The Toyota Forklifts Canberra Raiders have suffered a 34-10 defeat against the Brisbane Broncos on a wet evening at Suncorp Stadium.
A five try to nil first half established a strong advantage for the home side with Canberra’s completion rate and a biceps injury to key playmaker Jamal Fogarty areas of concern for the green machine.
A strong start to the match saw the Raiders have the better of the field position in the opening 10 minutes of the contest.
The Raiders looked to have opened the scoring in this period of dominance, however Hudson Young failed to successfully ground the ball after a well-weighted kick from Danny Levi.
While the visitors started the better of the two sides, the Broncos claimed first points through an individual piece of play from Reece Walsh, who sliced through the defence beating three defenders on his way to the try-line.
An error from young fullback Chevy Stewart saw a scramble for the loose ball on the try line, with the boot of James Schiller preventing the Raiders conceding in consecutive sets.
The Brisbane halves were on fire with their boots early with a cross field kick from Ezra Mam enabling Jordan Riki to cross before a towering midfield bomb from Jock Madden forced an error from the Raiders number one, with the Broncos five-eighth toeing the ball and grounding it in the in goal.
The Raiders would struggle to halt the momentum of the Broncos with Billy Walters regathering his own kick to collect the home side's fourth of the contest, extending the lead to 24-0.
The first-half dominance for the Broncos continued after an error from the Raiders was punished by Reece Walsh, weaving through Canberra's right side defence to claim his second of the night.
After a promising start to the half, the Raiders entered the sheds trailing 28-0, with plenty of work to do in the second 40.
The challenge for the Raiders became even harder when Fogarty was ruled out during the half-time break after suffering a biceps injury, with Simi Sasagi moving into the halves.
The Broncos thought they picked up where they left off after a smart play from Kotoni Staggs dribbling the ball into the in goal, only to be overturned after a Jesse Arthars knock on.
Sasagi provided Raiders fans with hope in the following set after a direct run, forcing a missed tackle from Jaiyden Hunt. Stewart converted his first goal in the NRL to make it 28-6.
After the Raiders failed to find touch off a penalty, the Broncos crossed for their sixth try of the night following a silky left-side movement finished off by a sharp line from Selwyn Cobbo, silencing any chance of a Raiders comeback.
Walsh injected himself once again down the left-hand side breaking Canberra's defensive line, with the last pass saving the Raiders from conceding another four pointer.
Xavier Savage crossed for his fifth try of the season after a Sasagi kick was knocked back by Sebastian Kris for the Raiders flyer, who beat two Broncos defenders on his way to the try line.
The Canberra Raiders return home next week to face the Cronulla Sharks on Sunday afternoon in ANZAC Round.
