Warriors 48 Broncos 16
Now where did that come from?
The Warriors will today be counting the cost of a remarkable victory over the Broncos - and with captain Simon Mannering and star winger Manu Vatuvei suffering relapses of hamstring injuries, the price tag will be hefty - but they will also be savouring
what could prove to be a watershed display.
If 2010 does turn out to be a year when the club reverses its fortunes, the Warriors will look back at yesterday as the day they discovered that most precious of sporting commodities - belief.
Considering the hurdles overcome as the records tumbled in Brisbane, a team touted as wooden-spoon contenders must now know they have what it takes to challenge for a top-eight spot.
Their two major shortcomings of recent times - struggling to perform adequately in Australia and failing to score points - were blown away in spectacular style.
New halfback James Maloney, who in his own words "couldn't buy a try" despite strong performances in the opening two rounds, scored three in the space of 10 minutes as the Warriors danced on the Broncos' corpse late in the second half.
Maloney also kicked eight goals to end with 28 points - equalling the club record held by coach Ivan Cleary and Gene Ngamu - as the Warriors handed the Broncos their heaviest defeat at Suncorp and equalled the most points ever scored against their opponent in Brisbane.
All that came after the Warriors lost Mannering - who re-injured the hamstring he tore pre-season as he scored his side's opening try after 23 minutes - and then Vatuvei 10 minutes later.
The Broncos had injury problems of their own, with centre Israel Folau and wing Denan Kemp departing early.
The high attrition rate made for a short-handed shootout in the blazing Brisbane sun, with the Warriors proving tougher both physically and mentally than a Broncos side that chose to wear their away strip to help counteract the heat.
Hooker Aaron Heremaia typified the effort, ignoring a shoulder injury to set up the decisive try with a brilliant run and kick for Joel Moon in the 50th minute.
Coming on a broken last-tackle play when nothing much seemed on, it was vintage Warriors razzle-dazzle.
Heremaia wasn't the only one to soldier through the pain barrier, with Wade McKinnon having a dislocated finger fixed on the run and Micheal Luck copping a head wound that required several stitches.
"For a period there I was thinking to myself that I was going to run out of players - and that was before half-time," Cleary told the Herald.
"We can probably take a bit out of that. It was tough. When you lose two of your real key guys - your captain who is an 80-minute back rower and Manu who relieves a lot of pressure for us - I was really happy with the way everybody dug in."
The Warriors controlled possession better than the Broncos, completing seven more sets, but it was their superior offloading and line-breaking ability that proved decisive.
After three lead changes in a tit-for-tat first half that ended with the Warriors 14-10 to the good, the Broncos scored a soft try just three minutes into the second spell to get their noses back in front.
But after that it was one-way traffic as the visitors muscled up, Jerome Ropati crossing twice and Moon displaying brilliant hands to reel in Heremaia's clever kick.
Maloney's rapid-fire hat-trick completed the Broncos humiliation.
"We spoke about it at half time that the tougher side would win the game and the boys really dug deep," Maloney said. "It was very encouraging. We lost a few men early but really toughed out a gutsy win.
"The boys will be on a real high. But we have to keep it in moderation because things can turn around pretty quickly. We are not getting ahead of ourselves. We'll go back to training and do what we do."
The usually stone-faced Cleary even cracked a smile with three-minutes to play, but the euphoria of victory would have faded as he surveyed his battered side.
"We paid a bit of a price," he said.
The extent of that price won't be fully known until early this week when Mannering and Vatuvei's injuries are fully assessed.
"They are both instances where they have had similar occurrences before.
"I don't know whether that is good or bad but the fact that they had to come off straight away is never a good sign. They are hard guys to replace, that is for sure."
