Reece Walsh has breathed life back into Brisbane’s season, bouncing back from his State of Origin disappointment to help end the Broncos’ six-game NRL losing streak with a 30-14 win over Newcastle.
With captain Adam Reynolds back from a bicep rupture and Walsh firing, the Broncos finally looked like last year’s grand finalists again on Saturday as they kept their finals hopes alive.
Desperate for victory and with the majority of their Origin stars backing up, Brisbane were as impressive as they have been at any point in the past three months.
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The win in Newcastle moved them back to 11th on the ladder and ahead of the Knights on for and against, as part of the logjam of teams fighting for finals spots.
Making matters worse for the Knights, NSW Origin star Bradman Best limped from the field early in the first half with another hamstring injury and did not return.
The Knights are hopeful the injury is not serious, but will await the outcome of scans.
But there are no such woes for Brisbane after their first win since May 17.
“It feels like three years, it’s been 60-odd days,” Broncos coach Kevin Walters said.
“That’s pretty tough going in the NRL, particularly when you’re a club like ours when there is a lot of expectation.
“I’m happy for the players because they’ve been under enormous pressure. I’m happy for the staff.
“We’re not through the other side yet, but we’ve put a foot halfway through the fence. We’ll bust the fence down now.”
Playing for the first time since May, veteran halfback Reynolds was his clinical self with the boot, dug into the line in the lead up to one try and freed up Brisbane’s attack.
Pat Carrigan played 49 straight minutes despite leaving Suncorp Stadium in a moon boot on Wednesday night, while Payne Haas busted six tackles also backing up from Origin.
But the star of the show was Walsh, whose outing made Brisbane’s hopes of winning six of their last seven to make the finals look possible.
The fullback scored a try and set up two others, threatening from early on when he broke down the right edge once and created two linebreaks down that side.
After a quiet Origin series for Queensland, he made his impact felt repeatedly.
Walsh’s try was all smarts and speed, as he switched sides from behind a scrum and dummied three times to go past Dane Gagai and score.
The 22-year-old then loomed up on the left again to put Deine Mariner over for his second try, when he went to the line and put the ball on his centre’s chest from close distance.
He set up another try early in the second half when he went short to Brendan Piakura, who later limped off with a groin injury.
For Newcastle, this was a game of missed opportunities.
They made three errors on attack in the first 10 minutes alone, and wasted another chance in the 13th minute after knocking back a penalty goal to go 2-0 up.
After scoring to make it 24-4 in the second, the Knights’ game was summed up when Jackson Hastings passed a ball into touch on attack with 17 minutes to play.
From the next set Mariner burst down field and put Ezra Mam over, putting the result beyond doubt before two late tries.
“We lacked any patience in the first half. Lacked execution,” Knights coach Adam O’Brien said.
“We spoke about not wanting a quick kill and making it a real slogfest, but we made too many errors chasing points early.
“We still have the hands on control of (our season). But it is loosening. We need to make some adjustments to our mindset on how we want to play games.”