Martin masterclass lifts Warriors to win over Broncos

Jacob Shteyman | June 29, 2024

The Warriors have bounced back from a horror defeat on the Gold Coast with a convincing 32-16 win over Brisbane in Auckland.

Warriors No.7 Chanel Harris-Tevita scored a first-half brace on Saturday as his side rewarded fans at a sold-out Go Media Stadium with a much-improved performance from their 66-6 humbling at the hands of the Titans.

Brisbane meanwhile sank to their fourth-straight loss, with their night compounded by injuries to forwards Jack Gosiewski and Fletcher Baker.

The Broncos got off to a nightmare start when they lost Gosiewski to a suspected broken arm inside five minutes.

The Warriors, led by Addin Fonua-Blake, out-muscled Brisbane and set up camp inside their 20m zone for protracted periods of the first half.

The prop was irresistible in attack, running the ball for more than 100 metres in the opening period.

The home side’s pressure eventually told when Harris-Tevita made the most of his elevation to the halfback role vacated by a flare-up to Shaun Johnson’s troublesome achilles tendon injury.

The Samoa international skipped past Kotoni Staggs to open the scoring for the Warriors before snagging a second by coming out of nowhere to get on the end of a ricocheted grubber kick from halves partner Te Maire Martin.

The Broncos grew back into the game but were too often too sloppy in position and not clinical enough in attack.

Winger Deine Mariner scored a brace but looked ill at ease in defence, conceding three errors and at fault for several Warriors tries.

Brisbane No.6 Ezra Mam staked his claim for State of Origin III selection with a 40-20 in the second half to swing momentum back to the visitors.

But the Warriors reasserted their dominance through some exceptional kicking from Martin.

The halfback ended the game with four try assists, including three from the boot, and a smart try from a dummy-half dart on the last tackle.

Broncos prop Xavier Willeson went over with 15 minutes to go but a spectacular Dalene Waitene-Zelezniak leaping try off a Martin bomb and a Freddy Lussick four-pointer sealed the game for the hosts.