A masterful kicking display by Adam Reynolds and a herculean performance from Carl Webb medalist Pat Carrigan inspired the Broncos to a 38-12 win over the Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
Heading into the Queensland derby as the NRL's only unbeaten team, the Cowboys were their own worst enemies with 17 errors cruelling their chances.
The Broncos exploded out of the blocks with a try to Billy Walters out of dummy half just three minutes into the game.
Four minutes later the Broncos kicked out to 8-0 when Reynolds landed a penalty goal after Murray Taulagi spilled a bomb and Val Holmes picked the ball up in an offside position.
A towering Reynolds bomb in the 13th minute was spilled by Scott Drinkwater and the Broncos feasted on the scraps to send Jesse Arthars over in the corner for a 14-0 lead.
Billy Walters Try
The Cowboys steadied the ship in the 16th minute when Murray Taulagi found space on the right wing and sent a pinpoint kick back inside for Val Holmes to regather and score.
Midway through the half the home side were in again when Reynolds sent a perfectly weighted grubber into the in goal for Kotoni Staggs to follow through and score.
Down 18-6 the Cowboys came up with their fourth error of the night through Griffin Neame to invite the Broncos into the red zone and Tristan Sailor earned a repeat set with a neat grubber but the visitors were able to get the ball back on a short dropout.
Kotoni Staggs Try
Come the 32nd minute and the Cowboys hit back when Drinkwater sliced into the clear, put a sizzling sidestep on Sailor and defied a last-ditch Ezra Mam tackle to cross in the corner. Holmes' sideline conversion made it 18-12.
An offside penalty against Reece Robson in the 36th minute gifted the Broncos two points to make it 20-12 before Kyle Feldt put down a towering Reynolds bomb and Selwyn Cobbo picked up the loose ball and dived over but replays showed he had knocked on before grounding it.
The Cowboys opened the second half in bright fashion and on the back of a repeat set they threatened to grab a third but Cobbo pounced on an intercept and took off on a 90-metre run to the line.
Just as Broncos fans were starting to celebrate, Dearden came across in cover and pulled off a superb tackle to deny the try.
Scott Drinkwater Try
Another Drinkwater error shortly after undid Dearden's heroics and the Broncos crossed through Tyson Smoothy out of dummy half to extend the lead back to 14 points.
With 10 minutes to play the Broncos put game to bed when Mam grubbered for himself and touched the ball down for his first try since his grand final hat-trick.
A great moment for veteran Corey Oates when he grabbed a late try off a Reynolds grubber to make the final score 38-12.
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Match Snapshot
- Broncos lock Pat Carrigan set the tone with 10 runs for 125 metres in the opening 40 minutes. He finished the game with 212 run metres. He collected the inaugural Carl Webb Medal as player of the match.
- The Cowboys completed just 10 of 18 sets at 55 per cent in the opening half. They finished the night with 23 of 39 sets completed at 58 per cent.
- Tristan Sailor proved an able fill-in for Reece Walsh with 179 run metres and four tackle breaks.
- A crowd of 45,793 was on hand at Suncorp for the Queensland derby.
- Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater had a mixed night with five errors offset by a try and nine tackle breaks.
- Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds came up with two try assists and 645 kicking metres as he tormented the Cowboys' back three with his boot.
- Cowboys hooker Reece Robson played his 100th NRL game.
- Veteran Bronco Corey Oates entered the game from the bench with 14 minutes to play for his first NRL action of 2024.
- The Cowboys were aiming for their first 4-0 start to a season since 2007.
- Broncos No.6 Ezra Mam has scored four tries in his past three games against the Cowboys.
- Corey Oates' late try was his first in the NRL since Round 23, 2022 against the Storm.
- Tyson Smoothy left the field for a HIA in the 79th minute.
Remembering Carl Webb
Play of the Game
When Selwyn Cobbo took intercept on his own 10-metre line and set sail for the tryline it seemed no one would catch the Broncos flyer. Enter Tom Dearden. The Cowboys five-eighth put his head down and set off in pursuit, eventually getting to the Broncos flyer just short of the tryline and cutting him down with a cover tackle for the ages.
Tom Dearden with a tackle of the year contender!
What They Said
"We've had some disruptions to our team but we rolled the Broncos out tonight. Regardless of who was in the jerseys or who was playing, that's the Broncos and that's what I'm most pleased about. I thought tonight we showed that resolve with our defence which was really impressive. I thought tonight Pat Carrigan really stood up, not a lot of ball-playing but just his carries and defensively as well he was really strong. And that's the Pat Carrigan we need every week." - Broncos coach Kevin Walters
Broncos: Round 4
"I'm so disappointed. We come down to Brisbane, it's our biggest club game of the year, and we just gave the opposition too many shots inside our own half. We wouldn't beat the Toowoomba Dragons doing that. You give a good attacking team too many shots and you're no chance to win. The most disappointing part of the game for me is Tommy Dearden makes this awesome defensive play - one of the better ones I've seen in a long time - and we just had no spark or reaction off the back of that. It's a real reality check about some of our football." - Cowboys coach Todd Payten
Cowboys: Round 4
What's Next
The Broncos head to Melbourne to kick off Round 5 with a Thursday night clash against the Storm at AAMI Park.
The Cowboys are at home to the Titans with a huge crowd guaranteed at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.