Broncos overpower slippery Eels

The Brisbane Broncos have powered their way to a 28-16 victory over the Parramatta Eels in front of 34398 fans at Suncorp Stadium tonight.

The match brought down the curtain on what was a fantastic day of rugby league action in which everyone involved played with the inspiration that ANZAC day provides.

The visitors got off to a flying start tonight with a 40/20 from halfback Chris Sandow setting up numerous attacking raids on the Bronco's goal line. The home team's defence stood tall though, repeatedly turning away the Eel's attack.

The Bronco's looked content to power their way up field early and eventually earned themselves first points with lock Corey Parker kicking his first of three penalty goals for the night in the 14th minute.

After his earlier heroics, Sandow would turn villain for the Eels, kicking the ball dead from the kickoff and giving the Broncos the perfect chance to attack. The home team needed little invitation, crossing through winger Jack Reed in their first set of six attacking the Eel's line, giving them a 6-0 lead in the 15th minute.

Parker's second penalty goal in the 24th minute gave his team what looked a handy eight point lead and the home team looked set to take the advantage into the sheds until the very last minute of the first half. After working their way into an attacking position, Sandow squared up the attack for his halves partner Corey Norman to send winger Bureta Faraimo over in the corner with a neat cut out pass. Sandow missed the conversion but his team went into the halftime break full of confidence.

The Eels again came out fast in the second half playing with plenty of energy but their execution wasn't great and a simple error from young winger John Folau gave man of the match Josh McGuire the chance to race away with a much deserved try. Parker converted to give his team a 14-4 lead in the 49th minute.

The Eels weren't going to lay down in this one though and hit back with Faraimo's second try in the 54th minute. Norman was again the executor with another neat cut out pass. Sandow nailed his conversion attempt from the sideline to reduce the deficit to four.

Parker would soon edge his team further in front with his third penalty goal, but it was the dynamic entry into the game from interchange hooker Kodi Nikorima that again turned the game on it's head. With his first touch of the steeden, Nikorima burst through a hole and laid a flick pass on for five-eight Anthony Milford to score in the 64th minute. Parker again added the extras to give his team a 22-10 lead.

In a game full of twists and turns the Eels were proving too slippery to shut down for long, but none more so than Faraimo who crossed for a hat-trick of tries in the 72nd minute, storming onto an inside ball from Sandow. The enigmatic half again reduced the lead to six with his conversion and the game looked set for a grandstand finish.

The Bronco's defence would prove too strong though and Milford would ice the game in the dying minutes of the match with some blistering speed sending him on a 90 metre run to score his second try.

Both teams will enjoy a week off with the representative round taking center stage next week. When the NRL resumes the following weekend, the Broncos will host another team from Sydney's West in the Penrith Panthers in Friday night footy. Whilst the Eels will be desperate for two competition points when they play host to the Melbourne Storm in a Sunday afternoon fixture.

BRISBANE BRONCOS (28)
Tries: Jack Reed, Josh McGuire, Anthony Milford (2)
Field Goals:
Conversions: Corey Parker (3/4)
Penalty Goals: Corey Parker (3/3)

PARRAMATTA EELS (16)
Tries: Bureta Faraimo (3)
Field Goals:
Conversions: Chris Sandow (2/3)
Penalty Goals:

Welcome to coverage of what should be another great game of ANZAC Day footy. The Brisbane Broncos play host to the Parramatta Eels, bringing the curtain down on what has been an emotion charged day of action across Australia and New Zealand. The high flying Broncos will be looking to stay placed as equal competition leaders with a win tonight, whilst the unpredictable Eels will be looking to stay in touch with the top eight with a win tonight.

LATE MAIL BRONCOS - Captain Justin Hodges has overcome his troublesome hamstring injury to take his place in the centres, pushing Dale Copley to the wing with Daniel Vidot dropping out.

LATE MAIL EELS - Darcy Lussick is again a late withdrawal, Danny Wicks will start as he did last week with Richie Fa'aoso onto the bench. Pauli Pauli also comes onto the bench for his 1st appearance of the year in place of Isaac De Gois

Were underway at Suncorp with Broncos getting 1st use

2: A solid start from Brisbane with Hunt kicking down field on the last

3: Mau nearly bursts through. A right side spread from Parra results in Hopoate kicking on the last. cleaned up by Brisbane

4: A good kick from Brisbane sees Parra coming out of their own end

4: 40/20 PARRAMATTA EELS
Chris Sandow kicks a 40/20.
the 40/20 specialist nails another one

5: Sandow grubbers through & Gillett boots the ball dead, line drop out

7: Norman with the grubber this time & Maranta bats it dead, Parra building pressure...

8: intercept Parker in front of his posts, Brisbane show good defence under pressure

9: Hunt torpedoes a booming kick down field

10: Norman bombs it high but Maranta is safe at the back

11: Hunt kicks into space again and the Broncos swarm in defense

11: Takairangi is down and a penalty is awarded, high shot from Josh McGuire - on report

12: Gower grubbers but it rolls dead. 20m tap Brisbane

13: Penalty Brisbane, Parra offside, Parker will shoot for 2

14: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL BRISBANE BRONCOS
Penalty goal attempt by Corey Parker successful.
From 30m out, Parker edges his team in front

15: UNFORCED ERROR PARRAMATTA EELS
Chris Sandow makes an unforced error.
Sandow kicks it dead from the kickoff, penalty halfway

15: VIDEO REF possible Brisbane try...

15: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Jack Reed. Kick to come.
Playing on the right wing, Reed dives for the corner after a good ball from Hodges

16: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker unsuccessful.
From the sideline Parker misses just to the right

17: Hunt bombs on the last with Folau taking it. Broncos chases were offside though - Penalty

18: UNFORCED ERROR PARRAMATTA EELS
Brad Takairangi makes an unforced error.
Bad mistake dropping it on his way to the ground

19: On the last Hunt under pressure throws the ball forward, handover

21: Norman kicks for the corner, Folau catches and offloads, Parra then spread it to the right with Hopate grubbering & Blair cleaning up for Brisbane

22: Broncos with back to back penalties & Parker will shoot for 2 again

24: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL BRISBANE BRONCOS
Penalty goal attempt by Corey Parker successful.
From 35m out Parker nails it

25: Robinson takes a Hunt bomb & brings it back to his 20m

26: Sandow boots it high, but a penalty to Brisbane - offside from the kick again

27: Forward pass after some quick hands from Brisbane down the right edge, looked a harsh call

29: Norman drills it deep with Reed bringing it back

29: Hunt bombs it high but Faraimo comes up with a good catch under pressure

30: Forward pass from Jo Paulo, Bris ball on their own 40m line

32: Folau is picked up & driven in goal but Reed got a touch forward from the original kick, handover Parra

33: Scrum Parra with Oates knocking the ball down. 50m out

34: Robinson with a goose step nearly gets through

35: Norman grubbers through & Bris bat it dead. A chance to hit back late in the half for Parra

36: Paulo passes out the back to noone & it rolls out 25m out from Bris line

38: Handover after a bomb from Hunt landed on the back of Faraimo's head in a classic falcon! Bris were unable to use their second chance with Jack Reed tackled on the last

39: TRY PARRAMATTA EELS
Scored by Bureta Faraimo. Kick to come.
Try in the right hand corner with Sandow squaring the attack and giving Norman a chance to throw a cut out pass to Fairamo

40: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION PARRAMATTA EELS
Conversion attempt by Chris Sandow unsuccessful.
From the sideline Sandow hits the left upright

40: HALFTIME at Suncorp. After a fast start from the Eels, Brisbane's defence stood tall under early pressure, seemingly frustrating the Eel's attack into some silly errors for a lot of the half. Brisbane seemed content to just power their way up field and take the points when they were on offer. The late try will give the visitor's plenty of confidence heading into the 2nd half

40: Were back under way, 40 minutes to go in an epic day of footy!

41: Wow, after a good 1st set for Parra they run it on the last spreading the ball both ways & eventaully chipping in field, cleaned up by Hunt though

43: Norman grubbers to the corner but Maranta cleans it up

45: A big kick down field bounces awkwardly for Robinson but he cleans it up just before the chasers arrive

46: Sandow chips on the last & tries to put a big hit on Maranta

47: Parra ball after a Milford offload bounces away off his support player

48: Oates with a great effort gets the ball out of his in goal and charges a further 20m into the field of play

48: McCullough out of dummy half drives it deep

49: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Josh McGuire. Kick to come.
Folau spills the ball coming out of his own half & the big front rower races away with a 30m try

50: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker successful.
Parker makes no mistake from in front

51: Faraimo returns the kick 30m out from his line

52: 6 more for Parra after Sandows kick comes off the Broncos, Parra on the attack...

54: TRY PARRAMATTA EELS
Scored by Bureta Faraimo. Kick to come.
A double for Faraimo after an inside, outside play ended with another cut out pass from Norman

55: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION PARRAMATTA EELS
Conversion attempt by Chris Sandow successful.
Sandow curls it around with a pearler from the sideline

56: Maranta does well diving into the field of play from Parra's kick

57: Milford kicks down field but Robinson takes it on the fly & charges back towards halfway

58: Norman grubbers on the 4th tackle but it rolls dead

59: Maranta stays down which probably means theres a penalty coming...

60: & yep Watmough on report for a high tackle, Another penalty goal coming up

60: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL BRISBANE BRONCOS
Penalty goal attempt by Corey Parker successful.
From 30 out Parker puts his team 6 clear

62: McCullough kicks out of dummy half but Robinson again takes it on the fly

62: Sandow chips back towards the posts but it rolls dead with no one chasing through for the Eels

63: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Anthony Milford. Kick to come.
Kodi Nikorima bursts through a hole with his 1st touch of the steeden & sets up Milford to score on the inside

64: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker successful.
Parker pilots it through the uprights

66: Hunt kicks it deep & Parra works it out from their own end

67: Maranta safe under the high ball at the back

67: Penalty Brisbane against Folau for a high shot

68: Brisbane with big yards down the left but the offload is cleaned up by Faraimo for Parra

68: Manu Ma'u is staying down..

70: Handover after Hodges shuts down Norman on the last & isn't shy in letting his former team mate know all about it

71: Parker puts it down & Gower bursts through..

71: VIDEO REF possibly Parra try, checking the grounding & obstruction

72: NO TRY Tim Mannah held up

71: TRY PARRAMATTA EELS
Scored by Bureta Faraimo. Kick to come.
HAT TRICK after Sandow turns the ball back inside for Faraimo to charge over

71: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION PARRAMATTA EELS
Conversion attempt by Chris Sandow successful.
Sandow keeps his team in the fight

73: Norman bombs high on the last but Maranta doesnt look like dropping one tonight

74: Great kick from Milford kicks it out 5m from Parra's line

75: Norman gets his kick to pull up just short of Broncos line

76: Hunt kicks down field & Faraimo brings it back to his 30m line

78: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Anthony Milford. Kick to come.
Milford races away for his 2nd try after cleaning up Norman's grubber & burning them for speed to get in the clear

80: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker successful.
Parker makes no mistake with the goal

80: Hunt grubbers it into touch & players are in no rush for this scrum

80: And thats the ball game. The Broncos have proven too strong after the Eels threw plenty at them.
Its been an absolute honour to be a part of League Unlimted's live update team on such a special day. Have a great night folks and stay tuned for our match report to come soon