The visit of the currently unbeaten Canterbury Bulldogs to Suncorp on Thursday night has become a “must win” for the Broncos who are looking to regain momentum after back-to-back losses.
The 20-18 loss to the Warriors last Saturday in Auckland, was the result of leaking three tries in 13 minutes of the second-half.
Paddy Carrigan with 53 tackles and Payne Haas running 219 metres were the highlights for the Broncos but the 69% completion rate against the Warriors 84% wasn’t going to get it done.
Madge Maguire’s men will be without Reece Walsh, who has a knee injury. Selwyn Cobbo will move to fullback and Deine Marriner will play on the wing. Brendan Piakura will be on the bench after his two match suspension for a high tackle charge.
The Bulldogs are aiming for their first “7 match winning streak” since 2014, and will field the same starting 13 as last week’s win against the Rabbitohs. Harry Hayes will replace Jack Todd on the bench, Todd out with a fractured arm.
After shutting out the Knights (20-0) and the Rabbitohs (32-0) in the last two games, the Bulldogs defence is building a big reputation, partly down to their strong line speed, they concede on average only 9 points per game. Their left-edge attack is their offensive edge. Second half stamina is also proving an area of dominance, having held several teams scoreless in the second stanza this year. After seven years straight of missing the playoffs, the Bulldogs broke that run last year and in 2025 have taken their performance to a new level under Cameron Ciraldo, in his third season.
The Broncos will really need the Suncorp crowd to lift them over the line, the game kicks off at 7.50 p.m.
The Broncos will run out at Suncorp on Saturday night, feeling they are looking like championship contenders under Madge Maguire but also knowing that there’s plenty of scope for improvement.
The 12-20 win last week against the Dolphins in front of a soggy 44,278 fans, was the result of one try for each team in the second half — Gehemat Shibasaki grabbing his second after opening the scoring in the 11th minute, Jake Averillo going over with five minutes to go for the Dolphins.
Kotoni Staggs made a big impression on his first game back, running 122 metres from 15 possessions and scoring a crucial try. Haas and Carrigan ran 142m and 114m respectively. But Shibasaki’s 158m from 17 possessions was a massive shift. Payne Haas led the tackle count with 41, Jensen 38, Paix had 36 and Carrigan had 35.
The Broncos carry a very strong record against the Wests Tigers, 23 wins with 9 losses and 1 draw over the 33 matches played, and currently sit third with a 3 wins, 1 loss record. The Wests Tigers have shown better form this season than recent years and carry a 2-2 record, including a very narrow loss last week to the Warriors, 24-26. In that game Terrell May’s try with 20 minutes left was ruled out by the bunker for dropping the ball over the line, that would have put them two scores ahead with 20 minutes left.
Wests will miss Jarome Luai who got a one match suspension from a Grade 2 careless high tackle charge against the Warriors last week. Adam Doeihi comes back after a groin injury.
Last week Terrell May ran 152 metres and delivered three offloads as well as making 48 tackles for Wests.
