NRL: Storm bring Broncos back to earth with a thumping

STORM 48
BRONCOS 4

PANTHERS 26
WESTS TIGERS 10

The Storm made State of Origin a distant memory for the Broncos, outclassing the Queenslanders in their NRL clash at Olympic Park last night.

And in Sydney, the Penrith Panthers tore Wests Tigers' premiership hopes to tatters in front of the Tigers' home crowd at Leichhardt Oval.

The Broncos were well-represented in the Maroon team that beat NSW on Wednesday night, but that didn't matter last night.

The home side scored nine tries to one to continue an Olympic Park losing streak for the Broncos that dates back to 2003.

Brisbane struggled from the outset without skipper Darren Lockyer, a late withdrawal with general soreness after leading Queensland to Origin victory, and

and star centre Justin Hodges, who injured his knee in the Origin match.

Their reshuffled backline never really clicked and too often was caught short out wide.

Storm centre Greg Inglis backed up his two-try heroics for the Maroons with another last night and helped winger Joseph Tomane to some impressive statistics.

The 19-year-old scored three tries, with Inglis throwing the final ball for him to cross each time.

Tomane also booted six goals from nine attempts to give him a tally of 24 points for the night.

The loss drops the Broncos to second in the competition. They had been joint leaders with St George-Illawarra.

In Sydney, the Tigers played with plenty of purpose but little execution as they slumped to their fifth straight loss, leaving them six points away from the top eight.

The final margin did flatter the visitors, who scored three tries in the final nine minutes to break a 10-all deadlock.

Halfback Luke Walsh capped a strong game by scoring two of the late four-pointers, consolidating Penrith's position in the top eight.

The Tigers started positively when Robbie Farah sparked a blindside raid to set up Taniela Tuiaki's tenth try of the season.

But they butchered the rest of their opportunities, and the Panthers made them pay.

- AAP