Thursday NRL match with the first game for Round 25 is between Brisbane Broncos and Canterbury Bulldogs with the opening kick to commence at 7.45pm local time. The game is to be played at Suncorp Stadium with the favourite for the match being Canterbury Bulldogs. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Brisbane Broncos and Canterbury Bulldogs.

WHERE AND WHEN: Suncorp Stadium, 7.45pm (EST) Thursday

[iframe_loader width=”690″ height=”300″ src=”https://sportsnews.com.au/nrl/match.php?id=1939″]

Opening odds comparison:

Brisbane Broncos	2.45	2.40	N/A	2.40	2.45	N/A
Canterbury Bulldogs	1.55	1.58	N/A	1.58	1.55	N/A

Preview:

The final round of the regular NRL season kicks off early as the Broncos host the Bulldogs on Thursday night.

Brisbane’s season came to an end last week when, despite leading 14 – 0 and dominating the first half of the match against Newcastle, they were unable to defend their lead and defeated 26 – 18.

As was the case in the previous week, Brisbane allowed for soft tries near their own goal line and this current weakness well be exposed by Canterbury’s big forward pack.

Canterbury were slow off the mark last week and trailed their opponents Penrith early before gaining the upper-hand and clearing out to win by twenty points (34 – 14).

The win cemented the Bulldogs a final spot whilst at the same time, ending Penrith hopes playing on past this weekend.

Whilst the win was a comfortable one in the end, Canterbury Coach Des Hasler made no secret of the fact that his side would have to improve again before the finals.

They get their chance here to remedy their form before it’s too late.

Brisbane, who will miss the finals for only the second time in twenty-one years, will want to go out swinging and should prove solid competition for Canterbury however, the Dogs have won four of their last five against Brisbane and with a focus on producing an effort worthy of finals football, will be too strong.

Teams:

Brisbane Broncos:
Josh Hoffman, Corey Oates, Jack Reed, Alex Glenn, Jordan Kahu, Scott Prince, Ben Hunt, Ben Hannant, Andrew McCullough, Josh McGuire, Sam Thaiday, Matt Gillett, Corey Parker. Interchange: Peter Wallace, David Stagg, Dunamis Lui, Lama Tasi, Scott Anderson

Canterbury Bulldogs
Josh Morris, Mitch Brown, Krisnan Inu, Timoteo Lafai, Sam Perrett, Josh Reynolds, Trent Hodkinson, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis, James Graham, Tony Williams, Josh Jackson, Dale Finucane. Interchange: Dene Halatau, Tim Browne, Sam Kasiano, Martin Taupau, Lachlan Burr

Omens not good for Prince farewell

What started as a feel good story ended with Broncos captain Sam Thaiday revealing a bad omen ahead of teammate Scott Prince’s NRL farewell on Thursday night.

Thaiday showed evasive skills on Monday that have been sadly lacking on field this year for finals flops Brisbane after reflecting on Prince’s 300th and final game.

“It’s funny, I found a couple of newspaper clippings of my first game and he was coming back from an injury for the Broncos,” Thaiday said.

“So I played my first game with him here at Suncorp Stadium and now I play alongside him in his final game which is a fantastic honour.

“As a kid I used to sit on the hill at Townsville and watch him play (for North Queensland) so that’s a feel good story for you.”

Feeling it might be a good sign ahead of this week’s Bulldogs clash, a reporter asked whether they won his first game alongside Prince.

“No, we lost – and we played the Bulldogs then too,” Thaiday said.

The Brisbane captain then went into damage control mode.

“But that was different, we had a lot of players out back then…” he added.

He may not have exactly blessed Prince’s final game but the Broncos skipper only had respect for the playmaker as he prepared to draw the curtain on an impressive but injury-plagued 16 year career.

“A lesser bloke would have retired with the serious injuries he has had and not come back from that,” Thaiday said.

At least Prince can still laugh about his injury run-ins, saying he had to survive this week’s contact sessions before thinking about his farewell.

“It will be an emotional rollercoaster I am sure but it is a bit surreal at the moment,” Prince said.

“It’s not a milestone I thought I would reach.

“It’s a great honour but I have to get through the next few training sessions yet.”

Besides Prince, Thaiday said Brisbane would also be playing for “a bit of pride, a bit of respect” after bowing out of the finals race with last round’s loss to Newcastle.

This season will also mark the six-time premier’s worst tally of wins in Broncos history.

“When we do our end of season review we will have to answer some really tough questions,” Thaiday said.

“But we have some good players coming through so I would not put a line through us (in 2014).”