Roosters down Broncos 24-22 as Brisbane's NRL premiership tilt takes a hit

Adam Blair of the Brisbane Broncos. Photo / AAP.

Wayne Bennett has slammed Brisbane's title hopes after the Roosters overcame a stunning brain explosion from one of their own to break the Broncos' hearts 24-22 in a finals thriller.

The Broncos looked to have conjured an Allianz Stadium miracle when Roosters winger Blake Ferguson inexplicably batted a 40-20 kick into the path of Corey Oates, who scored for a 22-18 lead in the 71st minute.

But Brisbane were left shattered, with Roosters sensation Latrell Mitchell _ the next Greg Inglis _ crashing over five minutes from time to plunge the Broncos into sudden-death football next week.

The Roosters are now one win from a grand final, while the Broncos will sweat on the fitness of star fullback Darius Boyd for next week's knockout final against Manly or Penrith at Suncorp Stadium.

Ultimately, the Roosters were the superior team. Missing Boyd, the Broncos were left to rue another insipid opening, slumping to a 14-0 lead after 25 minutes as their forwards were monstered in midfield.

Don't be fooled by the scoreline. The Broncos deserved to lose by 20 and Bennett knew it, later delivering a stinging assessment when asked if his side had the defensive steel to break their 11-year title drought.

"We'd be lucky to beat the teams 15th and 16th with that defensive effort," a deflated Bennett said.

"Everybody was getting excited in the coaching box (after Ferguson's blunder) but I wasn't, I didn't think we could win.

"The Broncos are brave, but we didn't play well. We are so far off being what we could be.
"We turned some things around (in the second half), but we weren't consistent enough and the errors just killed us."

Trailing 14-6 at half-time, the Broncos did well to hang tough and almost snatched a remarkable victory before Mitchell sliced through to save Ferguson from a post-match mauling.

On match eve, Bennett said he wasn't concerned by Brisbane's worrying habit of slow starts. He should be.

During the regular season, Brisbane leaked 25 tries in the opening 20 minutes of games. The Broncos should have rectified their first-quarter intensity for the finals.

Instead, they looked liked they'd been injected with valium as the revved-up Roosters ripped them apart in midfield with a lethal fusion of pace and power.

Brisbane's first half wasn't mediocre. It was worse. It was stupefyingly sloppy.

Everything about the Broncos' start was chaotic. Coach Bennett sensationally dropped fullback Kodi Nikorima to the bench and called David Mead into the backfield. Benji Marshall remained at halfback. It could be viewed as a kick in the guts for Nikorima, who was Brisbane's starting No.7 just a week ago.

"I thought we would take a bit of pressure off Kodi, that didn't affect us," Bennett said.
Bennett needs more from his halves. Marshall struggled to dominate at halfback, while pivot Anthony Milford was brutally exposed in defence last night, missing seven tackles and conceding two tries.

"At times, we weren't the Broncos," prop Adam Blair said. "We didn't play how we wanted to play ... too many errors."

SYDNEY ROOSTERS 24 (B Cordner A Guerra L Keary L Mitchell tries M Gordon 4 goals) bt BRISBANE 22 (C Oates 2 B Hunt J Roberts tries J Kahu 3 goals) at Allianz Stadium. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Alan Shortall. Crowd: 21,212