NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS 42 BRISBANE BRONCOS 12
TOM SMITH, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Sunday

TANAH BOYD’S suspected ACL injury overshadowed the Warriors’ commanding win over the Broncos in Magic Round’s Sunday showpiece clash.

Boyd went down clutching his right knee in the seventh minute, appearing to hurt himself while stepping into Brisbane’s defensive line.

While New Zealand were the home team on paper, Brisbane enjoyed the home-ground advantage in familiar surrounds – but it mattered little as the New Zealanders established an early lead they never looked like coughing up, much to the delight of the sizeable Kiwi contingent.

Te Maire Martin came off the bench to fill Boyd’s boots with aplomb, as the Warriors cashed in on a flood of early penalties.

Aided by Patrick Carrigan’s sin-binning for an offence in the ruck on the end of a string of infringements, the Kiwi club took a 22-0 lead into half-time.

Alofiana Khan-Pereira was also binned for a high shot on Jesse Arthars just before the break, leaving the door ajar for the Broncos.

But Andrew Webster’s men managed to extend their lead while they were down to twelve, cruising to their fifth straight win.

Eight days after his side rolled the Eels in their own backyard, Webster welcomed back Mitch Barnett (concussion), Ali Leiataua (concussion), Wayde Egan (concussion) and Tanner Stowers-Smith (hamstring), although Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (neck) and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (shoulder) remained out and Boyd now joins the injury list.

Michael Maguire also benefitted from some much-needed reinforcement following back-to-back defeats to the Roosters and Sea Eagles, with Adam Reynolds returning from a concussion and Phillip Coates – brother of Storm winger Xavier – making his NRL bow on the flank.

Boyd’s injury threatened to derail the Warriors early, but they found the first points when the acrobatic Dallin Watene-Zelezniak capitalised on a looping Martin pass in the right corner.

The Bunker ruled out a Jackson Ford try claim for an escort penalty in the build-up, but the in-form Erin Clark soon broke through from close range.

A run of penalties then sent Carrigan to the bin, with Egan slashing his way over from dummy-half a minute later.

Kurt Capewell continued the pile-on, gobbling a clever Martin grubber kick, to stretch the lead to 22 at the break.

However, Khan-Pereira’s rash tackle gave Brisbane a sniff, and the Broncos struck straight after the restart when Reynolds backed up an Arthars line break to score.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Warriors posted two tries before Khan-Pereira returned.

First Leiataua pounced on an ugly Gehamat Shibasaki error under his own goal posts, then Martin collected a well deserved try, making the most of an Egan line break from dummy-half.

Reynolds crossed again – this time snaffling a loose ball resulting from a Coates bust engineered by Reece Walsh – to give optimistic Broncos fans a flicker of hope for a miracle comeback.

A penalty goal by Chanel Harris-Tavita stemmed the momentum but Josiah Karapani went close to a stunning try as the Queenslanders continued to push.

Although any doubt about the result was extinguished once Watene-Zelezniak intercepted an ambitious Ben Hunt pass and outpaced Ezra Mam to the whitewash.

GAMESTAR: Thrust into action early due to Tanah Boyd’s suspected ACL tear, deputy half Te Maire Martin starred by setting up two tries and scoring one of his own.

GAMEBREAKER: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak’s 90-metre intercept try finished the Warriors’ comprehensive triumph.

MATCHFACTS

WARRIORS
1 Taine Tuaupiki
2 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
3 Ali Leiataua
4 Adam Pompey
5 Alofiana Khan-Pereira
6 Chanel Harris-Tavita
7 Tanah Boyd
8 James Fisher-Harris
9 Wayde Egan
10 Mitchell Barnett
11 Leka Halasima
12 Kurt Capewell
13 Erin Clark
Subs
14 Sam Healey
15 Jackson Ford
16 Demetric Vaimauga
17 Jacob Laban (not used)
18 Tanner Stowers-Smith (not used)
20 Te Maire Martin

Tries: Watene-Zelezniak (13, 69), Clark (22), Egan (28), Capewell (34), Leiataua (45), Martin (48)
Goals: Tuaupiki 5/6, Harris-Tavita 2/2
Sin bin: Khan-Pereira (38) – high tackle

BRONCOS
1 Reece Walsh
2 Josiah Karapani
3 Jesse Arthars
4 Gehamat Shibasaki
5 Phillip Coates
6 Ezra Mam
7 Adam Reynolds
8 Preston Riki
9 Cory Paix
10 Xavier Willison
11 Jaiyden Hunt
12 Jordan Riki
13 Patrick Carrigan
Subs
14 Ben Hunt
15 Ben Talty
16 Va’a Semu
17 Aublix Tawha
18 Hayze Perham (not used)
20 Thomas Duffy (not used)

Tries: Reynolds (41, 52)
Goals: Reynolds 2/2
Sin bin: Carrigan (27) – professional foul

SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 10-0, 16-0, 22-0; 22-6, 28-6, 34-6, 34-12, 36-12, 42-12

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Warriors: Te Maire Martin; Broncos: Patrick Carrigan

Penalty count: 13-5
Half-time: 22-0
Referee: Ashley Klein
Attendance: 50,386