Friday second NRL Round 2 match is between Brisbane Broncos and Nth Queensland Cowboys with the opening kick to commence at 8:40pm. The game is to be played at Suncorp Stadium which see’s home team Nth Queensland Cowboys hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Brisbane Broncos and Nth Queensland Cowboys.
WHERE AND WHEN: Suncorp Stadium, Friday 14 March 2014, 8:40pm
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Odds Comparison:
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| Brisbane Broncos | 2.12 | 2.10 | 2.15 | 2.10 | 2.12 | 2.15 |
| Nth Queensland Cowboys | 1.75 | 1.75 | 1.72 | 1.75 | 1.75 | 1.70 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Preview:
The Brisbane Broncos left several poor pre-season performances behind them in round 1 and put in a tenacious effort to defeat the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium 18 – 12.
It was exactly the start to the season that Coach Anthony Griffin would have wanted from his new look outfit that included former fullback Josh Hoffman starting at five-eighth.
The new changes didn’t halt the Broncos attack in any manner and they posted two early tries to Dale Copley and Daniel Vidot, in the first fifteen minutes.
A try to the Bulldogs with five minutes to go before the break, saw the Broncos take a 14 – 6 lead into the second half.
A strong defensive in the second half, made even more commendable by the fact that interchange player Todd Lawrie had left the field with concussion, saw the Broncos hold Canterbury to one second half try and then seal the match with a try to Lachlan Maranta with five minutes to go.
It was a strong effort from the Broncos and one that they’ll build on.
The Cowboys, as they so often do, relied on start half-back Johnathan Thurston to get them home 28 – 22 in their season opener against the Raiders.
The Raiders scored the first three tries of the match and it was only two late tries in the first half, one to winger Kyle Feldt and Thurston, that brought the game back into balance for the Cowboys who trialled 16 – 10 at the break.
Thurston then played the leading role in two of the Cowboys three second half tries and it was enough to see them home.
It wasn’t an ideal start for the Cowboys and continues from last year, a worrying trend of them being slow out of the blocks in their games. They can’t always rely on Thurston to save the day.
The two Queensland sides met twice last year and on each occasion, Brisbane were victors by two points in tight, low scoring games (18 – 16 and 12 – 10).
The Cowboys will lift for this game, they always do but will need to off of last week performance whilst the Broncos will take an enormous amount of confidence out of there win last week and be looking forward to their first home-game of the season.
They go into the game with an unchanged squad and if able to get the jump on the Cowboys, like they did last week against the Bulldogs, should be able to sneak home in another tight contest between these two clubs.
Teams:
Brisbane Broncos:
1. Ben Barba 2. Daniel Vidot 3. Jack Reed 4. Dale Copley 5. Lachlan Maranta 6. Josh Hoffman 7. Ben Hunt 8. Josh McGuire 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Corey Parker 11. Alex Glenn 12. Sam Thaiday 13. Matt Gillett 14. Ben Hannant 15. Martin Kennedy 16. Todd Lowrie 17. Jarrod Wallace 18. David Hala
Nth Queensland Cowboys:
1. Michael Morgan 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Brent Tate 4. Kane Linnett 5. Antonio Winterstein 6. Johnathan Thurston 7. Robert Lui 8. Matthew Scott 9. Ray Thompson 10. James Tamou 11. Gavin Cooper 12. Jason Taumalolo 13. Joel Riethmuller 14. Rory Kostjasyn 15. Tariq Sims 16. Glenn Hall 17. Scott Bolton 18. Ashton Sims
News:
Trying to contain one “JT” is hard enough for Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin and his players.
But besides trying to limit the damage from mercurial Cowboys five-eighth Johnathan Thurston, the Broncos will also be out to stop 112kg wrecking-ball Jason Taumalolo in the Queensland derby at a packed Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
Cowboys co-captain Thurston played a starring role in his side’s gutsy come-from-behind 28-22 win over Canberra last weekend, including a clever 60m solo try after a quick tap caught the Raiders napping.
New Zealand-born backrower Taumalolo churned out a massive 226m in his first 80-minute match at NRL level and the 20-year-old will look to terrorise Brisbane’s right-edge defence of Dale Copley, Matt Gillett and Lachlan Maranta on Friday night.
“He’s big and athletic and he backs himself with the football,” Griffin said about Taumalolo on the eve of the blockbuster.
“He hasn’t been around long but he’s certainly making an impact.
“Some of his runs against the Raiders were extremely powerful. It’s going to be a very tough task trying to contain him.”
Griffin’s warning applies even more to big-game player Thurston, who didn’t compete in the Auckland Nines last month when the Cowboys collected their first silverware with victory over the Broncos in the final.
The Broncos coach believes the NRL’s new rule changes have sped up the game considerably and will benefit classy playmakers such as Thurston.
“It will make him more dangerous,” Griffin said.
“It’s going to give all the ball-players more opportunity. Johnathan Thurston is obviously going to benefit from that.
“Over a long period he’s proven that he competes for 80 minutes. “And he can get you by the throat.
He’s got real good touch with his kicking game and he’s got good selection with his passing game.”
The rule changes include an extra tackle from 20m restarts for kicks that go dead and a crackdown on a third defender targeting the legs of a ball-carrier.
Fortunately, the Broncos have their own X-factor in prize recruit Ben Barba, who was outstanding in their win over against his old club Canterbury in round one.
“If you’re going to give him a lot of room then he’s quite an X-factor,” Cowboys assistant coach David Furner said on Thursday.
“There were a couple of chases by Canterbury where they allowed him a bit of space and if you do that, you’re going to be in all sorts of trouble.
“We’ve got a job to make sure we restrict those metres. The Broncos and North Queensland have named unchanged squads for the derby, which is split 4-all over the past eight clashes.”