Concerns were rife the moment Adam Reynolds’ long-term injury was announced that the Broncos’ premiership chances had left with him.
Clearly, nobody told Jock Madden, who orchestrated a remarkable survival mission in a 13-12 Magic Round triumph over the Manly Sea Eagles and gave Brisbane fans hope that their campaign was far from dead and buried.
Madden was sidelined for Brisbane’s first clash with their star halfback and skipper - a victory over Parramatta with Queensland Cup stalwart Josh Rogers pulling the strings - but showed no ill-effects of the pectoral concern that kept him out of action.
On the Magic Round stage, Madden - who has been earmarked as the heir apparent to Reynolds’ jumper when the veteran hangs up the boots at the end of 2025 - steered an undermanned outfit around the park with aplomb.
There was no Reynolds [bicep], no Reece Walsh [knee], no Fletcher Baker and short of depth options Tristan Sailor [syndesmosis] and Ben Te Kura [Lisfranc].
Superstar prop Payne Haas was even taken from the field in concerning signs with 20-minutes remaining, unable to place any weight on his left ankle only to miraculously return for the closing stages.
It all mattered little to Madden.
It took him just seven minutes to prove he was up to task, firing a brilliant flat pass for Brendan Piakura to charge through a hole and open the scoring. The opportunity came from field position he created, putting up a towering bomb that Tolu Koula could not control.
But it was Madden’s long kicking game as Manly chased the Broncos down, levelling the score at 12-12 and seemingly flying through the second half with the momentum, when the lessons he had learned from Reynolds came to the fore.
His 618 kicking metres enabled Brisbane’s defence to keep the Sea Eagles at bay, before slotting the match-winning field goal with four minutes remaining to clinch a famous win.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in Jock and what he brings to the team. He’s a different type of player to Adam, but tonight we saw a cool head in a tough period,” Broncos coach Kevin Walters said.
“His game is going to get better in the next 10, 12 weeks the more he plays with these guys and the combinations [he builds] with Patty [Carrigan] and the rest to the spine.”
Has Cobbo’s Walsh SOS sealed Origin return?
Friday night’s battle was deprived of one of the game’s most enthralling fullback battles, with Trbojevic beginning his seven-week recovery for a hamstring injury and Walsh out with a minor knee injury.
It meant two centres - Tolu Koula and Selwyn Cobbo - donned the No.1 jerseys, and it was the latter who rose above and put an exclamation mark on his State of Origin credentials.
Cobbo proved a man too daunting to contain with the extra freedom to roam - finishing with 222 running metres, two linebreaks and a whopping 14 tackle busts.
The 21-year-old proved fearless under the high ball, leaping above the pack early in the contest and shrugging off several would-be defenders to get the Broncos inside Manly’s half.
From the following tackle, Taniela Paseka was sent to the sin bin, unable to handle Brisbane’s swing of momentum, and Ezra Mam was quick to put Deine Mariner over in the corner.
But it was with his team under pressure, particularly in the later stages of the opening half, it was Cobbo’s positional play on threatening kicks that paid huge dividends, thwarting many an ominous raid to keep the Sea Eagles at bay.
One amazing effort in the second half on a swirling giant bomb from Daly Cherry-Evans, in which he then ran 30m on the back of the catch, summed up his knack for the miraculous.
After scoring twice in Queensland’s series opening win in last year’s Origin showdown, a hip issue kept the 21-year-old out of action for the following clash, and he was unable to usurp his replacement Xavier Coates.
But Cobbo’s move to the centres this season has ignited a more formidable foe, and his versatility to cover the wing and now fullback will no doubt pique coach Billy Slater’s interest.
“I’d love to see as many players as we can get picked for the respective teams, particularly Queensland,” Walters said.
“We want our players to play rep football, it’s great for them and their careers and also what they bring back from Origin is invaluable as well with their experiences and everything that goes with State of Origin.
“He doesn’t care what the score is, he just plays Selwyn so I thought he was really good for us - particularly some of his carries and also the high balls he caught there - some of them at critical times when he pulled them off.”
Haas scare could trigger greater role for X-factor
The fallout from the Broncos’ great escape could have game-changing ramifications - both for their campaign and the looming State of Origin series.
The sight of marquee Brisbane and New South Wales Blues prop Haas being helped from the field midway through the second half has sent a collective shudder through the respective camps.
Despite looking in significant distress as he was helped from the field, he somehow returned to help close out the contest, finishing with 166 running metres and six tackle busts in a brave display.
In a side already without Reynolds and Walsh, Walters’ men can ill-afford to lose their inspirational middle man, and the injury followed a harrowing week for Haas in which his father, Gregor Haas, was arrested in the Philippines accused of running drugs into Indonesia.
Walters offered a shock assessment of Haas’ injury, declaring he would be fit to take on the Titans next week having “got a knee to the calf, which triggered a nerve problem in his big toe”.
Of the latest off field dilemma to impact his star prop, the coach gave a passionate endorsement that he would not be deterred on the field.
“Payne’s a very strong individual and his family is as well. A lot of people probably don’t understand or realise the person Payne is,” Walters said.
“He’s a tremendous guy, a tremendous family person and in this moment in time that he’s going through we will get around him in every way we can to support him and his family. “That’s all we can do, Payne’s just such a great person of integrity and everything, so I’m sure he’ll find a way and we’ll help him find a way.
“He really is a very strong and determined individual and above all he’s a terrific person with his family and what he’s doing with his family even before this incident is something we need to be very respectful of.”
Should Haas be forced to miss time on the field, it could spell a defining period in the career of Xavier Willison.
The blossoming prospect’s talent became obvious when Haas was sent to the casualty ward for six weeks earlier in the season, having undergone surgery on his knee following the round two win over the Rabbitohs.
If fit, Haas will be one of the first name’s picked on the New South Wales team sheet when Michael MacGuire picks his first Origin side in less than two weeks, as will lock Pat Carrigan for the Maroons.
Brendan Piakura also looms as a potential Queensland bolter, while 20-year-old phenom Ben Te Kura will miss the next four months.
Come Origin, the Broncos will be well short of forward depth, and Willison will need to rise to the occasion.
His 20 tackles with just one miss and 64m with three tackle breaks was a small taste of what he has shown thus far, but he will need to hit another gear moving forward for Brisbane’s title credentials to remain intact.
Ironman Carrigan to lead the way
After an early onslaught, Brisbane found themselves on the back foot regularly in the opening half, but Manly failed to penetrate.
It was not just that the Broncos were able to hold out their rivals, but they attacked off the ball - epitomised by a brutal hit from Pat Carrigan on Luke Brooks within his own 10m line.
Errors quickly followed from the Sea Eagles, several passes ending up in touch just as they looked to make a dangerous raid.
Within the final five minutes of the opening stanza, another strong Carrigan hit forced the ball loose from Matt Lodge’s possession with his side under pressure once again.
Without a host of stars, the Broncos are going to need their defence to set the standard.
Carrigan showed the fruits of that, finishing with 268m and made 34 tackles.
Manly even held the ascendancy at halftime in terms of possession [52 per cent to 48], while the Broncos also made more errors [six to five] and gave away an extra ruck infringement [two to one].
It was a theme that would continue in the second half, forced to defend several sets on their own line inside the opening 10 minutes, broken by a questionably forward pass from Haumole Olakau’atu for Reuben Garrick to score.
The Sea Eagles appeared to have the weight of momentum behind them for much of the second half, culminating in an equalising try through Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega to set up a grandstand finish.
But with Carrigan leading the defensive resolve, Brisbane held firm, and if they can get all their troops back on deck for the business end of the campaign, this may be the performance they look back on as a defining one in their development.
Sydney Morning Herald
