NRL: Broncos kick Warriors off their perch

Israel Folau of the Broncos makes a break during the round three NRL match between the Warriors and the Brisbane Broncos. Photo / Getty Images

NRL
Warriors 10
Broncos 26

Mark Twain once said that the only certainties in life were death and taxes.

If he had been alive today, he might have added that the Warriors won't win the first three matches of a season.

The Mt Smart outfit have never won their opening three games since their debut season in 1995 and last night they suffered their first defeat of the new campaign, leaving the Broncos as the only unbeaten team in the competition.

It was a resounding victory from a sharp Broncos side adjusting to life without Wayne Bennett for the first time in 22 years and a disappointing performance from a Warriors side who might have started to believe the press being written about them on both sides of the Tasman.

Expectations have been building at Mt Smart Stadium that 2009 will finally be the Warriors' year and these increased with wins over the Eels and Sea Eagles in their opening two matches.

The bookies even sat up and took notice, shortening the Warriors' premiership odds to be second favourites. And the fans started to believe with last night's match in front of a near-sellout of 24,350 fans.

Maybe those expectations will settle down now.

Last night's defeat was heavy but it is still early in the season and the damage, other than the serious knee injury picked up by Brent Tate which adds to a lengthening casualty list, will be little more than to the players' egos and pride.

They might even be happier being the hunter rather than the hunted because, over the past two seasons, the Warriors have sneaked into the playoffs through the backdoor after everyone apart from themselves and the most diehard of fans had written them off.

There's certainly no need to panic, given this defeat was their first at Mt Smart for eight matches.

Ivan Cleary's side were second best all last night.

Even the great Stacey Jones - who inspired victory at Brookvale six days previously and who received Steve Price's endorsement as the first New Zealander to be inducted as a rugby league Immortal - was powerless to stop the rout.

They were disjointed, lacking the sort of flow that helped them establish a winning lead over the Eels in the first match of the season and to a stunning comeback against Manly.

There was plenty of effort but little execution and the frustration mounted as they often lost the ball early in the tackle count and saw the score consistently mount against them.

It took 57 minutes before the Warriors troubled the scorekeeper, a try to Simon Mannering who slotted into the centres in the absence of Tate.

The try to Ukuma Ta'ai 10 minutes from time was little more than a consolation. It was the Peter Wallace show in the opening stanza. The 23-year-old halfback lives in the shadow of the great Darren Lockyer but he was the brightest light of a very good Broncos performance.

His kicking game was outstanding, like the banana grubber kick he put in from 2m out to set up Joel Clinton for the opening try in the 12th minute.

His passing game was even better, highlighted by the cutout pass he threw across three uncertain Warriors' defenders to centre Steve Michaels to score three minutes later.

Wallace is a Lockyer prototype, just some eight years younger and 250 NRL games less experienced but he is a match winner in his own right.

The worrying thing as far as the Warriors were concerned was that Lockyer wasn't having an influence on the match, and there are very few games when he doesn't make a significant contribution.

It came three minutes before the break when he put giant prop Dave Taylor into a break that was expertly finished off by Israel Folau.

After that, he took over shuffling the ball to Alex Glenn for the opening try of the second half and he snaffled a try of his own in the 53rd minute that extended the Broncos' lead to a commanding 26-0.

The Warriors enjoyed plenty of possession late in the game but the result had been decided some time earlier.

Twain also said once that "reports of my death are greatly exaggerated". There is still plenty of life in this Warriors outfit.

Warriors 10 (S. Mannering, U. Ta'ai tries, D. Kemp gl) Broncos 26 (J. Clinton, S. Michaels, I. Folau, A. Glenn, D. Lockyer tries, C. Parker 3 gls). Half-time: 0-18.

The Junior Warriors claimed their first win of the season with a 24-16 defeat of the Broncos.