The Broncos are in the top four and Melbourne’s title hopes could be in tatters after Jahrome Hughes suffered a fractured arm on Thursday night at Suncorp Stadium.
Hughes’ painful blow was emblematic of a downer of a night for Melbourne who have suffered rare back-to-back defeats heading into a finals series where they look set to be without their Dally M Medal-winning maestro.
Brisbane bounced back from a week of drama in which star fullback Reece Walsh was reprimanded for an immature toilet prank on social media and Maroons centre Gehamat Shibasaki was dropped by coach Michael Maguire for turning up to training hungover.
Their 30-14 triumph means they have clinched fourth spot, earning a second chance in the finals when they travel to Canberra next weekend to take on the minor premiers.
Cronulla and the Warriors can now no longer sneak into fourth and will each host an elimination final next weekend irrespective of their final-round clashes with Canterbury and Manly respectively.
1. Hughes comeback ends in agony
The Storm were nervous about Hughes making his return from a dislocated shoulder after just six weeks.
Brisbane targeted Hughes with Brendan Piakura testing him in defence throughout the opening stages and when the Kiwi half stayed down after a 25th-minute tackle, alarm bells were ringing.
Tough bugger that he is, Hughes waved the trainer away and played on but when he winced in pain after passing the ball without a hand being laid on him, Bellamy whisked him straight off the field.
Craig Bellamy said the team medicos were all but certain that Hughes’ wrist or forearm is broken and that he was placed in a plaster cast at the venue.
“I’m not quite sure if it’s the wrist or just halfway on the forearm,” coach Craig Bellamy said.
“They pretty much think it’s a break without a doubt, he’s in plaster already, so that wasn’t a great idea to put him back this week. I’d imagine it’s season-ending.”
“Absolutely devastating,” said Michael Ennis on Fox League.
Fellow analyst Greg Alexander added: “Immediately we said ‘can they win the comp without Jahrome Hughes?’ I’m not going to rule them out but what a challenge it would be.”
The Storm will likely rely on Tyran Wishart to step into the No.7 jersey for next weekend’s qualifying final against Canterbury at AAMI Park.
Considered the title favourites with the bookmakers a week out from the finals, their claims to the title will take a massive hit if scans confirm Hughes’ season is over.
They at least get Harry Grant back from a two-game ban for the finals but their aura will be diminished if Hughes is not standing at first receiver.
Bellamy was angry about his team’s defence after leaking 40 points the previous round.
He questioned whether the team has the desire to do whatever is necessary to go all the way.
2. Reece flushes away toilet humour
After making headlines for truly bizarre reasons during the week, Walsh was back in the good books on Thursday night.
Walsh scored two of Brisbane’s first three tries, threw the last pass for the other one and pulled off a brilliant 40/20 kick.
“Rocks and diamonds Reece” mostly sparkled on the Suncorp Stadium turf apart from one basic handling error to live up to his reputation.
The club’s bigwigs were not happy with his “poor attempt at humour” in drinking water from a new toilet bowl and posting footage on social media.
After his second try, Walsh mimicked slurping water as he celebrated with teammates, clearly unfussed by the extra attention he brought upon himself with his porcelain prank.
“He did OK, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about toilets,” Maguire said.
“He’s a character, and obviously creates a lot of noise, but at the end of the day he’s in here training and doing all the work with the players and he wants to win.”
3. Broncos a dark horse no more
They have never quite established themselves as one of the teams to beat this season.
But that is no longer the case for Brisbane.
They will head to Canberra next weekend full of confidence after four straight wins to finish the regular season.
With the Storm reeling from Hughes’ injury, question marks over the Raiders’ big-game experience and the Bulldogs struggling to rediscover their bit after adjusting their spine, Brisbane’s stocks are rising.
They should get Adam Reynolds back but Ezra Mam’s hamstring will likely need another week to heal so Ben Hunt is set to remain in the halves with Billy Walters reverting to hooker and Cory Paix relegated to the bench.
4. Slice of luck, touch of class
The Broncos snared the first try when Walsh was given the benefit of the doubt when a Haas offload bounced off his knees.
Replays didn’t show a touch as he tried to reel in the pass so the Bunker overruled referee Grant Atkins’ initial ruling that he had knocked on and then cleared an in-goal tangle with opposite number Ryan Papenhuyzen.
The Storm hit back just after Hughes went off when Eli Katoa cleaned up the crumbs after Will Warbrick wrenched the ball back from the Broncos in an aerial contest.
Melbourne were primed to go up just before half-time when Broncos centre Deine Mariner paid the price for his team’s repeated infringements with a trip to the sin bin.
However, Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona handed back the advantage soon after by getting banished for a high shot on Ben Talty.
Walsh put Piakura over just before the break and after a booming 40/20 kick, he crossed himself to make it 18-4 early in the second stanza.
Katoa repaid the favour to Warbrick with the winger’s try on the hour mark making it a 10-point margin heading into the final 20 minutes.
That became 14 after a couple of penalty goals, including one for not completing a line drop-out in time, before Wishart and Papenhuyzen combined for Nick Meaney to give the Storm a glimmer of hope.
But they were never going to mow down the Broncos and Josiah Karapani triggered early celebrations with a runaway try in the final minute to send the home fans into delirium.
5. Haas monsters Melbourne
If anyone doubts Payne Haas’ status as the game’s top prop, have a look at the replay of this game.
Haas looked like a man among boys on occasions as he stood in tackles to offload to support players.
His relentless velocity in attack and defence wore down some very big bodies in the opposing pack.
It’s one thing to have size but Haas’ agility and mobility sets him apart.
His decision to choose Samoa over the Kangaroos could knock the rugby league universe off its axis at next year’s World Cup.
The Kick: Is Nelson ‘worth having out there?’
Asofa-Solomona is the largest player in the NRL size-wise and also the biggest liability.
After dodging a ban last week with a $3000 fine for a lazy high tackle, he was at it again late in the first half to negate the advantage his team had earned a minute earlier when Mariner was marched.
It would have been a dopey tackle at any point in the game but his timing couldn’t have been worse.
The Kiwi veteran led with his shoulder and caught Talty flush on the chin, earning himself a trip to the sin-bin.
He has been hit with a Grade 2 careless tackle charge, exacerbated by his horror disciplinary record, and given a four-match suspension that he can reduce to three with an early plea.
Either ban would rule him out of the remainder of the season unless the Storm lose their qualifying final but recover to make the grand final.
“Nelson is such a concern. If I was Craig Bellamy, I’m thinking is Nelson worth having out there,” Panthers legend Greg Alexander said on Fox League commentary.
“If he doesn’t bend his back, the height that he is, he makes contact with the head without even trying.”
If the judiciary doesn’t run Asofa-Solomona out of the finals, Bellamy should.