With 12 players unavailable, brilliant Brisbane handed cringeworthy Canterbury a reality check in a 32-12 win that came at a huge cost to the losers.
The Bulldogs lost star second-rower Viliame Kikau to a pectoral injury in an opening half at Suncorp Stadium that was close to perfect by the understrength Broncos.
The Broncos were without Test stars Payne Haas, Pat Carrigan and Reece Walsh, as they were last year when they conjured a comeback 22-18 win over the Bulldogs in Sydney.
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Their replacements were immense. Ben Talty and Jack Gosiewski powered on as starting props, while fullback Hayze Perham, playing his first starting NRL game in 964 days, had a hand in two first-half tries in a stellar display against his former club.
The defending premiers gave an NRL debut to prop Va’a Semu and a club debut to versatile forward Preston Riki, who was put on report and sin-binned for a high shot on winger Jonathan Sua in the second half.
The finishing of the hosts was out of this world. Magic Round is three weeks away, but five-eighth Ezra Mam and winger Deine Mariner were magicians to ground the ball in the corner for tries without going into touch.
Mam had one of his best games in the NRL, and in cahoots with skipper Adam Reynolds totally controlled the match.
The Bulldogs were toothless in attack and the early return of skipper Stephen Crichton had little impact.
Brisbane’s defence on their tryline was immense. Centre Kotoni Staggs, on one leg, was brutal with his work. When outside backs Gehamat Shibasaki and Josiah Karapani threw Crichton over the sideline early, it was a statement moment.
A Mam grubber set up centre Shibasaki for the opening try.
Reynolds managed the game to perfection and Mam added the classy flourishes. It was the latter who threw a scintillating cutout pass for winger Karapani to make it 10-0.
Bulldogs bench forward Harry Hayes stuck his leg out to trip Reynolds. Hayes was sin-binned and the Broncos made the Bulldogs pay.
When Mariner scythed past three Bulldogs and finished with a freakish put-down in the corner, the gulf between the sides was never more evident.
Perham threw the final pass for the Mariner try and his line-break assist was the catalyst for Cory Paix to race away and make it 20-0 at half-time.
Kikau went down in the 10th minute and battled on, but disappeared up the tunnel 11 minutes later.
Mam was horizontal in the air and facing the wrong way when he somehow grounded the ball for the first try after the break.
Matt Burton and Lachlan Galvin got the Bulldogs on the board, but it was too little, too late.
Broncos second-rower Brendan Piakura was replaced after aggravating a knee injury in the second half.
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