BRISBANE BRONCOS 6 NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS 30
CALLUM WALKER, Suncorp Stadium, Saturday

NEWCASTLE ensured Brisbane became just the fifth side in 90 years to fail to make the finals either side of a Premiership with a professional victory on the Broncos’ own patch.

The hosts were dismal from start to finish whilst the Knights, led by the impressive Fletcher Sharpe, looked every bit a play-off side.

In fact, it was Sharpe who crossed the line in the second minute, weaving his way through soft Brisbane defence before Deine Mariner was sin binned for a professional foul.

With a man advantage, the Knights struck again through Dom Young, but the Broncos were back down to twelve moments later when Reece Walsh was yellow carded for pulling Young’s hair in a scuffle that also saw Newcastle’s Jermaine McEwen earn a ten-minute breather.

Francis Manuleleua sent Greg Marzhew over on the half-hour with a brilliant pass and 14-0 became 20-0 early in the second half when Phoenix Crossland went over.

Even though Walsh dotted down on the hour, the visitors smelt blood towards the finish.

Marzhew finished expertly off a sumptuous Bradman Best offload before Sharpe rounded things off with a 50-metre dash after Walsh’s chip found Thomas Cant.

BRONCOS: 1 Reece Walsh, 2 Josiah Karapani, 3 Kotoni Staggs, 4 Deine Mariner, 5 Grant Anderson, 6 Ezra Mam, 7 Adam Reynolds, 8 Va’a Semu, 9 Cory Paix, 10 Payne Haas, 11 Xavier Willison, 12 Jordan Riki, 13 Patrick Carrigan. Subs: 14 Billy Walters, 15 Ben Talty, 16 Jaiyden Hunt, 17 Ben Hunt, 19 Hayze Perham (not used), 20 Gehamat Shibasaki (not used)

Tries: Walsh (60); Goals: Walsh 1/1; Sin bin: Mariner (7) – professional foul, Walsh (25) – fighting

KNIGHTS: 1 Kalyn Ponga, 2 Dom Young, 3 Dane Gagai, 4 Bradman Best, 5 Greg Marzhew, 6 Fletcher Sharpe, 7 Sandon Smith, 8 Cody Hopwood, 9 Phoenix Crossland, 10 Trey Mooney, 11 Jermaine McEwen, 12 Francis Manuleleua, 13 Mat Croker. Subs: 15 Tyson Frizell, 16 Thomas Cant, 17 Brodie Jones, 18 Fletcher Hunt (not used), 19 Lachlan Crouch, 20 Toby Winter (not used)

Tries: Sharpe (3, 76), Young (8), Marzhew (33, 63), Crossland (47) Goals: Smith 3/6; Sin bin: McEwen (25) – fighting

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-10, 0-14; 0-20, 6-20, 6-24, 6-30

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Broncos: Payne Haas; Knights: Fletcher Sharpe

Penalty count: 8-8; Half-time: 0-14; Referee: Grant Atkins