Round 3 Historic Match - Titans vs Broncos

[Super Freak]

First up for the historic matches, the 2009 Qualifying Final between the Gold Coast Titans and the Brisbane Broncos.

For some reason the video is not posting in 720p.

 

[Big Pete]

Gold Coast Titans vs. Brisbane Broncos
Qualifying Final #2 2009

Brisbane Broncos 40 (I. Folau 3, A. McCullough, J. Yow Yeh, D. Lockyer, D. Taylor tries; C. Parker 6/8 goals) def. Gold Coast Titans 32 (K. Gordon 2, D. Mead 2, P. Campbell, B. Meyers tries; S. Prince 4/6 goals)

Gold Coast Titans
6. Matt Rogers 2. Kevin Gordon 3. Jordan Atkins 19. Chris Walker 5. David Mead 1. Preston Campbell 7. Scott Prince 8. Luke Bailey 9. Nathan Friend 10. Matt White 11. Anthony Laffranchi 12. Mark Minichello 13. Ashley Harrison

Interchange: 14. Michael Henderson 15. Brad Meyers 16. Sam Tagataese 17. Josh Graham

Brisbane Broncos
1. Karmichael Hunt 2. Antonio Winterstein 3. Israel Folau 4. Justin Hodges 5. Jharal Yow Yeh 6. Darren Lockyer 7. Peter Wallace 8. Nick Kenny 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Dave Taylor 16. Ashton Sims 12. Sam Thaiday 13. Corey Parker

Interchange: 11. Tonie Carroll 14. Lagi Setu 15. Alex Glenn 18. Joel Clinton

In the first ever South East Queensland finals clash, the Brisbane Broncos prevailed against the Gold Coast Titans in a high scoring thriller.

The match started with a bang when Broncos halfback Peter Wallace coat-hangered David Mead with a desperate cover tackle. With their first possession inside Broncos territory, Scott Prince put Preston Campbell outside of Israel Folau and Campbell managed to burrow his way over for the opening try.

Moments later the Broncos conjured up a brilliant try of their own. Justin Hodges tore through the middle of the ruck to put his skipper away who combined with Peter Wallace to put 19 year old hooker Andrew McCullough underneath the posts in a pulsating 58m play.

As the game appeared to by finding it's rhythm, Queensland representative Ashley Harrison took Nick Kenny out on suspicion which gifted Brisbane another attacking opportunity. Moments later, Peter Wallace put it up for Israel Folau who sailed above the pack and came down with it to give the Broncos the lead.

It appeared Harrison was going to have one of those nights when he threw a reckless pass that bounced across the face of the Titans try line but miraculously ended up in the hands of Jordan Atkins who found himself into space. Atkins earned his team the penalty and after some great hands from Chris Walker the Gold Coast found themselves on the board through David Mead to cut the Broncos lead to 2.

The celebration was cut short for Mead who was unable to defuse a kick from Peter Wallace allowing Israel Folau to collect the spoils and dot over to extend the Broncos lead by 8. The Gold Coast Titans were upset with the referee's decision to award the try citing an incident in the lead up. Israel Folau who was chasing the ball, pushed Chris Walker in the back as Walker tried to escort him off the ball. The Titans claimed there was a double standard as they were and would be penalised later for similar incidents.

The complaint fell on deaf ears and it wasn't long before the referees gave them another reason to be upset. The referees penalised Scott Prince for a strip when replays showed that Dave Taylor was attempting to pass the ball. Instead of the Gold Coast receiving possession inside the Broncos half, the Broncos found themselves on the scoreboard as Karmichael Hunt put through a pinpoint grubber for rookie winger Jharal Yow Yeh to score in the corner. That made it 22-10 Broncos.

Then in the shadows of half-time Dave Taylor put Israel Folau away down the sideline who found Darren Lockyer with a spectacular hail mary pass back on the inside and the skipper gave the Broncos a commanding 28-10 lead. At this stage it appeared victory was assured for the Broncos.

Early stages of the second half and the Gold Coast Titans find themselves under pressure after a spate of handling errors and penalty. Former team mate Chris Walker took Darren Lockyer out without the ball and the Broncos made it a four possession game.

Just as it appeared the Broncos had the Gold Coast on the rack, Kevin Gordon took a do or die intercept and raced 95m to turn the tide for the Gold Coast Titans.

Moments later they would find themselves on the board again after a controversial penalty against Justin Hodges. It appeared Hodges had yet to be tackled when Ben Cummins ordered him to play the ball. As Hodges tried to play on, he was penalised for failing to play the ball and the Gold Coast Titans received another golden opportunity.

They didn't have to wait long either, Titans hooker Nathan Friend caught out some lazy forwards to put Brad Meyers in underneath the posts and the Gold Coast were well and truly in the game at 30-20.

If the Broncos weren't nervous with that scoreline, they would be moments later. Ashley Harrison bumped off a would be tackle from Joel Clinton to keep the ball alive for Mark Minichiello who found himself into some space before drawing the fullback to put Kevin Gordon over untouched. 30-26 with 20 to go, it was well and truly game on.

At least so it appeared. Moments later, Titans co-captain threw a loopy pass intended for Chris Walker only for it to end up in the hands of Israel Folau. Folau streaked away to score his hat-trick and give the Broncos some much needed breathing room at 34-26.

With only 10 minutes remaining the Gold Coast Titans needed some special and skipper Scott Prince stepped up to plate. After putting Chris Walker into some space, the talented halfback put in a kick behind the line for David Mead who touched down unopposed. 34-32 and it appeared the game was going to receive a grand stand finish.

The Gold Coast Titans were making good metres before Mat Rogers put down a difficult offload from Brad Meyers to give Brisbane another opportunity. Lockyer attempted to find Israel Folau with another probing cross-field kick but Rogers was able to slap the ball back to David Mead in cover before landing hard on the ground and suffering a concussion. As the Gold Coast Titans screamed for play to be stopped, Scott Prince tried to link up with Chris Walker back on the inside only for the 'Coal Train' Dave Taylor to swoop on the pass and run away to seal the game for the Broncos 40-32.

The win gave Brisbane a 4-3 record over their local rivals in what was fast becoming one of the best rivalries in the code.

 

[Big Pete]

It was one of those games where it could have easily ended in tragedy for the Broncos. They played extremely well in the first half and if anything were unlucky not to lead by more. There were about three opportunities in the first half they couldn't convert and the Mead try came off an extremely lucky break by Atkins.

That 20 point scoreline became something of a trap as they started pushing passes they would have had second thoughts over. I doubt Wallace would have thrown the intercept if he didn't feel as if it was worth the risk and with a 20 point buffer he would have felt more inclined.

The issue is that it can go pear shape quickly. Suddenly the Gold Coast started receiving calls and the Broncos couldn't get their hands on the ball. Like a lot of young teams, without the ball they really have a tendancy to struggle and the two tries the Titans scored off the intercept were soft. Thaiday was completely caught out on the Meyers effort and the Gordon try was embarrassing for all involved. Clinton's attempt was laughably bad, but then Hodges tried to jam in while Yow Yeh is standing 30m away trying to cover a kick. Just horrible communication all round.

In a way, it lulled the Gold Coast into a false sense of security and they started throwing reckless passes. If they had have shown the Broncos defense a measure of respect, they would have had enough strike to run them down. They were their own worst enemies and what made it really sad for them was the role the senior players had in their loss.

What I liked about the Broncos is how involved the halves were. They had one of the worst front row combinations in the game, so the halves really had to keep the forwards guessing and would have runners either side to get things moving. That would either get Hodges into the game or allow them to give Taylor or Thaiday good ball and both could conjure up something out of nothing. Then the halves would sum the set up and just keep setting up contests for Folau, Winterstein and Yow Yeh who are invariably going to win at some point.

There was definitely a framework for a premiership winning team, they just didn't have the workhorses to make it work. When you're calling players up out of retirement and your marquee prop forward is barely doing anything off the bench, it makes it difficult in finals game where everything becomes an arm wrestle. They actually did a fantastic job the following week and Sims/Kenny played out of their skin, but then they got 40 put on them by Melbourne the following week. Even without Wallace, 40 is a disgraceful scoreline, especially with the calibre of players on show.

The Gold Coast fans must have hated Folau that year. In 2 games he scored 7 tries and was basically the difference in both. Back in the day, Peter Wallace was my MotM which I don't have a problem with. Personally I would have gone with Folau since it really came down to who had the most fire power and he happened to score the most amount of tries on the night.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

“I got a feeling. Tonight’s going to be a good night.”
Whenever I hear that song, it takes me back to this game. They played it in the lead up and it just felt that something special was going to happen. We weren’t really expected to win and then it set up another cracker a week later.

 

[Super Freak]

This was really the most enjoyable match between the two sides and the reason why I chose this one over the likes of Round 17 2007 and Round 24 2008.

Those two games certainly had the better finish but overall I think this game was a better contest. Titans were flying high that year finishing the regular season in 3rd place while the Broncos made a late surge towards the finals going on a winning streak and with their hollywood backline and Dave Taylor finding form, they were an enjoyable team to watch during that period.

This was the first ever finals game between the two clubs and the first ever finals game for the Titans, the atmosphere at the stadium was something else. The contest kept fans from both sides engaged until the final minute which just made the atmosphere throughout the match even better.

The reason why I find this game more enjoyable is that this game really had it all. There were some spectacular tries. There was controversy with the Folau try causing a lot of uproar even though Folau had every right to do what he did. There was a comeback with the Titans closing the gap in the second half and threatening to snatch the game from the Broncos. There was drama with the refs deciding to play on despite Mat Rogers being knocked out on the ground which resulted in the Broncos scoring the match-winning try. But best of all, there were a lot of points scored which gave both fanbases plenty to cheer about. 72 points scored in the first ever South Queensland Derby finals match. It was a remarkable night and a remarkable game.

It's too bad these contests have declined over the years. The rivalry between the two clubs was shaping up to be one of the best in the game.

 

[Pub Steak]

Little did Brad Myers know back then he would late go on to star in game of thrones.

 

[Big Pete]

Who would be your man of the match @Super Freak?

 

[Super Freak]

Who would be your man of the match @Super Freak?

At the time I thought Wallace as well, and I would still pick Wallace.

I thought he had a good controlled game. He played a hand in our first try, put in two perfect kicks for Folau's first two tries and got us the repeat set in the lead up to Yow Yeh's try. He kept the defence guessing and I thought his kicking was good.

A couple of bad moments which led to tries, but overall I thought he was quite good and deserved it.