Broncos close in on minor premiership with big win over Dragons

The Broncos headed to Townsville needing a strong win to be a chance of claiming the NRLW minor premiership and did just that, downing the Dragons 44-14. 

Starting the round just behind the Roosters who will play on Sunday, the Broncos have provisionally moved to the top of the ladder with the eight-tries-to-three win.

However, things did not start well for the Queensland side in the early stages of the game, with first blood going to the Dragons in their first set with the ball.

The St George Illawarra side had no trouble getting into their attacking zone early in the game, with a long ball from Tyla King finding the ground and bouncing up for Kimberley Hunt out wide to collect the ball and run through to score. 

However, the Broncos got themselves the ball back instantly when their drop out kick proved too hard to handle for the visitors and they nearly responded straight back, only for a desperate save by Dragons fullback Teagan Berry denying Julia Robinson in the far left corner. 

Instead, it was the Dragons who went back-to-back, capitalising on an error at the back from the Broncos who could not field a kick, with Ella Koster pouncing on a kick into the in-goal from Kasey Reh.

From there however, it was the Broncos who kicked into gear, scoring the next four tries to close out the first half.

The first came from a strong dummyhalf run from Jada Ferguson to kick-start her side's try-scoring run, before Queensland Maroons centre Shenae Ciesiolka went back-to-back in rapid fashion, showing good footwork for her first and being in the right place at the right time for her second.

The last try of the half was another Julia Robinson special and after trailing 10-0 early, the Broncos went to the break leading 20-10.

After some back-and-forth play after the break, the Dragons got themselves back into the game by scoring first, with winger Maatuleio Fotu-Moala - who was a late inclusion for the game - proving too strong in her run to the line to narrow the gap to 20-14 with plenty of time left to play.  

The Broncos were on the attack again however, but Berry once more proved to be a thorn in Robinson's side, denying the winger her second try but forcing her to lose the ball over the line as she was attempting to ground it. 

It didn't matter to Brisbane however, with the Broncos going over for their first of the half with Gayle Broughton combining with Mele Hafanga close to the line, feeding the defenders a dummy before passing to her powerful centre who could not be stopped.

Mariah Denman's conversion was successful, taking the lead out to 26-14. 

Power was again the name of the game for the Broncos in their next four-pointer, with Chelsea Lenarduzzi adding to her try-scoring tally to push the Broncos out even further. 

Robinson got her double before the game was played out, with a nice backline passing from Broughton and fullback Hayley Maddick on the inside finding her out on her edge and there was no denying her put-down this time. Denman - who had taken over the kicking duties for the injury Teitzel - nailed the sideline conversion for a 38-14 lead.

Ferguson, who started the scoring for the Broncos in the first half, closed the scoring for her side as well, with another burrowing run to get the ball down under the goal posts. 

In an eventful end to the game, tries were denied to Dragons forward Steph Hancock and a second to Hafanga, with the Broncos doing all they could to stake their claim for the minor premiership with their 44-14 win.