The Brisbane Broncos continued their tremendous start to the season with a devastating 36-2 win over Queensland rivals the Cowboys at a packed Lang Park on Friday evening.
Even without the talent and leadership of full-back Karmichael Hunt and captain Darren Lockyer, who were both late exclusions, the Broncos romped in six tries to zero in a marvellous all-round display.
The win handed Brisbane an impeccable 3-0 start to the season, a feat they have not achieved since 2003. Standout prop Ben Hannant praised the new bread of forwards for the great early run.
"We are a very tight bunch of blokes, it just shows the depth that we have got at our club and everyone is working for each other and we got the result which is what we want," he told ABC Grandstand.
"We are all happy to share the workload around that's why we have been so successful... we are not relying on one or two people to do the job."
For the Cowboys it compounded a horror start to 2008, leaking 30-plus points for the third consecutive match after a woeful defensive display and equalling unimaginative effort with ball in hand.
A high-scoring match looked unlikely after a brutal opening half hour when both sides were locked at 2-2.
But Hannant, who bounced back from a massive hit in the game's first play, pounced on a in-goal mistake to break the deadlock and give the home side the advantage.
That triggered a points avalanche in the final 10 minutes of the half, as the Broncos ran in two more tries in consecutive sets after soft penalties by the Cowboys.
The first came to PJ Marsh when Tonie Carroll put in a sly grubber following a break down the right side, before Darius Boyd ensured the locals went into half-time 18-2 leaders.
Boyd's try in particular highlighted North Queensland's abysmal goal-line tackling, the fill in full-back shrugging of four individual attempts to bring him down before crossing the line.
The scoring spree did not let up in the second 40 with Reece Robinson and Steve Michaels touching down for four-pointers, before skipper for the night Justin Hodges ran straight through the lethargic Cowboys ruck area to send Michael Ennis under the posts.
North Queensland skipper Johnathan Thurston was far from his best as the Cowboys continued to return from the attacking 20 empty handed and defeated by a staunch Broncos goal-line barrier.
In contrast, Brisbane looked dangerous on every trip to the feeble Cowboys line with Peter Wallace again shining, relishing his role as the Broncos new number seven.
Broncos: 36 (B Hannant, PJ Marsh, D Boyd, R Robinson, S Michaels, M Ennis tries; P Wallace 2, M Ennis 3 conversions; Wallace penalty)
Cowboys: 2 (J Thurston penalty)
Source: By Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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