Brisbane took a giant step towards staying in the top eight after a hat-trick from Selwyn Cobbo helped set up a 28-10 win over the Newcastle Knights.
Adam Reynolds was full of praise for his young winger afterwards – one of his tries coming off a spot-kick from the half-back.
“I just thought I was going to throw one over him and he was good enough to finish it off,” Reynolds said after the game.
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Reynolds and Cobbo have formed a lovely connection, as has the former Rabbitohs star with many of his new team-mates.
“He makes me look good,” Cobbo said of his captain.
Reynolds’ addition to the squad has done a lot, both on and off the pitch, and now with this win they are all but assured of finals football for the first time since 2019, an eternity in Broncos years.
Selwyn Cobbo dives to score for the Broncos. (Getty)
They were below their best for much of tonight’s win at Suncorp Stadium, particularly after the break where they had gone into the sheds with an 18-0 lead.
“We don’t want to go through these flat patches, we have some big games that will be a better test for us,” Reynolds said afterwards.
“Tonight was a step in the right direction.”
Despite a clear gulf in class, some terrible errors and poor decision-making prevented Brisbane from extending their lead, before the Knights pulled back two tries in quick succession to make it an eight-point game with 15 to go minutes to the end.
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Instead, Cobbo scored his second and third tries of the night, bringing the full-time margin back to the same as after 40 minutes.
“We’ve just got to be better – there are periods there where we make mistakes, mistakes, seven tackle seven, that kind of thing. We don’t want to do that, but obviously it’s going to hurt us in the big games,” Reynolds. said
Brisbane still have some work to do to ensure they make a home finals this year, and a win next week against the Storm will go a long way towards locking that up.
With the Eels and Roosters just below them in seventh and eighth, it’s a world where the Broncos need to win all their games to secure a top six spot, let alone top four.
But with Reynolds singing, Wally Lewis Medalist Patrick Carrigan will soon be back and with a confident backing line, they’ll feel good.
Corey Oates was at his best, while returning fullback Te Maire Martin gave them some much-needed stability at the back.
For the Cavaliers, there is no real danger of getting the wooden spoon, but there is not much else to play for, as their performance showed.
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