atoned for his earlier indiscretion with a four-pointer shortly after the break, with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak getting in on the act six minutes later.

Ali Leiataua made it 34-0 with the hour in sight before Xavier Willison ensured Brisbane wouldn’t be nilled with a determined effort.

However, the night belonged to the Warriors and Leka Halasima put the icing on the cake two minutes from time.

BRONCOS: 1 Reece Walsh, 2 Josiah Karapani, 3 Kotoni Staggs, 4 Deine Mariner, 5 Grant Anderson, 6 Ezra Mam, 7 Thomas Duffy, 8 Xavier Willison, 9 Billy Walters, 10 Payne Haas, 11 Jaiyden Hunt, 12 Jordan Riki, 13 Patrick Carrigan. Subs: 14 Ben Hunt (not used, 15 Aublix Tawha, 16 Jack Gosiewski, 17 Va’a Semu (not used), 18 Blake Mozer, 20 Gehamat Shibasaki

Tries: Willison (61); Goals: Duffy 1/1

WARRIORS: 1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 3 Ali Leiataua, 4 Leka Halasima, 5 Alofiana Khan-Pereira, 6 Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7 Luke Metcalf, 8 James Fisher-Harris, 9 Wayde Egan, 10 Mitchell Barnett, 11 Kurt Capewell, 12 Jacob Laban, 13 Erin Clark. Subs: 14 Sam Healey, 15 Tanner Stowers-Smith, 16 Demitric Vaimauga (not used), 17 Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, 18 Taine Tuaupiki, 20 Adam Pompey (not used)

Tries: Laban (9), Harris-Tavita (14), Khan-Pereira (19), Nicoll-Klokstad (46), Watene-Zelezniak (52), Leiataua (56), Halasima (78); Goals: Metcalf 2/3, Harris-Tavita 4/6; Sin bin: Nicoll-Klokstad (18) – hip drop tackle

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-10, 0-16, 0-18, 0-20; 0-24, 0-30, 0-36, 6-36, 6-40

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Broncos: Payne Haas; Warriors: Jacob Laban

Penalty count: 5-6; Half-time: 0-20; Referee: Wyatt Raymond; Attendance: 38,916