The final round of regular-season matches of National Rugby League 2024 sees two multi-Premiership-winning rivals go head-to-head at Suncorp Stadium. The Brisbane Broncos host minor premiers Melbourne Storm in the latest edition of a rivalry which has defined the NRL era, with the Broncos still clinging on to the hope of securing a finals spot.
Going into the final round of fixtures, the Storm are looking down on the rest from the summit of the NRL ladder, four points clear of second-placed Penrith having wrapped up the JJ Giltinan Shield weeks ago. The Broncos, meanwhile, are 12th on 26 points, and need a host of other results to go their way this weekend to have any chance of qualifying for the finals.
The Broncos' preparations for this must-win Round 27 match haven't been ideal, after they were annihilated on home soil by Brisbane rivals the Dolphins last time out. With both teams locked level on 26 points, the match represented a winner-takes-all scenario – and unfortunately for the Broncos, the Dolphins took it all, hammering them 40-6 and seizing pole position to secure the last finals spot.
Melbourne, meanwhile, were also on the wrong end of a high-scoring match in Round 26, as the much-changed Minor Premiers lost 38-30 to the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville. Big names like Jahrome Hughes and Harry Grant were rested ahead of their clash with Brisbane, but Ryan Papenhuyzen also picked up an injury in a worrying blow for Craig Bellamy's side.
These two teams have a storied history when it comes to matches where absolutely everything is at stake. They faced off in finals matches for six seasons in a row between 2004 and 2009, including the 2006 Grand Final. The Broncos won 15-6 that day, and if they want to have any chance of keeping their season alive, need another victory in 2024 – ideally by a few more points!
The Broncos' Dwindling Hopes
The Broncos turned it up on Thursday night in front of 35,086 fans at Suncorp Stadium in a dire defensive display to ensure they finish 12th on the ladder this season.
Last year's grand finalists were second in 2023 and have fallen a stunning 10 positions in one year, the worst slide in their 36-year history.
A Humiliating Performance
Minor premiers the Storm made 10 line breaks in the first half to lead 28-6 at the break, with fullback Sua Fa'alogo on fire. Winger Will Warbrick and half Jahrome Hughes, who both scored hat-tricks, were in rampant form.
Fa'alogo, who replaced the injured Ryan Papenhuyzen, tormented the Broncos with his scintillating kick returns until he limped off with a possible hamstring injury in the second half.
The Storm had second-rower Eliesa Katoa put on report and sin-binned for a shot on Broncos fullback Tristan Sailor in the 62nd minute.
Hughes confirmed his status as the in-form No.7 in the competition in another masterclass.
It was hard to fathom that the Broncos had beaten the Storm 26-0 in a semi-final at the same venue just 12 months earlier.
Coach Kevin Walters had asked his side to play with pride in the jersey before Thursday's match, but there was none of that on show.
Warbrick busted a pathetic attempt at tackle by Brisbane five-eighth Josh Rogers to open the scoring in the 10th minute, and had another barnstorming burst three minutes later.
Hughes threw a scintillating short side pass to Warbrick and backed up to score in a 70m burst.
Storm behemoth Katoa then burst through threadbare defence.
A bright spot in the gloom for the Broncos this season has been the flair of bench hooker Blake Mozer, who put on an old-fashioned run-around move to send Rogers in.
More non-existent defence from Brisbane allowed hooker Harry Grant to cruise over on the cusp of the break.
Storm Dominate Second Half
The carnage continued in the second half, with Fa'alogo setting up winger Xavier Coates for a try, Hughes bagging two more and Warbrick adding to his tally.
The Broncos were like turnstiles in defence and have ended the season conceding 607 points. This season is just the third time in their history they have given up 600 points, with 2020 (624 points) and 2022 (695 points) the other two.
A Season of Disappointment
The Broncos, who finished second on the NRL table in 2023 and played in the grand final, will finish 12th if they do not beat competition leaders the Storm at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
Even if they spring an unlikely upset, the best the Broncos could likely finish is 10th as four of the teams above them play each other in the final round, and two of those teams will pick up points for a win or an extra-time draw.
The club’s worst historical fall down the table was in 2020 when they secured their first wooden spoon and finished 16th.
That was eight positions lower than where they ended the 2019 season.
This season they are on track to fall 10 positions on the table.
The Broncos will not play finals for the fourth time in five years, with three of those misses being under current coach Kevin Walters.
The 40-6 loss to the Dolphins on Saturday night was also the biggest defeat the Broncos had suffered to a Queensland-based club in their history, surpassing the 36-4 loss to North Queensland in 2006.
With their season on the line, the Broncos dished up an error-ridden mish-mash of mediocrity.
It was also a microcosm of their failings in 2024.
Successful Broncos sides have traditionally risen to the big occasion, not fallen in a screaming heap.
Walters said after the loss that dealing with pressure at the Broncos came with the territory. Captain Adam Reynolds said “Kev is spot-on” when asked if representing the club was not just about playing, but also about winning.
A Season of Disappointment
Recruitment will come under the spotlight when the Broncos review their season. On Saturday night the most intimidating forward on the field was blockbusting Dolphins prop Tevita Pangai Jnr, a former Bronco. When Pangai Jnr was aiming to return to the NRL this year, he told AAP he wanted it to be at the Broncos. The Broncos had their chance but passed.
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett swooped.
The Broncos instead chose former Cowboys forward Jack Gosiewski, an honest toiler but no Pangai Jnr. Mid-season signing Gosiewski, along with 2024 forward recruits Fletcher Baker and Jaiyden Hunt, have had underwhelming years, aside from their injuries.
The Broncos were also out-coached on Saturday night. Bennett switched Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to centre, moved Jake Averillo to five-eighth and brought Trai Fuller in at fullback. The trio had blinders.
Before the match Bennett said: “You can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect the same result.” The Broncos had a “same-old” look about their line-up and the way they played.
The other black mark against the Broncos is their defence, which has a turnstile aspect to it again. They have already conceded 557 points, the fourth worst in their history. If the Storm score 10 points on Thursday night, only the 2020 wooden-spoon year (624 points) and 14th-placed finish (695 points) in 2021 will be worse.
“We have been leaking way too many points. We have faced a bit of adversity, but we should be good enough to defend errors, and at the moment we are not,” Reynolds said.
The Storm's Dominance
Melbourne flexed their muscle early, scoring four tries in the first 21 minutes.
The Broncos showed signs of life when rookie five-eighth Josh Rogers spotted some spice and ran through to score, but Harry Grant hit back before half time when he toyed with Brisbane’s markers before scoring under the posts.
The minor premiers came out firing after the break, while it looked like the Broncos were still in the sheds as Hughes crossed for his second of the night and then Xavier Coates celebrated his return from a hamstring injury with a try — before getting an early mark.
Hughes and Warbrick crossed for a third try each with Jesse Arthars also getting over for a Broncos consolation try in between.
A Dominant Display
Cameron Munster revealed pre-game that the Storm wanted to “put the foot on the throat” and treat Friday’s game as a finals warm-up.
He wasn’t lying because Melbourne came out firing, running in five tries in the first half — three of those being scored in the first 16 minutes.
They added four more to the score sheet with Jahrome Hughes and Will Warbrick both finishing the night with hat-tricks.
Fox League expert Michael Ennis called the Storm’s attack “absolutely scintillating,” while Greg Alexander added: “This is why they sit six points clear at the top of the competition, this is why they won the minor premiership.”
It came after Munster told Fox League pre-game that he and his teammates wanted to “just be a little bit relentless in certain things.”
“We’ve got the opportunity tonight to play the style of finals footy we want to play, we know next week we’ve got to do that,” he added.
“Tonight’s the night to get it all together and just put the foot on the throat on the little bit.”
A Team in Crisis
If there was ever a time the Broncos needed to band together and show some pride in the jersey it was on Friday night on home turf and during the club’s Member’s Appreciation Round.
Coach Kevin Walters declared pre-game that was “really important” his players “put our heart and hands on the jersey and make sure that when (fans) leave the stadium that they’re a proud member of our club.”
Instead, the Broncos were humiliated, conceding nine tries and 13 linebreaks. They finished with 48 missed tackles compared to the Storm’s 15 — and as Fox League’s Greg Alexander said their “defence at times has been embarrassing.”
Michael Ennis agreed, adding the defensive efforts in the Eli Katoa and Harry Grant tries are “almost unacceptable at this level,” while Corey Parker — a Broncos legend — declared it a “really poor performance” from his former club after Walters “wanted a turnaround from an attitude point of view.”
Cooper Cronk highlighted the fact it was the fourth time the Broncos had conceded 40 points or more in their last six games.
“The season has been on the line for the whole back end of this year and they just have not delivered for a team that went within a whisker of premiership glory last year,” he said.
Looking Ahead
The Storm are expected to be back to full strength for Thursday night's match at Suncorp Stadium, with the only question mark over Ryan Papenhuyzen, who suffered bone bruising in his leg in Thursday's loss to North Queensland.
However, the gun fullback was spotted around Melbourne on Monday looking unhindered by the injury, giving hope that he could make the trip north for the final round.
The undermanned ladder leaders suffered a tight loss to the Cowboys but were buoyed by the effort, given coach Craig Bellamy rested 11 players.
Meanwhile, the Broncos were startlingly bad in Saturday's 34-point loss to the Dolphins that sealed their finals fate.
The performance, which capped a dramatic slide down the ladder after making last year's grand final, has led to calls for a complete review of coaching staff and players.
A win over one of the competition favourites to end the season could at least relieve some pressure on the powerhouse Queensland club.
Melbourne prop Tui Kamikamica said his team had spoken about keeping the blinkers on and focusing on getting the job done in Brisbane.
“We spoke about it today,” said the Fijian international, who sat out the trip to Townsville.
“We have to treat this game like any other game, especially this week because they've got nothing to lose.
“It's more about focusing on us, building up for next week, but we want to go up there and do a good job.
“The mentality is just about doing our role, especially for me in the forwards.”
While 30-year-old Kamikamica has been a solid performer all season, fellow prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona has hit form ahead of the finals.
Kamikamica said the presence of his Kiwi counterpart made a big difference to the Storm pack.
“Nelson is just an enforcer,” he said.
“For the last five or six weeks, he's been really playing some good, consistent footy.
“We all know what Nelson's going to bring and I always rely on him, because he's my best mate.”
Kamikamica said he was excited about getting home in October to Fiji, with his birth country hosting Pacific Championship matches for the first time.
Fiji will face Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands in the Bowl, with the winner to face the third-placed team in the Pacific Cup for a chance to be promoted to the top bracket.
“I was pretty happy with that, when it was announced the game will be Fiji,” Kamikamica said.
“The last time we had a game there was way back in 2017, which was a lead-up for the World Cup.
“The Fijian people, they love their footy. It doesn't matter if it's rugby league or rugby union, if there's going to be a game in the islands, they'll just turn up.”
Team Lists
Broncos team:
- Tristan Sailor
- Corey Oates
- Selwyn Cobbo
- Deine Mariner
- Jesse Arthars
- Josh Rogers
- Adam Reynolds
- Corey Jensen
- Billy Walters
- Fletcher Baker
- Jaiyden Hunt
- Jordan Riki
- Patrick Carrigan
- Blake Mozer
- Kobe Hetherington
- Benjamin Te Kura
- Martin Taupau
- Josiah Karapani
- Cory Paix
Storm team:
- Sualauvi Fa'alogo
- Will Warbrick
- Jack Howarth
- Nick Meaney
- Grant Anderson
- Cameron Munster
- Jahrome Hughes
- Nelson Asofa-Solomona
- Harry Grant
- Josh King
- Shawn Blore
- Eliesa Katoa
- Trent Loiero
- Tyran Wishart
- Tui Kamikamica
- Alec MacDonald
- Lazarus Va'alepu
- Ativalu Lisati
- Xavier Coates
Broncos vs. Storm: When and Where
This NRL clash between the Cowboys and Storm takes place at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Queensland and kicks off on Thursday, September 5 at 7:50 p.m. local time (AEST).
Here's how that time translates to different Australian time zones:
- Sydney (NSW): 7:50 p.m. AEST
- Melbourne (VIC): 7:50 p.m. AEST
- Brisbane (QLD): 7:50 p.m. AEST
- Adelaide (SA): 7:20 p.m. ACST
- Perth (WA): 4:50 p.m. AWST
- Darwin (NT): 8:20 p.m. ACST
How to Watch
The game between the Brisbane Broncos and the Melbourne Storm will be broadcast live on Fox League, as well as on the free-to-air channel, Nine's wide world of sports.
Live streaming of the match is available on Kayo Sports, who are also covering every match across the final round of the regular season, both via live streaming and replays. Foxtel and Nine Now subscribers can also follow the Round 27 action live.
New users to Kayo can currently sign up to a FREE trial.
The Final Word
The Broncos are facing a monumental task against a dominant Melbourne Storm side. While the Storm are aiming for a triumphant end to the regular season, the Broncos are fighting to salvage some pride. The result could be pivotal for both teams, setting the tone for the upcoming finals series for the Storm and potentially marking the beginning of a significant rebuild for the Broncos. It's a clash that promises to be a compelling spectacle and a defining moment for both sides.
It’s hard to see the Broncos pulling off a surprise, especially given their recent form, but with everything on the line, they will be desperate to end the season on a high. This is a match that no rugby league fan should miss.
