Brisbane secured back-to-back wins to start the NRL season, but the price for victory over the Warriors could be severe, with star winger Corey Oates nursing a suspected dislocated shoulder.
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Broncos pile more pressure on the Warriors
Brisbane has heaped more pressure on the New Zealand Warriors after a 25-10 win stretched the premiership favourites perfect start to the season to two wins from two starts.
Oates was all quality once again for the Broncos, who were as flat as pancakes at times against the Warriors before doing enough to close them out with a 25-10 win at Suncorp Stadium.
He scored the opening try and was involved in everything in the first half, carting impossible balls out of his in-goal and helping the Broncos batter their way back down the field with his telling incursions.
Already, the State of Origin chatter has started to increase in volume but any hopes of a start for Queensland could well be in disarray after he reached for his shoulder in the 71st minute after taking a hit-up from his own end.
The 21-year-old was in considerable pain and was taken from the field and immediately sent down the tunnel for treatment. Brisbane officials were quick to report back with news of a possible shoulder dislocation, which could lead to a lengthy stint in rehab.
By the time he left, Oates had a try to his name as well as 152 run metres.
Wayne Bennett would later say Oates had an injury to his AC joint and did his best to play it down.
"It's not life-threatening," Bennett said. If that was the diagnosis, the best case scenario could see Oates miss little more than a week but scans would reveal more.
Warriors coach Andrew McFadden liked the improved effort but said his side struggled late after a pair of injuries.
"They are a good team. They keep going for 80 minutes," McFadden said. "It's a massive burden for players to play 80 minutes. It's (the new interchange laws)Â impacted the game more than most coaches would have thought."
Things starting promisingly enough for the Broncos, who settled into their patterns quickly, going up 2-0 through a Corey Parker penalty then 6-0 when Oates dived over in the corner.
Oates has brilliant athleticism for such a big man. He wheeled his legs close to the sideline but was able to plant it down and give his side a 6-0 lead. For Warriors fans, the defence had shades of last week's first half debacle.
But that was about as bad as it got for the visitors in the first half. Jeff Robson was busier than his opposite number Ben Hunt and put himself right in the game, happy to take on Brisbane's line on the back of some good momentum from his pack.
New Zealand's bruisers were putting the Broncos on the back foot and it was the home side that was inhaling the grandstand midway through the first half as they tried to hold out a series of sustained raids.
Their tryline defence was a cornerstone of their success in 2015, which will ensure Isaac Luke's little dart from dummy half goes down like a lead balloon when it comes to the video review.
That levelled scores, then Shaun Johnson edged his side ahead with a penalty, only for returning centre Jack Reed to bust open their defence in the 33rd minute with a determined 30m gallop that was enough for a two-point lead at the break.
Manu Vatuvei, who had done some serious damage to the Broncos line in the first half, would be sorely missed when he left the field early in the second half with a rib injury. Centre Blake Ayshford was also back in the sheds after a concussion ruling.
And so after putting themselves right in the contest in far better first half than the half-digested breakfast served up against the Tigers last weekend, the Warriors began to crack.
Darius Boyd would simply sail through a yawning gap on the right-edge after 55 minutes to put his side up 18-10. For a player of his calibre, it was about as good a look at the tryline as you are going to get.
Ten minutes later the Broncos were in again, with Matt Gillett crashing off the hip of Hunt and putting his side clear in the run home, although it's evidently clear the grand finalists have struggled to shift out of third gear in their opening two games of 2016.
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