The NRL Round 2 thread

Half Time

BRISBANE 12 - 0 SOUTHS

Will Broncos regret those wasted chances when the held the extra man advantage?

Two quick tries for the Bunnies levelled the scores, but the Broncos seem to have got their act together and are now 16:12 up.

Walsh, the absolute tormenter of Souths, scores another!

Mariner super try there … chip and regather try.

Latest

26-12 Broncos

Walsh kicks a good goal. 
28-12 Broncos.Only 3 minutes left

Mitchell gets a consolation try with seconds to go.

Latrell try at the end. Really well taken.Goaled it too.

FULL TIME

BRISBANE BRONCOS 28 - 18 SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS

Not a classic but plenty of excitement.

Walsh had a great game.

In truth from my eyrie in section 714 a poor quality game that at times resembled a knockonathon.

South's had enough possession gifted try to them in the first 10 minutes to have built a handy lead but in the spirit if giving handed possession right back.

Broncos finally broke the deadlock and. the second Reece Walsh try was schoolboy rugby defence.

With Damien Cook sin binned for all but the last minute of the first half.Bronx fans should have been troubled by their inability to kill the game.

The second half saw two soft tries conceded by the Broncos to draw scores level. That flattered the Wabbits and the bunnies conceded three more soft tries before a Latrell score in garbage time gave the scoreline an air of respectability.

OK it's round two and three is room for improvement but although it's hard for me to feel sorry for anyone wearing myrtle and green, of which there were many at Suncorp. South's look a really poorly coached side and nowhere near contenders.

worrying times for broncos with Reynolds knee….broncos staff dont sound upbeat with talk of it possibly being ACL that he did before.

The Broncos will be sweating on halves Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam after both suffered injuries in the win over the Rabbitohs. 

Reynolds aggravated a knee injury he carried into the game and was seen limping in the second half before coming off late. 

Reynolds confirmed in the press conference that he would require a scan.

Mam was clutching at his shoulder but struggled on.

Friday’s Round 2 Matches:

Cronulla Sharks surprised some of us with their performance last week as they beat New Zealand Warriors away from home. They now get the chance to build on that against the Bulldogs who looked like they will take some time to gel with their new-look side.
The Sharks have won the past five games between the two teams.

All 14 of our forum tipsters have Sharks down as winners.

Panthers v Eels

Penrith Panthers were surprisingly kept scoreless in their opening round loss to Melbourne Storm last week and there will be a bit of pressure on them to respond to that defeat.
The performance was not what many have come to expect of the three-time defending premiers but they now come up against rivals Parramatta Eels in a game they should be well up for in front of their home fans.

The Eels were solid in their success over Canterbury Bulldogs last week but the hosts are likely to come out firing.

ARL forum tipsters

12 go with Panthers

2 tip an Eels win.

7am is rather an early start!

So, with no TRL around, the weekend got betterer. A Chad Townsend field goal in extra time got the Cows home. Xavier Coates scored a try, which Graham will have to change his signature pic for, to get the Storm home in the 79th minute and the Phins scored their highest score, biggest winning margin and nilled a team for the first time.

I was at the Cows and Dolphins games. It rainedcin Townsville pre-game and the temperature in tropical Townsville dropped which helped the Knights. Having posted that this was a game the Kinghts lost as much as the Cows won it. They dominated possession in the first half and really should have been more than 12 points up over the misfiring Cows for whom Valentine Holmes had an off day. 

In the second half again after two quick scores for the Cows early in the half. The Knights went back to a 10 point lead that they could not hold onto with NQ drawing level six minutes before the end only for Valentine Holmes to miss a conversion he would normally make 8 times out-of 10. NQ winning in golden point was a good sign for the Cows in winning ugly which is what premiership contenders do.

Buzz Rothfield has been laying into golden point today in print and rightly so. There is nothing wrong in a draw

Onto ugly and that was last night havin srambled from Townsvlle to Redcliff for the game a monsoon hit town andbi arrived like a drowned rat for the second half of Redcliffe v North's priority the main game.

I was sitting with the SGI fans and it was indeed tough watching. SGI were ordinary in the first half going in 0-10. The second stanza was a total collapse with SGI hardly gettingnoutnof their own half. Now one of the big thi is about the Dolphins is they are not your average NRL side as they play islander football and can score from anywhere which makes them dangerous and always in the game but they also have defensive issues which were not properly tested as even when SGI had possession in the first half they looked pedestrian in attack.

I was very disappointed in an SGI side that I tipped had turned the corner only Zak Lomax and Tyrell Sloan had a reasonable game. The game got so bad in the second half I ended up being distracted by the brunette in the low cut pink dress and Louis vutton bag who seemed out of place at a rugby league ground.

One final note on the somnolent Dolphins crowd. Talk about needing to be geed up the entire.match was spend with a bombastic PA announcer booming out DOLPHINS or PHINS UP or LET ME HEAR YOU MAKE SOME NOISE. 

Last play of the game the Dragons fumbled the ball over the try line to end deservedly nilled.

At least the crowd avoided last nights rainstorm.

Gutted with that last minute try against the Warriors, but if you're going to lose, it may as well be to a spectacular feat like that.

The Manly/Roosters game was a belter, played at 100mph.

Not so good for the Dragons this weekend ….