Broncos, Stadium Let Down
by
Sunday June 01, 2003

The Brisbane Broncos have sent more than 46000 fans home unhappy after their worst performance of the season so far in going down 32-22 to Newcastle at Suncorp-Metway Stadium.  And fans were also left frustrated with a range of hassles with the much vaunted but ultimately overhyped new venue, and particularly its inadequate facilities for dispersing a crowd that size after the game.

The Broncos led 12-10 at half time, and that was enough to show most fans that they weren't on their game. With the possession and field position they enjoyed in the first half, they should have led by at least 18 points.

Three certain tryscoring opportunities were squandered through either impatience or ineptitude - or perhaps a bit of both.  Even the irrepressible Darren Lockyer contributed, his selfish dive at winger Stu Kelly's grubber kick which Kelly more than easily had covered was a rare blunder by one of the game's true champions.

The Knights needed no second invitation in the second half, blitzing the Broncos with three tries in seven minutes.  Anthony Quinn scored either side of half time - the first when he got outside Kelly, and the second when he latched onto a pathetic Ben Ikin pass near half way.  Timana Tahu crossed moments later to turn a 12-4 deficit into a 20-12 lead.

Newcastle, having uncovered a glaring hole in the Broncos' left side defence patrolled by Michael De Vere and Scott Minto, scored another two tries in the right corner to extend the lead to an embarrassing 32-12.  The Broncos scored consolation tries to Dane Carlaw and Stuart Kelly - who finally got the try he should have had in the first half - in the final five minutes, but it was too little, too late, and an undeserved addition to respectability.

With the State of Origin side named tomorrow, the Broncos' attentions will be turned to the interstate contest which, despite the soap opera between Andrew Johns and Phil Gould - or perhaps illustrated by it - is fast losing its significance, but is increasingly interfering with both the club competition and the game's quest to reinstate international football as a relevant part of the football calendar.

State of Origin one kicks off at Suncorp-Metway Stadium on June 11, and on today's dress rehearsal there will be a lot of work to be done, both by stadium staff and external providers, particularly Queensland Rail, to ensure it's not a total disaster.  Fans were left waiting upwards of two hours to get to Milton Station, the so-called easy access walkway from the stadium to the station resembling a cattle station on muster. With the bulk of passengers at Milton heading towards Ipswich, patrons were left dumbfounded when no less than seven trains came in the other direction, but waits of up to 20 minutes between each train heading west.

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