25/04/2008 10:54 PM
The Brisbane Broncos have continued South Sydney's season of woe with a solid 32-18 defeat of the winless Rabbitohs in front of 34,112 fans at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
Despite going into the break just eight points in front, the Broncos were never really challenged by the directionless Rabbitohs who have now slumped to seven straight losses to start the season.
Brisbane put the Anzac Day clash to bed with two tries in a four-minute period after half-time to grab a 26-6 lead before the Bunnies avoided a flogging with a spirited final quarter of the match which netted them two late tries.
Brisbane's win was soured somewhat by injuries to centres Steve Michaels (knee) and Justin Hodges (shoulder), but in some positive news, captain Darren Lockyer's troublesome knee made it through the entire 80 minutes, increasing the Aussie Test skipper's chances of being picked for the May 9 Centenary Test against New Zealand.
The match began in tragic circumstances for the off-contract Michaels, who was taken off in a medi-cab after his knee buckled under the pressure of Nigel Vagana's leg in the process of being grounded in a tackle. Early indications are he may be out for the season with a ruptured ACL.
His replacement, Joel Moon, was immediately into the action, feeding young winger Denan Kemp a sixth minute try in the left corner with his first touch. Hooker Michael Ennis shaved the left upright with his sideline conversion attempt leaving Brisbane 4-0 in front.
Ennis was on target in the 15th minute, slotting a penalty goal to give the Broncos a 6-0 lead.
Broncos prop Ben Hannant was denied a try 20 minutes in after centre David Stagg was pinged for holding back winger Nathan Merritt in the lead-up to the hulking forward crossing the chalk.
But the locals were not to be denied with Moon cutting back inside the defence to carry two players over the line in the 24th minute, giving his side a 10-point break.
A poor Hodges' error gave the Rabbitohs possession for their first try of the match, second-rower David Fa'alogo storming onto an inside Ben Rogers' pass in the 29th minute to reduce the Bunnies' deficit to four-points following Issac Luke's conversion.
Hodges gained redemption four minutes before the break when he charged onto a deft Tonie Carroll ball for a strong right-edge try. Ennis missed his third conversion to leave the Broncos in front 14-6 at half-time.
The Broncos jumped out to a 14-point lead in the 50th minute when Kemp positioned himself perfectly on the inside of Darius Boyd to finish off a stunning 60m movement initiated by best-on-ground Sam Thaiday.
The game was a good as over three minutes later courtesy of a 15m dummy-half dash from Ennis who twisted through some woeful Rabbitohs' goal-line defence to score.
Souths hit back with tries to Merritt in the 64th and 72nd minutes, before the Broncos capped off the win with Moon's second four-pointer on the stroke of full-time.
Broncos 32
Tries: Kemp 2, Moon 2, Hodges, Ennis
Conversions: Ennis 3
Penalty goals: Ennis
Rabbitohs 18
Tries: Merritt 2, Fa'alogo
Conversions: Ndaira 2, Luke
Sportal's NRL Player of the Year:
3 - Sam Thaiday (Broncos)
2 - Tonie Carroll (Broncos)
1 - Michael Ennis (Broncos)