Wests Tigers go back-to-back to stun Broncos

v BYE

The Wests Tigers have stunned an Origin-depleted Brisbane Broncos 19-18 in one of the upsets of the season at Suncorp Stadium this evening. For the second week in a row the Broncos were on the wrong end of a 19-18 scoreline after losing to the Cowboys by the same margin last Friday in Townsville.

Despite missing six players due to Queensland selection, the Broncos were heavy favourites heading into the match and were expected to be too strong for the visiting Wests Tigers, especially with superstar halves in Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt still in their line up. The Tigers however, were missing their own stars in NSW representative players Aaron Woods and Robbie Farah, as well as injured fullback James Tedesco, who will all likely return next week against the Roosters.

The visitors, who came into the match with a scrappy win over the last placed Knights last week had other ideas, managed to hold on over a fast-finishing Brisbane outfit to win by a Mitchell Moses field goal, with Broncos half Ben Hunt missing a last gasp chance to tie it up with his own field goal attempt going wide in the dying seconds.

Despite missing representative fullback Darius Boyd, it still seemed as though he was the #1 jersey, as a very familar Broncos backline play saw stand-in custodian Jordan Kahu throw a beautiful cut out ball to send English winger Greg Eden over for his first NRL try untouched in the corner, to get the Broncos off to a great start. Kahu then converted from the sideline to make it 6-nil after ten minutes.

The Tigers continued to give the Broncos great field possession with poor last tackle options, with the ball going dead on 4 separate occasions from their halves in Moses and Luke Brooks, rewarding Brisbane with continuous seven tackle sets.

A terrific one-on-one strip from Wests Tigers winger Josh Addo-Carr got the away side on the front foot when he stripped the ball from Broncos' centre James Roberts - a steal that would not have looked out of place on the basketball court. This saw the Tigers on the attack and a fantastic inside ball from halfback Brooks to new recruit Elijah Taylor saw him wrestle his way over to score his first try for his new club. Jordan Rankin added the extras to tie it up at 6-all after eighteen minutes. Brisbane then took the lead 2 minutes later after hooker Dene Halatau gave away a penalty on the last tackle right in front of the posts. Kahu took the 2 points on offer to extend the lead 8-6.

Tigers centre Tim Simona then burst onto a flat pass from Brooks to score in the 30th minute and they hit the front with Rankin converting the Simona try to make it 12-8 to the Tigers closing in on halftime.

Just prior to the break, Wests Tigers looked to have really taken the momentum when Kevin Naiqama seemed to have scored, however replays showed that Tigers interchange forward Kyle Lovett had interfered with Anthony Milford and the try was disallowed for obstruction.  The visitors went to the break with all the momentum thanks to the two tries laid on by Brooks, leading 12-8 and an upset looked like being on the cards.

The Broncos rookies looked to make an impact in the second half, however former Raiders junior, Tevita Pangai Jr put on a late hit on Tigers lock Elijah Taylor, which gifted the away team with a penalty right in front of the posts. Jordan Rankin subsequently extended the Tigers lead to 14-8.

Simona then blew a golden opportunity to score his second try of the night after spilling a perfect grubber from Brooks in the in-goal, and the Tigers missed a golden opportunity to take the match away from the home side.

Five minutes later Brisbane made them pay, with a nice run around move from Ben Hunt, who offloaded to centre James Roberts who muscled his way over to get the Broncos back in the match. Jordan Kahu missed the conversion from the sideline and the Tigers lead was reduced to 14-12 after 52 minutes.

The game again came to life when Josh Addo-Carr made a bust and was brought down by some desperate Broncos defence. Some poor discipline lead to back to back penalties from the hosts, and that man Addo-Carr added to his tally of tries this season touching down in the corner from a dubious Simona last pass. Ahead by six with fifteen on the clock, the visitors looked in control.

Both sides then struggled with their last tackle options, with Broncos lock Jarrod Wallace finding himself kicking on the last on one occasion. The Tigers on the other hand didn't seem to think the option of one point was crucial until nine minutes from time when five-eighth Mitchell Moses extended their lead to 7 points, and with five minutes remaining the Tigers looked home and hosed. Brisbane had other ideas, when off the next set a beautiful Ben Hunt cross field kick floated over the head of Addo-Carr and onto the chest of winger Lachlan Maranta to set up a grandstand finish. Kahu added the extras and all of the sudden it was one point the difference again, with two minutes left on the clock.

Brisbane had one more chance to snatch the equalizer and send the game into Golden Point, however they failed to get organised, when skipper Adam Blair couldn't find either of his halves from dummy half to take the kick with seconds left. Ben Hunt was then in position with seconds remaining but missed with his attempt handing the Tigers a well deserved win.

The Broncos now have to snap a two-game losing streak across the Tasman next week, where they travel to Auckland to face a desperately out of form Warriors side next Saturday afternoon - a side that will be fresh off the bye this week with no players backing up from Origin.

Wests Tigers meanwhiel will attempt to make it three wins on the trot - and welcome back superstar fullback James Tedesco who will return from injury, likely along with NSW stars Aaron Woods and Robbie Farah, against the Roosters at Allianz Stadium next Sunday.