Source :- THE AGE NEWS
But given that, one, Brisbane boast a small galaxy of enigmatic, brilliant attacking players; and, two, the apparent madcap way the NRL will be played and officiated in 2026, this might be the season where diabolical defensive lapses aren’t a complete death knell.
After a widening of the set-restart remit in the off-season led to a 35 per cent increase in “six-agains” in round one, Thursday’s match at Suncorp steered into a skid, with Brisbane and Parramatta at times in danger of flying through the windscreen.
Twelve tries in all, with five lead-changes, Reece Walsh brilliance and blunders, some scything attacking play and sickly defence made for the most unpredictable of contests – and ultimately a 40-32 Eels win that wasn’t secured until the 79th minute.
Fox League’s fancy new “Momentum Tracker” tool was spotted in a stupor at the Caxton early on Friday morning, still trying to work out what had just happened.
What happened, at least for the first 17 minutes, was all Brisbane. With Walsh in ominous touch and thinking “run” as his first, second and third options, the Broncos piled up 13 sets to Parramatta’s four (one of which lasted just one tackle) in that opening period.
Tries to Walsh and Kotoni Staggs came all too easily, and could have been joined by a couple more from Jordan Riki and Gehamat Shibasaki that would have given the Broncos a 24-0 lead.
Instead, it was Eels back-rower Kelma Tuilagi strolling to the tryline via Ezra Mam’s inside shoulder.
Brisbane then enjoyed five sets in eight minutes to just one completed by Parramatta – thanks to a Jonah Pezet escort penalty, an Eels mistake and Payne Haas’ walkover try.
When Parramatta had their turn with the ball, Brisbane’s only touch for eight minutes was Haas’ fumble of a grubber into Ryley Smith’s path for the first of three Eels tries.
Mam’s outside shoulder had a bullseye painted on it, he and Shibasaki defended like they had just met, and by halftime, Michael Maguire’s expletive-laden rants from Tiger Town had company.
Another five tries and topsy-turvy footy followed in a similar fashion to several of the one-sided contests of round one. Momentum reigned supreme.
As long as the NRL persists with set-restarts and a loathing of any form of stoppage, this seems to be how the game will be played.
And unless a front-running team tosses its momentum away, or a rearguard defence shows particular mettle, the blowouts of round one and 2021 (when six-agains were last so widely used) are in play.
“Every time there’s a six-again, especially if it’s late in the tackle count, it just cooks you,” Jonah Pezet, star of Thursday night’s show, told Channel Nine after being asked about the rapid ruck speed so far this season.
“You’ve got to be so disciplined now, and there’s no accountability with [a six again call] either, you’ve just got to get on with it.
“You can’t challenge anything, you can’t blow up, you’ve just got to get on with it. The team that gets the last play and the team that’s most disciplined is going to win every week, especially early [in the season] when not many people have [match] fitness.”
Parramatta can rightly take plenty from Isaiah Iongi and Pezet outpointing their opposite numbers Walsh and Mam, even if Pezet is Brisbane-bound next season.
For all the running of a 72-point game and Walsh’s showstopping solo chip and chase try (from first receiver, on the first tackle if you don’t mind), Iongi’s best play was the kind you truly build a game, season and career on.
All or nothing: Reece Walsh on Thursday night.Credit: NRL Imagery
Mam threatened to reprise Walsh’s chip-kicking pyrotechnics in the 74th minute with a dangerous kick of his own. Iongi not only swung in to defuse the play, but raced 25 metres through his own in-goal to avoid a repeat set.
Along with two highlight reel tries, Walsh botched two long kick receptions from Mitchell Moses – the downside of rugby league’s ultimate high-roller.
With a third-straight capitulation once Brisbane’s shock World Club Challenge loss to Hull KR is taken in, the spotlight on Maguire and rumours around Red Hill will only intensify.
Maguire has two premierships, the most recent won just four games ago. Only seven coaches in the game’s history have won multiple titles – none have had their methods and madness questioned as regularly and openly as he has.
Less than 12 hours before kick-off against Parramatta, Brisbane’s coach was in The Courier Mail, dismissing the widely spread whisper that Haas had walked out of a pre-season boot camp in protest. Maguire declared that Haas, just like several senior players, did not even attend the camp because they were still on holidays.
Such is life at rugby league’s biggest club – with an entire footy-mad city and its media infatuated with Walsh and co – when Haas goes to South Sydney and defence and discipline goes out the window.
Luckily, things should calm down a bit over the next week. Relief awaits in Melbourne next Friday with a grand final rematch.
Brisbane and rugby league. Just. A bit. Doing.
