CANTERBURY BULLDOGS 18 BRISBANE BRONCOS 22
TOM SMITH, Accor Stadium, Friday
EZRA MAM lifted the Broncos to a stunning late comeback over the Bulldogs.
The live-wire standoff set up three of Brisbane’s four tries in the final 20 minutes as Canterbury self-destructed to throw away an 18-0 lead.
With State of Origin causing chaos on both team sheets, out-of-favour Bronco Selwyn Cobbo returned to the NRL side for the first time in five weeks at fullback — and had a horror night at the back, coughing up two first-half tries.
Mid-season Canterbury recruit Lachlan Galvin also started at stand-off, shifting Matt Burton into the centres, and played a major hand in putting the Dogs on top early.
Cameron Ciraldo was without Stephen Crichton, Max King, Kurt Mann and Jacob Kiraz, while Michael Maguire missed Payne Haas, Gehamat Shibasaki, Patrick Carrigan and Reece Walsh.
Minus all that talent, the class of Mam shone through late.
Brisbane dealt Canterbury their first loss of the season back in round eight, racing to a 34-0 half-time lead at Suncorp Stadium.
And they’ve handed the Bulldogs another crushing defeat here, which dents their hopes of claiming the minor premiership.
Galvin had his fingerprints all over the Dogs’ opening score on 13 minutes, going down the short side for a set play off a scrum to find Connor Tracey, who sent Marcelo Montoya diving into the right corner.
Canterbury’s second was much more chaotic.
On the final tackle, the hosts shifted the ball through eight pairs of hands to go sideline-to-sideline then back again, retreating 30 metres, before Burton lobbed a kick into the in-goal.
The Broncos should’ve easily covered it, with both Cobbo and Deine Mariner beating the blue-and-white chasers, but they got in each other’s way and Burton pounced on the scraps.
Some desperate defence denied Toby Sexton, who looked destined to score on the end of a signature Viliame Kikau charge down.
But they eventually found their third through their stand-in skipper Kikau, who scooped up a Galvin bomb that Cobbo failed to defuse at the back.
An off-the-ball tackle gifted Burton a penalty-goal early in the second half to make it 18-0, where the score remained until the hour mark.
Then in the final 20 minutes, the Broncos engineered an almighty fightback.
It began in unlikely circumstances, when Kotoni Staggs picked up a Kikau error deep in his own territory, then Mam released Josiah Karapani to score down the left touchline.
And when Mam floated a beautifully timed pass to the hard-running Delouise Hoeter, we had a game on our hands.
With nine minutes remaining, Billy Walters celebrated his 100th NRL game by darting over from dummy-half.
Reynolds’ straightforward conversion shaved the margin to a slender two points.
Walters couldn’t turn a daring Staggs kick into the go-ahead try, and Tracey’s late hit on the kicker meant he was lucky to avoid the sin bin.
But the Dogs couldn’t avoid losing their lead moments later, when Mam put Brendan Piakura steaming over the line down that same left channel.
Canterbury hunted a reply but Brisbane held on to a famous victory.
GAMESTAR: Ezra Mam defied the boos of the home fans to inspire Brisbane to a breathtaking late fightback, setting up three tries.
GAMEBREAKER: Mam sent Brendan Piakura in for the match-winning try with six minutes remaining.
MATCHFACTS
BULLDOGS
1 Connor Tracey
4 Enari Tuala
3 Bronson Xerri
6 Matt Burton
5 Marcelo Montoya
14 Lachlan Galvin
7 Toby Sexton
8 Harry Hayes
9 Reed Mahoney
10 Samuel Hughes
11 Viliame Kikau
12 Jacob Preston
19 Jake Turpin
Subs (all used)
13 Bailey Hayward
15 Josh Curran
17 Kurtis Morrin
21 Jack Todd
Tries: Montoya (14), Burton (21), Kikau (33)
Goals: Burton 3/4
BRONCOS
1 Selwyn Cobbo
2 Josiah Karapani
3 Kotoni Staggs
18 Delouise Hoeter
4 Deine Mariner
6 Ezra Mam
7 Adam Reynolds
10 Xavier Willison
9 Cory Paix
16 Tyson Smoothy
11 Brendan Piakura
12 Jordan Riki
13 Kobe Hetherington
Subs (all used)
14 Billy Walters
15 Jaiyden Hunt
17 Jack Gosiewski
19 Ben Talty
Tries: Karapani (61), Hoeter (66), Walters (71), Piakura (74)
Goals: Reynolds 3/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 10-0, 16-0; 18-0 18-6, 18-10, 18-16, 18-22
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Bulldogs: Viliame Kikau; Broncos: Ezra Mam
Penalty count: 6-5
Half-time: 16-0
Referee: Todd Smith
Attendance: 25,234