2015 Round 1 Donkeys v Rabbits

[TITAN PETE]

BRONCOS V RABBITOHS - THURS 5 MAR, 7.05PM AEST (8.05PM AEDT) SUNCORP STADIUM |

Broncos
1 Jordan Kahu
2 Dale Copley
3 Jack Reed
4 Justin Hodges (c)
5 Lachlan Maranta
6 Anthony Milford
7 Ben Hunt
8 Josh McGuire
9 Andrew McCullough
10 Adam Blair
11 Alex Glenn
12 Sam Thaiday
13 Corey Parker

Interchange
14 Mitchell Dodds
15 James Gavet
16 Matt Gillett
17 Aaron Whitchurch
18 Kodi Nikorima

Coach: Wayne Bennett


Rabbitohs
1 Greg Inglis (c)
2 Alex Johnston
3 Dylan Walker
4 Bryson Goodwin
5 Joel Reddy
6 Luke Keary
7 Adam Reynolds
8 George Burgess
9 Issac Luke
10 Dave Tyrrell
11 Glenn Stewart
12 John Sutton
13 Ben Lowe

Interchange
14 Chris Grevsmuhl
15 Jason Clark
16 Chris McQueen
17 Thomas Burgess
18 Tim Grant
19 Cameron McInnes
20 Daryl Millard

Coach: Michael Maguire

[TITAN PETE]

Broncos v Rabbitohs preview

Thu 05 Mar, 2015, 12:00pm
By Matt Harris, Queensland Correspondent, NRL.com


Broncos v Rabbitohs
Suncorp Stadium
Thursday 5 March 7.05pm (AEST)

The look of freshly mown grass, the click-clack of boots on concrete, the smell of oil (both liniment and from the deep fryer), the drinks flowing and the crowd overflowing.

It can only mean one thing – rugby league is back.

An endless summer has given way to autumn and by the opening whistle on Thursday night, 152 days would have elapsed since the full-time siren sounded on the 2014 Grand Final.

Although the Four Nations, Auckland Nines and World Club Series have been run and won in the interim, nothing quite compares to the sheer thrill and excitement of the opening round of an NRL season.

Recent off-field dramas engulfing the game are set to be extinguished when defending premiers South Sydney travel north to take on a Brisbane Broncos side reinvigorated by the return of master coach Wayne Bennett and the addition of some new faces in key positions.

Bennett's return to the Broncos' helm is just one of many subplots surrounding this Round 1 blockbuster. Justin Hodges becomes sole captain of the Broncos with former co-captain Corey Parker lining up for his 300th NRL match – becoming only the second Bronco to do so behind future Immortal Darren Lockyer.

There'll be new faces for the Broncos too with Anthony Milford, Adam Blair and James Gavet all named in Bennett's 18-man squad.


Jordan Kahu starts the season at fullback in place of the injured Darius Boyd and after two years in the rugby league wilderness, outside back Aaron Whitchurch has impressed Brisbane's coaching staff enough to earn a place on the bench.

The Rabbitohs will start the season in a position they haven't been in since 1972 – as defending premiers.

However, they look just as potent as last season despite the loss of Sam and Luke Burgess, with Manly veteran Glenn Stewart a ready-made replacement coming straight into the side.

Success in the Auckland Nines and their 39-0 drubbing of St Helens in the World Club Challenge will provide a massive boost for the Bunnies as they look to become the first side to win back-to-back premierships since the Broncos did in 1992/93.

Chris Grevsmuhl, Tim Grant and Stewart will don the cardinal and myrtle jersey for the first time with Souths coach Michael Maguire naming an extended bench of seven for the trip to Brisbane.

Did You Know: New Broncos recruit Anthony Milford was only six years old when Corey Parker made his first-grade debut against the New Zealand Warriors in Round 6, 2001. Justin Hodges was playing his seventh NRL match.

Watch out Broncos: For Broncos fans the night will be about Bennett and Parker. However another Immortal-in-waiting, Greg Inglis, will be out to break the hearts of the home fans yet again. Inglis scored four tries against the Broncos in 2014 – a hat-trick in Round 23 at ANZ Stadium and a brilliant 85-metre solo effort in Round 8 at Suncorp. The Rabbitohs fullback had another stellar season in 2014 – crossing for 13 tries and laying on 15 try assists – however it's Inglis's kick-return ability that has the Broncos nervous.

Brisbane's fledging halves pairing of Ben Hunt and Anthony Milford have been putting in extra work on their kicking game this week in order to limit the kick return metres of Souths' skipper, who topped the kick-return metres chart in 2014 with 1,658 metres. The Broncos may attempt to kick the ball into touch at times to limit his carries, although keeping him quiet for the full 80 minutes is another story.

Watch out Rabbitohs: Corey Parker will likely lead the Broncos out on Thursday night in honour of his 300th game, but new skipper Justin Hodges will be proudly running out of the tunnel right behind him. Hodges' transition from larrikin to leader over the course of his 15-year career has been a long and winding road. Now 32, the veteran centre is targeting another premiership under the tutelage of Wayne Bennett, fully casting aside their acrimonious split when Hodges signed for the Sydney Roosters in 2001. A right-sided centre by trade, Hodges is tipped to fill in at fullback when the Broncos are on the offensive and then switch back to his preferred position while defending.

South Sydney must also keep a close eye out for Hodges around the play-the-ball due to his notoriety as an effective dummy-half runner. Hodges averaged five dummy-half runs per game in 2014 at an average of almost nine metres per run. Similarly to Inglis, implementing a plan to stop Hodges is easier said than done.

Key Match-Up: Luke Keary & Adam Reynolds v Anthony Milford & Ben Hunt.

The halves match-up of Souths' Keary and Reynolds against new Brisbane pairing Milford and Hunt shapes as another intriguing sidenote. Keary's introduction into the side late last year allowed John Sutton to shift into a ball-playing back-rower, offering the Rabbitohs another dimension in attack.

Halfback Reynolds was a mainstay during Souths' premiership season and managed 16 try assists, seven tries and four line breaks during the year, while kicking an impressive 105 goals from 120 attempts at an average of 87.5 per cent. For the Broncos, Hunt was the clear standout performer in 2014 and the pressure is now on the 24-year-old to avoid becoming a one-season wonder.

Hunt's figures last season were nothing short of astonishing: 13 tries, 19 try assists, 19 line-break assists and 20 line breaks came from his 25 games. His halves partner, Canberra recruit Anthony Milford, only started five matches at five-eighth last year but still had a heavy role in the playmaking duties. Milford ended the season with 12 tries, 14 try assists, 16 line breaks and 16 line-break assists. The 20-year-old is likely to play a more structured brand of football under the watch of Bennett and it's likely to take a handful of games together before he starts to gel with Hunt.

The History: Played 30; Broncos 21, Rabbitohs 8, Drawn 1.

South Sydney may have been Brisbane's perennial whipping boys throughout the 1990s and 2000s, but since 2011 – the season Inglis joined the club – the Bunnies have held a slender head-to-head advantage over the Broncos.

Since meeting in Round 16, 2011, Souths have won four out of seven games against Brisbane including the last three encounters. Souths beat Brisbane by an aggregate score of 70-42 last season, outscoring Brisbane by 12 tries to eight.

What Are The Odds: Brisbane Broncos $2.35 South Sydney Rabbitohs $1.60

Over three times more individual bets have been placed on the Bunnies in the head-to-head market, therefore firming them as warm favourites. South Sydney were $2.03 outsiders at one stage of betting, although this was back in November.


Match Officials: Referee: Gerard Sutton. Assistant Referee: Grant Atkins. Touch Judges: Russell Turner and David Munro. Video Referees: Jared Maxwell and Luke Phillips.

Televised: Channel 9 – 7pm (AEST).

The Way We See It: As far as form is concerned, the Auckland Nines and World Club Series are the only guides to read off in 2015. It'll take a few matches before we see both sides fully hit their straps and on paper the Rabbitohs look better equipped to hit the ground running having taken out both of these pre-season trophies. The Broncos will be up for the challenge against the defending premiers and with a raucous home crowd, Wayne Bennett's return and Corey Parker's 300th providing increased motivation, they may well pull off an early-season upset. However, in a low-scoring affair, it's the Rabbitohs by four points.

[TITAN PETE]

The Donkeys getting toweled in game 1 of the year , I love this game

Am I the only that thinks Jack Reed is a piss poor 1st grader ...wouldn't feed him

[JunctionBlock]

Jesus, I hope Bennett sticks with this team when we meet them next.

[Show and Go]

That was fun. I doubt the Donkeys will play that bad again this season though.

[Mexican titan]

Pretty poor standard game but the heat would be the reason. Many premiers look like they have the winning hangover but Souths look right on the ball already. Great coach Maguire.

[Toads]

Here's hoping this is the standard of footy we can expect from the Donkeys for the remainder of the season. Rabbitohs showed 'em up bigtime, tonight.

[DIEHARD]

Bunnies machine rolls on. Hope the Broncos are playing like that when we face them.

[TITAN PETE]

Rampant Rabbitohs blow Broncos away

Thu 05 Mar, 2015, 10:00pm
By Matt Harris, NRL.com


A second half try-scoring blitz by the Bunnies has blown the Broncos away 36-6 in the opening game of the 2015 NRL season at Suncorp Stadium.

With the pre-match hype centred on Corey Parker's 300th NRL match and Wayne Bennett's return to the Broncos' helm, the Rabbitohs piled on four tries in the second stanza to send the majority of the 36,057 crowd home disappointed.

Broncos v Rabbitohs: Five key points
Bennett slams Thaiday, Broncos over penalties
Globe-trotting pre-season made us stronger: Maguire

Only trailing 10-2 at half-time, Brisbane soon had the game snatched from their grasp when the visitors scored three quick-fire tries between the 44th and 57th minute before Joel Reddy iced the result 11 minutes from fulltime.

Luke Keary, Issac Luke and Adam Reynolds were particularly dangerous for South Sydney with the latter slotting eight from eight with the boot.

Errors and penalties were evenly shared between both sides, although the Rabbitohs did enjoy 61 percent of possession and made over 500 metres more than the Broncos.

Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire was pleased with the way his side built pressure in the second half which eventually led to a glut of points scored by his side.

"The boys in the first half had opportunities at times but we weren't clinical down close to the line. I thought in the second half they started to take those [opportunities]," Maguire said.

"Obviously the pressure built and we were able to complete our sets and the boys scored some good tries off the back end."

Maguire was particularly complimentary of his halves combination of Luke Keary and Adam Reynolds, who were a constant danger throughout the match with the latter booting eight from eight goals.

"[Adam] is growing and growing as a senior player on our team. He's played plenty of footy now and he understands the game and he's got a great partner in crime there with Luke Keary.

"Luke Keary and Adam [Reynolds] really stood up tonight – particularly in that second half.

"I thought Glenn Stewart chimed in really well with John Sutton in the back-row.

"So we've got that difference about us now whether it's through the middle or up an edge."

On the other side of the ledger, Broncos coach Wayne Bennett lamented the fact that his side couldn’t build pressure in the same vein as their opposition.

"South Sydney were extremely good and there's a lot of lessons in that. We need to realise what the good teams do compared to the teams that aren’t so good," Bennett said.

"The game is too clinical today to make the mistakes we make in our game and think we can compete with the top teams.

"At half-time they had 20 sets and we had 13 and we paid a price for that in the second half.

"You can't have the best team in the competition seven sets in front at half-time because of penalties and repeat sets that they weren’t giving away.

"We needed a game one... We needed to come out here to see where we are really at.

"You don’t know until you get put under pressure and they put on more pressure than any other team in the comp.

"So in a cynical way I'm pleased we did play them tonight because at least we know how far we need to go."

Before the game had even started there was a drama, with a blackout in the western stand affecting the change rooms and also causing the pre- game entertainment to be cancelled.

Once the on-field action commenced it was the Rabbitohs who opened the scoring after five minutes courtesy of a Reynolds penalty goal.

Reynolds slotted the easy two points on offer from directly in front after the Broncos conceded successive play-the-ball infringements.

The Broncos squared the ledger three minutes later when 300-gamer Parker slotted a penalty from right in front.

After a conservative start by both sides, a blatant forward pass by Jordan Kahu at dummy-half allowed the Bunnies another crack at Brisbane's line.

Souths earned themselves back-to-back sets but failed to take advantage and moments later they lost Tom Burgess to a shoulder injury, with debutant Chris Grevsmuhl replacing the England international.

It took until the 28th minute for the opening try to be scored and it was a defensive error by Jack Reed which allowed Dylan Walker to weave his way over the line from close range.

Reynolds' conversion was on target, handing the visitors an 8-2 lead 10 minutes out from the break.

The Rabbitohs received their seventh penalty of the match in the closing minutes of the half and Reynolds successfully nailed his long-range attempt to hand his side a 10-2 lead at half-time.

Kahu's shaky night went from bad to worse when the Broncos fullback spilt a spiralling bomb which led to John Sutton scoring under the posts in the next set.

The Bunnies extended their lead to 20 points in the 48th minute after quick hands by Issac Luke and Luke Keary allowed Alex Johnston to cruise down the sideline and deliver a clever inside ball for Greg Inglis to latch on and score.

Reynolds made no mistake from the sideline to hand Souths a 22-2 lead.

Just as the Broncos looked down and out, new skipper Justin Hodges sent Matt Gillett over the line to hand the home team some hope with the scoreboard reading 22-6 after 55 minutes.

Any chance the Broncos had of mounting a comeback evaporated seconds later when Luke scooted from dummy-half, dishing off to Inglis who then passed to an unmarked Keary to take the score out to 28-6.

The Bunnies continued to ride roughshod over the Broncos with another try in the 69th minute when winger Joel Reddy crossed unmarked out wide.

Reynolds' golden night with the boot continued when he nailed yet another penalty after the fulltime siren all the way back at halfway to hand South Sydney a 30-point victory.

South Sydney Rabbitohs 36 (Dylan Walker, John Sutton, Greg Inglis, Luke Keary, Joel Reddy tries; Adam Reynolds 8 goals) def. Brisbane Broncos 6 (Matt Gillett tries; Corey Parker 1 goal) at Suncorp Stadium. Half-time: Rabbitohs 10-2. Crowd: 36,057. On Report: James Gavet (Broncos); Ben Lowe (Rabbitohs).