Monday 10 June 2013 9:12 PM
A much-improved NRMA Insurance Broncos have gone down 30-18 to the red-hot Raiders in chilly conditions tonight at Canberra Stadium.
The Broncos had to come from a long way back, with the Raiders scoring the opening four tries to jump to a 24-nil lead after 35 minutes.
Brisbane hit back on the stroke of halftime through Scott Prince and improved from there.
Brisbane’s full State of Origin contingent of Sam Thaiday, Corey Parker, Matt Gillett and Justin Hodges all returned, however the Broncos barely had any opportunities to attack Canberra’s line in the first half.
But after some soul searching at halftime, the Broncos came out fired-up in the second half, starting in positive fashion to atone for their lacklustre first 40 minutes.
The Broncos soon turned their pressure on Canberra into points, after a Peter Wallace bomb was plucked out of the air by Matt Gillett, who planted the ball down under the posts.
Scott Prince converted to give Brisbane a sniff at 24-12 with 28 minutes to go.
Brisbane kept grafting away, but 10 minutes later, a penalty on halfway gifted the Raiders their first attacking foray for the second half.
It didn’t take long for Canberra to extend their lead again, as Joel Edwards crashed over from close range.
Jarrod Croker slotted the conversion to hand Canberra a 30-12 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of the game.
Brisbane continued to work hard and scored a try inside the final five minutes after Mitchell Dodds barged over next to the posts – his first NRL try after 51 matches.
As expected, Prince converted to bring the score to 30-18, which it remained until fulltime, Bronco winger Jordan Kahu having a try disallowed with three minutes left that could have made the Raiders sweat.
In the first half, Brisbane had to withstand early pressure from the Raiders, finally cracking in the 12th minute.
Raiders’ five-eighth Terry Campese aimed a bomb towards Josh Hoffman, but the Brisbane winger had the ball snatched from his grasp by Canberra’s Blake Ferguson, who then offloaded for halfback Josh McCrone to score.
Campese was involved again on the next set as he burst through Brisbane’s defensive line after Matt Gillett slipped over, and then dished off to Joel Thompson who raced away for another four-pointer.
Croker converted his second of the night as the Raiders raced to a 12-nil lead after 15 minutes.
Moments later, Brisbane gained back some ascendency after Canberra coughed-up the ball on halfway and then gifted the Broncos consecutive penalties.
Scott Prince toed behind the Raiders’ line to force a drop-out, however Brisbane could not capitalise on what was their first major opportunity to score after 22 minutes of play.
It was crucial Brisbane scored the next try, but unfortunately they were cut apart from kick-return from Edrick Lee, who dashed down the left-hand touchline.
Lee took advantage of his opposite number in Jordan Kahu, who was injured and out of play from an earlier knee clash with Ferguson, delivering the ball to a supporting Croker, who scored under the sticks.
Croker extended Canberra’s lead to 18-nil in the 27th minute.
Lee was involved again seven minutes later, dashing down the blindside to expose the Broncos again and score in the corner.
Croker nailed a difficult conversion from the sideline, piling further hurt on Brisbane with the scoreboard now reading 24-nil after 35 minutes.
The Broncos received a morale-boosting try on the stroke of halftime to veteran Prince, who dummied over and then converted to take the score to 24-6 heading into the sheds.
CANBERRA RAIDERS 30 (Josh McCrone, Joel Thompson, Jarrod Crocker, Edrick Lee, Joel Edwards tries; Jarrod Croker 5 goals) def. BRISBANE BRONCOS 18 (Scott Prince, Matt Gillett, Mitchell Dodds tries; Scott Prince 3 goals) at Canberra Stadium.
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