Broncos v Warriors preview

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Broncos look to carry momentum, Warriors looking for a much improved effort.

The Brisbane Broncos return to Suncorp Stadium for the first time in 2016 looking to make it two from two in season 2016. Having disposed of a disappointing Parramatta side last week 17-4, Brisbane will be keen to hit the ground running and comdemn the Warriors to an 0-2 start to the season.

Jordan Kahu has been ruled out of this match and will be replaced by Jack Reed.

The Warriors were downright awful in the first half against the Wests Tigers last Saturday, giving up a 24-4 lead at the break. To their credit they stormed back in the second half only to throw the game away in the final 15 minutes. Coach Andrew McFadden bemoaned his side's slow start and has stated that his side cannot make slow starts like that anymore.

"It's not acceptable to start a game like that, we fought back and got ourselves into it. If it wasn't for a couple of pretty poor errors at the end, we might have been able to sneak home with it. But it wasn't to be and we've got to learn from it."

The Warriors showed what they are capable of when they complete their sets and have their fare share of possession. The question remains around their defence which was suspect all game, they'll need to improve that ten fold to compete with a methodical Brisbane outfit on Friday night. 

Last meeting: Round 4 2015 - Warriors 16 Broncos 24

It's close in the head to head between these two clubs with the Broncos holding the advantage 16-15 after 31 matches. The Warriors have a dreadful record at Suncorp winning just 3 of 10 matches played there. Furthermore, when the Broncos played their home matches at QEII from 1993-2003, the Warriors only won 2 of 7 games-Brisbane is not a happy hunting ground for the traveling Warriors. 

Who to watch: With the injury to Jordan Kahu, Jack Reed returns to the starting side in the centres for Brisbane. I expect the Warriors to send a lot of traffic his way to try and find a kink in his Armour. The fact that he has had offseason shoulder surgery will mean it could be a tricky baptism of fire for the English International. 

For the Warriors it is going to come down to their backline. After playing from behind for a large majority of last weeks game, it was the backs who got them back into the game. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was a passenger for most of the game (apart from a long 70m break in the 2nd half). He needs to be churning out large metres from kick returns to give the Warriors good field position. Particularly with the good kicking games of Ben Hunt and Andrew McCullough. If RTS can give Shaun Johnson some support in attack then the fortunes of the Warriors could turn around. It will take time for him to transition into the Warriors set up, however fans might not be so generous given the amount of money he's earning. I expect him to bounce back and cause the Broncos some issues.

The favourite: Brisbane heavily backed in this game and rightfully so after last week's workman's like performance.

My tip:It's almost impossible to go past Brisbane at home against an inconsistent Warriors outfit. I just think that the Broncos are too methodical to lose this game. The Warriors could trouble them with their brand of ad-lib footy, but they will need their forwards to lay the platform and a team effort for 80 minutes. Can they do it? Friday will give us the answer. Brisbane by 12.

1. Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. Jack Reed 4. James Roberts 19. Jordan Kahu 6. Anthony Milford 7. Ben Hunt 8. Josh McGuire 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Adam Blair 11. Alex Glenn 12. Matt Gillett 13. Corey Parker
Interchange: 14. Jarrod Wallace 15. Sam Thaiday 16. Jo Ofanhengaue 17. Kodi Nikorima

1. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 2. Tuimoala Lolohea 3. Blake Ayshford 4. Solomone Kata 5. Manu Vatuvei 6. Shaun Johnson 7. Jeff Robson 8. Jacob Lillyman 9. Issac Luke 10. Ben Matulino 11. Bodene Thompson 12. Ryan Hoffman 13. Simon Mannering
Interchange: 14. Nathaniel Roache 15. Sam Lisone 16. James Gavet 17. Raymond Faitala-Mariner

Referees: Gerard Sutton, Matt Noyen; Sideline Officials: Michael Wise, Clayton Sharpe; Video Referees: Luke Patten, Jason Robinson, Bernard Sutton;