Broncos too strong

The Brisbane Broncos have sent Wayne Bennett and Tonie Carroll out in style with a strong 24-2 win over the Newcastle Knights at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

Karmichael Hunt was the star of the night. Celebrating his 100th first grade game, the fullback looked dangerous all night scoring one try and having a hand in two others.

The Knights were excellent defensively all night, but they simply made too many errors to put any concerted pressure on their hosts.

Corey Parker opened the scoring with a penalty in the 8th minute after the Ben Cross was penalised for a high shot that left Darren Lockyer groggy.

The hosts looked to extend their lead in the 15th minute when Denan Kemp was just pushed into the corner post by Wes Naiqama after some excellent lead-up featuring a number of passes as play went from the left to the right side of the field.

There was no stopping them on their next attempt four minutes later when Darius Boyd was on the receiving end of a great Hunt cut out pass to score next to the left corner post for a 6-0 lead.

Desperate Knights defence kept them in the match with Steve Simpson saving the day in the 30th minute when he dislodged the ball from Boyd when the Broncos winger looked set to grab his second.

The visitors got on the scoreboard right at the death of the first half through a Kurt Gidley penalty after Brisbane were caught off side close to their line. Gidley comfortably slotted the two points amid the shrill of an attempted world-record 30,000 people blowing whistles.

The hosts converted their first opportunity in the second half when Hunt broke two tackles to barge over in the third minute. Parker surprisingly missed the conversion to leave Brisbane leading 10-2.

Hunt showed his class in the 60th minute when he courageously collected a Newcastle midfield chip under tremendous pressure and then raced 30m to put the Broncos on the attack. Steve Simpson finished up in the sinbin for holding on in the tackle and two tackles later Ben Hannant crashed over under the posts. Referee Tony Archer awarded the try to give the hosts a 16-2 lead despite replays being inconclusive.

The hosts were over again five minutes later only for a forward pass from Hodges to Hunt preventing Hunt grabbing his double. They fluffed another three minutes later when Hodges couldn't pick up a Peter Wallace grubber with the line open.

Boyd finally grabbed his second in the 72nd minute when he again profited from a great Hunt cut out pass to score untouched in the left corner.

Joel Moon sweetened the victory scoring in the final minute to give the Broncos a 24-2 win. Carroll lined up for an unlikely conversion with a big smile on his face but alas his kick never looked like it.

Brisbane will finish the regular season in fifth place with the Roosters victory over the Dragons. The Knights remain in 8th place and will be nervously waiting on the result of the Parramatta Warriors match to see if they can earn a well deserved finals spot.

Brisbane Broncos 24:
Tries: Darius Boyd 2, Karmichael Hunt, Ben Hannant, Joel Moon
Conv: Corey Parker
Pen: Corey Parker

Newcastle Knights 2:
Pen: Kurt Gidley

Sportal’s NRL Player of the Year:
3 – Karmichael Hunt
2 – Ben Hannant
1 – Darren Lockyer