An Adam Reynolds masterclass led the Broncos to a stunning 38-0 win over Manly in front of 40,267 fans at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
The Broncos No.7 laid on two tries for Selwyn Cobbo with pinpoint kicks and scored one of his own as Kevin Walters' men made it four wins on the trot.
Reynolds set the tone for the night when he clean bowled Tom Trbojevic with the kick-off to get the ball back for his team and two minutes later he set up Cobbo for the game's opening try.
The Sea Eagles launched an air raid of their own in the 14th minute when Tom Trbojevic flew high to bring down a Kieran Foran bomb and looked certain to score but desperation defence by Billy Walters denied the superstar fullback.
Reynolds puts it on a platter for Cobbo
Walters then sprung to life in the attacking end, darting out of dummy half and grubbering into the in-goal before he was impeded by Jake Trbojevic and the subsequent penalty made it 8-0 to Brisbane.
The Broncos looked to have extended their lead in the 33rd minute when Kurt Capewell crossed but the pass from Tyson Gamble was ruled forward.
Gamble produced a huge play with a one-on-one strip to give Brisbane a late chance at points and Reynolds delivered with a magical chip-and-chase try to make it 14-0 at the break.
It took Reynolds just five minutes in the second half to put another try on a platter for Cobbo with a magnificent cross field kick.
Cobbo completed the first hat-trick of his career when he intercepted a Dylan Walker pass and ran the length to make it 26-0 to Brisbane.
Reynolds and Cobbo combine again
Corey Oates then got in on the action when he finished off a move which featured good hands by Reynolds, Te Maire Martin and Herbie Farnworth.
With six minutes remaining Oates put the finishing touches on the victory with the 107th try of his career courtesy of an inside ball from Gamble.
Try as they might the Sea Eagles could not crack the resolute Broncos defence which has conceded just 33 points across their four-game winning streak.
Injuries to Tom Trbojevic (knee) and Ben Trbojevic (shoulder) compounded Manly's woes on a night when very little went right for Des Hasler's men.
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Match Snapshot
- The Sea Eagles did not get a tackle inside the Broncos' 20-metre zone until the 27th minute.
- The Broncos' first-half dominance (61 per cent possession) was reflected in the stats with three of their forwards running for more than 100 metres - Payne Haas (102), Corey Jensen (107) and Pat Carrigan (157).
- The last time the Broncos won four games in a row was 2017 when they strung together six on the bounce between rounds 6-11.
- Lachlan Croker and Jake Trbojevic did their best to keep Manly in the game with a power of defensive work, making 104 tackles between them.
- Broncos wingers Selwyn Cobbo and Corey Oates combined for five tries and 455 running metres.
Cobbo goes 100m for his third
- Manly bench forward Toafofoa Sipley was placed on report for a dangerous tackle in the 59th minute.
- The Sea Eagles have defeated the Broncos at Suncorp only twice in their past nine clashes.
- Five of the Broncos' forwards clocked up in excess of 100 metres while none of Manly's forwards could reach triple figures.
- Manly beat Brisbane 50-6 at Suncorp in Magic Round last year.
- The last time Manly were held scoreless was the 2013 qualifying final against the Roosters (4-0).
Oates gets a double
Play of the Game
Adam Reynolds sent the Suncorp Stadium crowd into a frenzy with a chip over the top and regather in the 37th minute to stretch his team's lead to 14 points. After racking up his 10th try assist of the season early in the game, Reynolds took complete control of the contest and put the icing on a dominant first half with his magical solo try. Looking on proudly from the sideline was the king of the chip and chase himself, Allan Langer, in his role as Broncos trainer.
Reynolds with the chip, chase and try
What They Said
"The big turnaround for us has been the attitude towards our defence. It's great to see. Just the attitude and steel of the players to actually change what was happening [last year]. You can talk about things and try and do things but the actual change has to come from within. It takes a lot of energy in defence to do what they are doing and you have to be fit ... for the first time in the club's history we had two guys [Reynolds and Capewell] from the previous year's grand final join us so they've got big game experience, they know how to do things and it's rubbing off on everyone." - Broncos coach Kevin Walters
Broncos: Round 10
"We couldn't hold the ball to start with and then when we did have it we certainly weren't at our best. We were a bit all over the shop to be fair so we've got a bit of work to do there and that'll be worked on this week no doubt but the most disappointing part and where we need to work on most is our defence." - Sea Eagles skipper Daly Cherry-Evans
Sea Eagles: Round 10
What's Next
The Sea Eagles confront arch-rivals Parramatta in a Friday night blockbuster at CommBank Stadium. Josh Schuster is expected to return from the calf injury that kept him out of tonight's game.
The Broncos are off to Newcastle to take on the Knights and will be chasing a repeat of their 35-22 triumph over Adam O'Brien's men in the final round of 2021.