May The Better Side Lose

The old cliche says may the best side win, but at Canberra Stadium on a balmy Canberra autumn evening, that was not the case. The Canberra Raiders, down, out and suffering after a 52-6 thrashing at the hands of Newcastle a week earlier did everything but come away with victory against a much more highly regarded Brisbane Broncos outfit.

Brisbane, just 6 days after one of the most epic encounters in recent memory against the Sharks, visibly suffered the after effects, playing their flattest 80 minutes of the season. The Raiders didn't miss the Broncos' lethargy and controlled the match until the final 10 minutes. It was then that 35 year old Allan Langer came to the fore to revive memories of his hey day by pulling his side out of the fire when all hope seemed lost.

The Broncos trailed by 6 and had few options that were causing any palpitations for a well drilled and committed Canberra defensive line. A penalty gave the Broncos good attacking position and Langer was the man to capitalise. Running onto dummyhalf, Phil Lee's pass, Langer was too quick for the tiring Canberra forwards and planted the ball beside the uprights, De Vere's conversion levelling the scores.

That was Brisbane's second penalty of the match. Their third decided it. Canberra second rower Ruben Wiki, who had played a powerhouse 75 minutes, gave it all away when he lay all over Shaun Berrigan to concede a penalty 30 metres out, 10 metres in from touch. De Vere sent the ball sailing between the uprights to give Brisbane the lead, and despite a frantic final three minutes, the Broncos held on.

Earlier it was a very different story. Stand-in fullback, Lote Tuqiri, got off to an horrendous start when he fumbled an innocuous kick 20 metres out from his own line. Four tackles later Brett Finch dived on a Mark McLinden grubber to give the Raiders the perfect start. A Canberra mistake allowed Lee to hit back almost immediately, capitalising on a break by Petero Civoniceva.

But Canberra weren't to be denied in their best 40 minutes of the season. Confident play on the last tackle saw the Raiders get outside the Broncos defence, James Evans finding Michael Robertson in support who crashed over under the attentions of Tuqiri and Chris Walker.

The Raiders then scored the try of the match when Evans was involved again, catching a Clinton Schifcofske cross field kick and throwing it back for Wiki, running on the spot, to score. The video referee was called, but it was simply to marvel at Evans' quick thinking and brilliant skill. Schifcofske missed the conversion but it gave the Raiders a 14-4 lead.

Walker made up for his wide-out misdemeanours with a scintillating break just before half time. Captain, Gorden Tallis, capitalised two tackles later, storming out of dummy half from 10 metres out to crash over under the posts to keep the Broncos within striking distance at half time.

Coach Wayne Bennett will be happy with the two competition points and the second display of his side's fighting qualities in as many matches, but there was little else to get terribly excited about. Props Shane Webcke and Civoniceva were visibly tired and failed to make a solid impact, Civoniceva playing only 40 minutes of the contest. Dane Carlaw and Gorden Tallis were strong in the back row, but the back up from Brad Meyers, Andrew Gee and Carl Webb was anything but inspiring. Hooker Michael Ryan and lock Phil Lee played strongly but both picked up injuries that will be in question before next weekend's vital match against cellar dwellars Penrith. Gee is unlikely to be there either after being reported for a forearm strike on Terry Martin late in the first half. The incident was similar to those which saw Tallis and Newcastle's Andrew Johns outed last season for 3 weeks each.

The backline failed to pressure the Raiders outside defence too often, although the Broncos did make more than three times as many line breaks as their opposition. Walker, Berrigan and Langer were chiefly responsible for the breaks. The Raiders were allowed only two line breaks for the match which is a testament to the Broncos' commitment in defence. Possession was heavily in favour of Canberra, however, the Raiders fell off 8 more tackles than the Broncos, despite Brisbane making a massive 303 to Canberra's 267. Tuqiri was once again disappointing as his tryscoring drought extends to 5 matches.

For the Raiders, Ruben Wiki, Ryan O'Hara, Todd Payten and Terry Martin were outstanding up front. Michael Hodgson was also impressive off the bench. Mark McLinden and Brett Finch caused the Broncos plenty of problems with their varied kicking games, however they failed to set up many opportunities for their outside men, other than Robertson's classy first half try. Schifcofske was once again an outstanding performer, while Evans and Robertson were impressive out wide. Redcliffe back, Phil Graham, had a solid debut up against fellow former Dolphin, Brent Tate.

The Broncos will enjoy the 8 day break they have before clashing with Penrith at ANZ Stadium next Sunday. The forwards desperately need a break, and coming up against former teammate Luke Priddis with a point to prove will test them.

Play of the Day

James Evans (Canberra) had a brilliant night, but easily his best effort was the catch and lay back for Ruben Wiki's try. Evans leapt high above Broncos winger, Chris Walker, and had the presence of mind to fling the ball back inside to Wiki before going into touch in goal.