The Raiders shed the faders tag to prove they are the real deal, while the Broncos’ season from hell went from bad to worse and a Souths legend achieved a huge milestone.
The Raiders may have surrendered a 20-0 lead to the Bulldogs earlier this season, but they showed they are the real deal in a come-from-behind victory over the Roosters in Round 13.
Canberra came back from 12-4 down at half-time to score four second half tries to stun the Roosters on their home turf.
Matty Johns believes the Raiders are becoming a team of destiny based on their penchant for winning close games this season and paid tribute to their young halves.
“You get a real sense of destiny when you are in a football side and you keep winning close games,” Johns said on Sunday Night with Matty Johns.
“They are playing great football. It was a look to the future with Ethan Sanders replacing Jamal Fogarty due to injury.
“I thought he and Ethan Strange formed a combination really well. It was a great win.”
Bryan Fletcher believes the Raiders may have had a comedown from their big win over the Warriors last week, but they showed they are a genuine title threat.
“After last week when they put all that effort against the Warriors in the win over there, I thought they might be a little flat, but it was the total opposite,” Fletcher said.
“Ricky and the coaching staff have done a terrific job. They defended really well.
“They are winning in tight games and we know they can score points because they have touched up a few teams, but they are the real deal.”
Nathan Hindmarsh praised young gun dummy-half Owen Pattie, who again impressed with 34 run metres, a try assist and 22 tackles in the absence of the suspended Tom Starling.
“I thought Owen Pattie at No.9 was outstanding today,” Hindmarsh said.
“He has really brained it at hooker and deserves his spot there.
“They have been doing this for years. They love a tight game and coming from behind and they held on again.”
Johns agreed the Raiders are devolving some real depth at hooker, which has become such a crucial position in modern rugby league.
“Geez they have some depth at hooker,” Johns said.
“They have Starling who is suspended at the moment. They have got Danny Levi and they have Jayden Brailey coming next year.”
BRONCOS’ WOES CONTINUE
The Broncos’ season is slipping away.
Michael Maguire’s side have lost six of their last seven games and have dropped out of the top eight following their 34-6 loss to the Sea Eagles.
Brisbane began the season on fire, winning three of their first five but cracks have began to emerge and skipper Adam Reynolds cut a frustrated figure after their disappointing Round 13 display.
So what is going wrong in Red Hill in his eyes?
“Just our errors and discipline, there are plenty of good things happening but in key moments throughout the game we’re turning the ball over, giving them easy leg-ups and certainly making it hard for ourselves,” he said.
“There were many areas across the park we could have been much better and defence was one of those.
“Internally, we know our beliefs, we know what this team is capable of, we’ll bunker down, work hard and we’ve still got faith we can turn the season around.
“It only takes one week, we’ve got the Titans next week. We need to learn, we need to get better and we need to do it as a group individually and not look externally.”
Should the Broncos go down to the Titans, who have been one of the NRL’s biggest strugglers in 2025, the pressure will only grow on Maguire.
However, the Brisbane coach was adamant that his squad have the ability to compete for the title this season.
“It was a tough old night, patches of what we can do and patches of what we need to improve on,” Maguire said.
“It’s pretty straightforward the way I see it, it’s just being able to do things for longer periods of time.
“We made plenty of errors and gave away a few penalties in the first half which accumulates pressure but you’ve got to handle that.”
The Broncos have also scored more than 14 points once in their last four games, with their attack being exposed against Manly.
Former Storm enforcer Ryan Hoffman was of the belief Maguire was not the problem.
“I’ve been coached by Michael Maguire before. I know that he is a successful coach. But you need to buy into what he’s about,” he said on ABC’s Offsiders.
“He’s going to breed a tough football team, but you’ve got to train tough to be tough.
“Look, I’m going to back Michael Maguire in. I think he’s a very good coach. I think he’s what Brisbane Broncos need.
“I think the players themselves need to understand that ‘this is what we need right now, we need to buy into what he’s about’.”
