Wests Tigers Holden Cup team have gone down 38-12 in a tough game to the Brisbane Broncos in their Round 12 clash on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
The visitors were forced to endure a less-than-ideal preparation for the match when their flight to Brisbane was delayed for several hours on Friday afternoon, cutting it fine for their arrival.
And while the team still arrived with plenty of time to prepare, it would be the home side who snared first points in the match after just seven minutes when halfback Will Brimson cut his way through the line to score out wide.
Jamayne Isaako landed a superb sideline conversion to give his side an early 6-0 lead.
That advantage wouldn’t last long for the Broncos, however, with Wests Tigers hitting back just three minutes later when Veiru Mapesone put Obed Karwhin over.
The five-eighth nailed the sideline conversion to level the match at 6-6, before barnstorming young prop forward Taniela Paseka showed tremendous agility and strength in the ensuing set to crash his way over next to the posts.
Mapesone had no problem converting to give his side a 12-6 lead after 17 minutes.
With both teams coming up with crucial errors for the majority of the first half, it appeared that the scoreline would remain as such heading into the half-time break, before Brisbane playmaker Brimson put Josh Rudolph through the defensive line.
The forward had no problems finishing off the move to score, with Isaako’s conversion leveling the match at 12-12 as the half-time siren sounded at Suncorp Stadium.
After Wests Tigers opened the second half with an error, it would be all Brisbane as three tries in the space of seven minutes saw the Broncos race out to a 28-12 lead.
Brimson was again in the thick of things — darting across the line for his second to start the scoring spree, before backing up off a Rudolph charge-down to chalk up his hat-trick.
Sam Smith also showed great toe to race down the sideline and score, leaving Wests Tigers with plenty of work to do down 16 points with half an hour remaining.
After a long day in travel, Wests Tigers were simply unable to get going in the second half, coming up with errors at crucial times as they look to come back in the match.
That would prove to be the difference in the second half, as the Broncos continued to build their lead in the 73rd minute when Brimson found Nikau Te Rupe in the corner, before Corey Allan wrapped up a strong win for the home side with a try three minutes before full-time.
Brisbane Broncos 38 (Brimson 3, Rudolph, Smith, Te Rupe, Allan tries; Isaako 5/7 goals) def Wests Tigers 12 (Karwhin, Paseka tries; Mapesone 2/2 goals) at Suncorp Stadium