A visit by the Broncos is always a big deal for the Melbourne Storm. While the on field rivalry might have been diminished in recent seasons, with the Broncos slump to the 2020 wooden spoon, the Broncos are currently top of the ladder and this week promises to be a good chance to see where both teams are at before #wrongpriorities season.
S02E03 – Brisbane Broncos vs Melbourne Storm
Before getting into the preview, this week we’re going all the way back to 1999 with this game from the archives.
It’s a steamy Sunday afternoon at ANZ Stadium, with the 1998 premiers entertaining Melbourne.1 Brisbane had started the season slowly, losing their opening two matches against Canberra and Cronulla, while Melbourne had beaten Penrith in the season opener at Olympic Park, but put in “their worst performance” against Balmain to lose 16–6 at Leichhardt Oval.
The immediate aesthetic of this game is how much better rugby league jerseys look without massive chest advertising logos clogging up the design. Melbourne had yet to sully the front of their jersey with a commercial logo, while surprisingly for the commercial behemoth Broncos, their only advertising logo on their sleeves was the then News Limited owned Ansett Australia.2
This was just the second game in the rugby league career of Lote Tuqiri and it showed, with the winger having a horror afternoon. It started in just the fourth minute when he was out-jumped by Matt Geyer from a Brett Kimmorley kick, with Geyer tapping the ball back for Tawera Nikau to score the first try. It was a fast start for Melbourne who had the Broncos on the back foot from the opening set.
Kimmorley would provide the impetus for the second Melbourne try just a few minutes later, beating Brisbane through the middle with deft footwork to find Scott Hill with an offload to score under the posts. At 10–0 up Melbourne were outpointing a Brisbane team that looked tired and lethargic.
Brisbane though would be the next team to score. They would first be denied by the video referee after Darren Lockyer bombed a try from an Alfie Langer kick back towards the posts, but somewhat against the run of play, Kevin Campion would score under the posts. Melbourne fell for the one thing you couldn’t do when playing this Broncos team – the Langer dummy. Brisbane were back in the game on the scoreboard at least, down 10–6 midway through the first half.
From there though, Tuqiri’s day just got worse. A penalty led to a Geyer goal, but Tuqiri’s failure to field a Kimmorley bomb led to Paul Bell scoring an easy try. Melbourne would take an 18–6 lead into half time.
Melbourne were looking bright and trying things in attack, and some brilliant play down the left flank saw Robbie Ross score in a movement that had involvement again from Kimmorley and Hill. Brisbane were all over the place in defence, with Tony Martin making another break down the left after easily beating renowned rugby league turnstile Chris Walker to score. It felt like only Bill Harrigan was offering Melbourne any defence, with Martin having to avoid the referee to score.
Harrigan would have some say in the game though, sending Aaron Moule to the sin bin during the second half. Moule becoming the first player to be sin binned in Melbourne colours. His absence though didn’t stop Melbourne from running up the score, with Ross scoring a second off the back of a Russell Bawden offload, and Kimmorley getting a try after a couple of comical errors from the Broncos.
As Fatty Vautin said in commentary “it’s just a carve up,” with Melbourne offloading at will, keeping the ball alive and playing like Brisbane used to dominate opponents.
The final try to cap off the win came after Melbourne again torched the Broncos on the left edge, with Marcus Bai beating defenders to get the ball back to Kimmorley to find Wayne Evans to score untouched.3
To finish off a dark day for the Broncos, they messed up scoring a late try with a knock on, with Tuqiri again making the error.
An unbelievable day, with the score being Brisbane’s worst defeat and most points conceded (at the time) as Melbourne hammered them. Coach Chris Anderson was most pleased:
Coming up here and bearing the Broncos like that is a huge confidence boost for us and that should give us a lot of confidence about the sort of team we are. They were the one team that had the wood on us mentally last year and I think we overcame that hurdle today.
Brisbane – 6 (Campion 21' try; Lockyer 1/1 goals)
Melbourne – 48 (Ross 44', 60', Nikau 4', Hill 12', Bell 34', Martin 51', Kimmorley 65', Evans 73' tries; Geyer 8/9 goals)
Stat pack
Melbourne have played three previous matches on 11 May, twice against the Roosters (losing 6–34 at the SFS in 2002, and winning 28–12 at Gosford in 2009), and beating Parramatta 64–10 in 2019’s Magic Round.
Brisbane’s win percentage against Melbourne is 25.96%, which is their only losing record against NSWRL/ARL/SL or NRL opposition.
In 52 matches between these two teams, Brisbane have won just 13 times against Melbourne, with just five of those wins coming in Victoria (2 wins at Olympic Park, 3 wins at AAMI Park).
The 60 points conceded by Brisbane last August against Melbourne, was only the second time in the Broncos history they had conceded 60 points.
Team line-up
Nick Meaney
Will Warbick
Remis Smith
Justin Olam
Xavier Coates
Cameron Munster
Jahrome Hughes
Nelson Asofa-Solomona
Harry Grant
Christian Welch ©
Trent Loiero
Elisa Katoa
Josh King
Bronson Garlick
Aaron Pene
Tom Eisenhuth
Grant Anderson
Tyran WishartTariq Sims
Tepai MoeroaTui Kamikamica
Jayden Nikorima
Preview
Following Melbourne’s Magic Round defeat, there’s a little bit of doom and gloom in the air, and backing up in a short week to face the Broncos does feel a little bit daunting right now. But in the darkness came a bright light – I was intrigued by the reports that Billy Slater and Cameron Smith were down in the rooms after the defeat last week, offering their guidance and support. With the coaching situation still unresolved for 2024, little things like that certainly get tongues wagging.
At selection, the 17 was left unchanged, but I expect some movement on the bench. Given the middle forward issues exposed by Souths, I would hope that Tui Kamikamica returns, with NAS the only forward playing well in that area. The injury report has Alec MacDonald returning soon,4 but there were setbacks with Jonah Pezet the latest to go down with an injury which might see him missing his next scheduled appearance in round 16.
Looking at the Broncos, former Storm player Billy Walters has been named at hooker, but it has been Corey Paix making the most damage at hooker for Brisbane. After a quiet game against Souths, Harry Grant will be looking to bounce back with a stronger performance ahead of representative selection. Melbourne will need to be especially wary of Adam Reynolds and Reece Walsh, who are playing lights out for the Broncos this season.
Editor’s note: If you’re not reading Maroon Observer already… do yourself a favour
Not going to lie, I expect Melbourne will lose this one, probably by at least ten points, but stranger things have happened on a Thursday night at AAMI Park.
Andrew Voss, Peter Sterling, Paul Vautin, Wally Lewis and Steve Roach were on the delayed coverage. Looking at the TV guide for that Sunday, there was no reason to have the broadcast on a 30 minute delay, but just channel Nine things.
Corporate synergy.
For just his third career try. Evans wouldn’t score again until 2001 when playing for the Northern Eagles.
Which feels much needed.