We knew Madge was a disciplinarian when he came to Red Hill but today, he punched that ticket pretty hard.
Gehmat Shibasaki is being dropped to the reserves after a disciplinary breach, for what has to be the biggest as well as final game of the regular season.
The viral Reece Walsh drinking from his toilet bowl incident, dismissed by the club as “poor humour” will also likely not have the Broncos star in the best mindset.
So Madge is rowing against the tide, but will send his troops out onto Suncorp in this dramatic finale against the second-placed, Storm, on Thursday night for an epic end to a rollercoaster regular season.
A team brimming with talent, where many are quiet, hard workers, can only benefit from firm guardrails to deliver their best on the field, so Madge’s authority is welcome, though demoting one of the season’s stars must have tested his principles.
His management of the Ezra Mam drama, the effervescence of Reece Walshand now the Shibaski error has appeared very sound and in his first season at Red Hill, appears to be delivering progress as noted by the push for the four. These are young, hard-working blokes desperate to please a city they are proud of, but in need of oversight and mentorship.
Last week’s win at the Cowboys in Townsville was a must-win, and the Broncos will carry plenty of attacking confidence into the game even without Shibasaki, though they were shut down in their game in Melbourne by the Storm defence only a month ago, when they lost 22-2.
Despite apparently looking for the “w”, the Storm have nothing to play for as they will finish second either way. If the Broncos can have a big first half, will Craig Bellamy keep his biggest wepons on the field? There’s no doubt they won’t want to enter the play-offs with two consecutive defeats having been rolled by the Roosters 40-10 last week.
Jessie Arthurs will be back on the wing. Deine Mariner will play in the centres. Brendan Piakura starts in the back row.
Adam Reynolds will sit out, hoping his hamstring tweak will be ready for the play-offs. Coming back too early was potentially a vital error driven by Reynolds himself, though you can’t blame him for wanting to contribute to a team straining to make the four.
For the Storm, Jahrome Hughes will be back. Will he be 100% after 6 weeks on the sidelines with a shoulder injury? It feels like a case of giving their star gametime before the playoffs rather than being confident he can deliver everything the Storm need. Surely he will be targeted to disrupt half-back flow?
The Ben Hunt-Billy Walters combo will need to be at their best against the Hughes-Munster duo. Bellamy brings back Xavier Coates, Eli Katoa, Nick Meaney and Josh King, after being rested last week. Attivalu Lisati starts at second row. Tui Kamikamica will be on the bench.
Huge game and surely the 14th man on the field, the Broncos faithful will nudge the boys over the line. Kick off is 7.30pm at Suncorp, if you can’t make it the game will be broadcast live on Channel 9, 9 Now, Foxtel and Kayo.
Published 3-Sept-2025
