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Good Friday turns Bad as Roosters Rolled
Broncos 32 def Roosters 10

The scene was an interesting one at Aussie Stadium tonight as the battle of the winless teams for NRL 2007 got underway.

With both teams obviously having so much to play for; it was the Broncos who came out the more composed and played out a simple mistake free first half. For the Roosters, extremely poor discipline and basic errors with defensive reads cost the the Bondi boys any chance of laying an early platform.

The Broncos ran in 2 early tries, but their style was nothing flashy - it was simply the Roosters mediocracy that allowed the Brisbane Broncos to get off to a good lead. In one scenario, the Broncos attacked the Roosters line with 2 attackers on a short side - some how 3 defenders for the Roosters got it wrong, whether it be simple maths or distrust in their inside defenders - this is a serious problem.

As the rain arrived by the bucket-load in the 2nd half - the Broncos repelled a small Roosters comeback and kept their basic style in tact to cruise along for their first win of the season.

For Brisbane, Lockyer was at his silky best. His organisation and vision in attack was a delight to watch, running several blind side attacking plays to setup early tries and scoring one himself late in the match. Lockyer gave the young Roosters a lesson, and continued to follow-up with punishing defence. He was supported well by Hodges and Hunt who were also at the top of their game for the defending premiers.

Sydney City will learn more lessons tonight, and can take some heart from the performance of some key players. Anasta again put in a solid effort, the only fault lying with his kicking game which was a little off key, this kept reducing the pressure on Brisbane on 5th play attack sequences.

Mini again played impressively, as did Tupou who always looked like busting the line whenever he handled. Mitchell Pearce was heavily involved in much of the Roosters play tonight and surely will be better for the experience, it looks like the Roosters have made the right choice with him at no. 7.

Spare a thought for Rooster Danny Nutley tonight, who copped a massive falcon late in the game from a Darren Lockyer kick. On a cold and wet night, Nutley got his head in the way of a full tilt Lockyer kick - copping the knock at close range. The force nearly knocking hard man Nutley off his feet and looked like a mack truck hitting him when replayed in slow motion. Ouch!

The Roosters must now lick their wounds and prepare for next weeks assignment against the Knights on the Central Coast.

Brisbane Broncos 32 (Steve Michaels 2, Karmichael Hunt, Shaun Berrigan, Greg Eastwood, Darren Lockyer tries; Lockyer 4 goals)
Defeated
Sydney Roosters 10 (Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Joel Monaghan tries; Craig Fitzgibbon goal)

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