BRONCOS BEAT WESTS TIGERS 46-22 IN TOYOTA CUP
By Wayne Cousins
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Wests Tigers suffered a heavy 46-22 loss to the Brisbane Broncos at Skilled Park tonight in the second Toyota Cup qualifying final.
The loss means Wests Tigers will survive to next week unless the seventh placed Warriors and eighth placed Canberra win their qualifying matches. Sixth placed South Sydney were heavily beaten on Friday night. The two lowest placed losing teams will be eliminated this weekend.
The fourth-placed Wests Tigers went into the match with no changes to the starting team named on Tuesday. The only change is on the bench with Jay Florimo coming in for Patrick Politoni.
It is the first time the Wests Tigers have made the finals of the Toyota Cup competition, now in its second year. The Broncos were beaten grand finalists last season. Brisbane finished the regular season in fifth place. Despite Wests Tigers finishing fourth, the game is being played as a curtain raiser to the Broncos v Titans NRL clash, allowing Brisbane supporters to watch both of their teams.
A poor pass from hooker Chris Corby to lock Matt Hyland saw him drop the ball in the opening set to give the Broncos a scrum feed and win 30 metres out. Some good defence kept the Broncos at bay.
Brisbane opened the scoring in the 11th minute when a midfield bomb by half-back and captain Bent Hunt saw winger Dane Gagai defuse the bomb in front of winger Joel Jackson before offloading inside to full-back Todd Murphy who sent the ball back out to five-eighth Corey Norman to score out wide for a 4-0 lead. The try was not converted.
Hunt, the 2008 Toyota Cup player of the year, scored under the posts when he stepped past Jason Schirnack to score. Norman converted the try for a 10-0 lead after 17 minutes.Wests Tigers have completed just five of 10 sets in the opening 22 minutes.
Wests Tigers' best scoring opportunity came in the 30th minute but prop David Fifita lost the ball in a strong charge to the line. It was only the fourth time Wests Tigers had been tackled in the Broncos' quarter, such has been Brisbane's dominance.
Brisbane extended the lead to 14-0 when on the last tackle, prop David Hala charged over from five metres out. Norman converted the try for a 16-0 lead. The pressure told on Wests Tigers who are feeling the pinch after working overtime in defence.
The scoreline got worse two minutes later when Hunt took the ball to the line before Norman stepped inside five-eighth Robert Lui to race downfield to link up with Murphy to score. Norman converted the try for a 22-0 lead after 36 minutes.
Wests Tigers got a much needed try just before half-time when a scrum win 40 metres out saw Lui turn the ball back inside to lock Matt Hyland, who found full-back Jake Mullaney flying through to race away to score next to the posts. Mullaney converted the try for a 22-6 scoreline.
Mullaney has now scored points against every side in the Toyota Cup competition this year. He finished as the competition's leading pointscorer.
Wests Tigers got a penalty inside the final seconds before half-time, giving Mullaney a 47 metre shot at goal. It was on line but fell just short of the posts for a 22-6 scoreline at half-time.
2nd Half
Brisbane extended their lead two minutes into the second half when Toriq Sims beat a poor attempted tackle by Lui to score a soft try. Norman converted the try for a 28-6 lead.
Lui suffered a left knee injury in the 51st minute but remained hobbling on the field.
The Broncos went further ahead in the 52nd minute when Hunt gave a good ball to Norman to race clear before offloading to Rhys Matsen to score. Norman converted the try for a 34-6 lead. Lui left the field with a left knee injury following the try.
Wests Tigers got back to 34-10 when Jackson produced a great finish to dive over in the corner after the ball was spread right across the backline. The try was not converted.
The Broncos made it 38-10 in the 59th minute when Josh McGuire scored. Norman converted from in front of the posts for a 40-10 lead.
Gagai finished off a backline play to the left when he scored in the corner for a 44-10 lead after 65 minutes. Norman converted the try from the sideline for a 46-10 lead.
Some good work and a short grubber kick by captain and half-back Darren Nicholls saw centre Joel Wisbey dive on the ball to score in the 68th minute. Mullaney converted the try for a 46-16 scoreline.
Wests Tigers scored again when a grubber kick by Nicholls was spilt by the Broncos for lanky second-rower Simon Dwyer to pick it up to score. Mullaney converted the try for a 46-22 scoreline after 72 minutes.
Winger Sama Sauvao had a try disallowed in the 78th minute for a forward pass from Wisbey after good work by Jason Schirnack. The score remained 46-22 till full-time.