13h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 4:45amNRL Friday night live

6h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 11:41am

That’s where we’ll leave you

Our first Friday night of the 2026 NRL season is in the books and it was a strange one.

The Roosters and Broncos were both woeful, and the Warriors and Panthers were good enough to punish them.

I’m not sure we’ve seen a really good game yet, through five first-round contests, but we’ve got a whole weekend ahead of us to find them.

Please join me tomorrow and Sunday.

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6h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 11:38am

Panthers happy not to weather another Broncos comeback

Despite winning 26-0, Penrith coach Ivan Cleary says there’s plenty of room for improvement for his team.

“Obviously a good result and defensively happy with the scoreline.

“There was plenty of round one about it.”

He says they didn’t speak about the Broncos’ ability to launch a comeback while leading 18-0 at half-time, but he’s pretty sure everyone was aware of the danger.

“They’re just so dangerous and when you have that confidence you can [come back] it stays with you.

“Regardless of the scoreline or the time on the clock, we just stuck to the task.”

6h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 11:29am

Maguire says Broncos don’t have ‘a problem’, just didn’t execute(AAP)

Brisbane coach Michael Maguire doesn’t seem too concerned despite the abysmal performance by his team tonight, and he certainly isn’t airing any dirty laundry publicly.

“[We completed] at 60 per cent and we had 18 errors. We put so much pressure on ourselves.

“We didn’t get to the long game we’re you kick into the corners.”

He says after being run over early, fatigue caught up to them in the second half.

And there was nothing in the lead-up that hinted this might be coming.

“The last couple of weeks we’ve actually been really good.

“We’ve got to keep chipping away at finding what we know we can do.”

And, when asked if something is broken in the system, he replies:

“I wouldn’t say there’s a problem.”

6h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 11:18am

#BronxNation battling

It’s raining in Rocky, I’m going down to the garden to eat worms anyway…

– Mike

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 11:07am

We will stay live for the coaches’ press conferences

I’ll be very interested to hear in particular what Michael Maguire has to say about that effort from Brisbane.

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 11:01am

Ben Hunt is miserable after a massive game

Tonight, Ben Hunt passed Broncos legend Darren Lockyer for most games played with his 356th outing.

He was one of the only Brisbane players who can be proud of his individual performance, but it was a miserable team affair in their homecoming after the premiership.

“To toss that up, just too ill-disciplined from the start,” he tells ABC Sport.

“We just put too much pressure on ourselves. We kept dropping the ball.

“There’s no loss of hunger in this group, we just didn’t execute.

“We’ve got some harsh lessons to learn.”

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:51amFULL-TIME: Panthers thump the Broncos 26-0(Getty)

That was a complete demolition job by Penrith and is a return to the bad old days of early last season for Brisbane.

It’s the first time since mid-2021 that the Broncos have been held scoreless and is an enormous reversal from the electric team of destiny that ran riot through the 2025 finals series.

The Panthers were pretty scrappy in the first half but did their boa constrictor thing in the second, and the Broncos didn’t help themselves with repeated errors on both sides of the ball.

They only completed 22/36 sets (61 per cent), committed 18 errors and gave away eight penalties.

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:44amINTERCEPT! The Panthers go in again!

Brisbane tries to pull off a miracle long-range effort, throwing caution to the wind down the right, but Reece Walsh’s pass is pinched by Tom Jenkins and he goes 40 metres to score.

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:43am

73′ Even the Broncos’ wins become losses

Lindsay Smith pokes his nose through a flimsy and tired Brisbane defence and offloads up over the top and into touch.

But Nathan Cleary spies Deine Mariner holding back Casey McLean. So he challenges and the decision goes against Brisbane.

There’s that expert, professional, ruthless streak from the Panthers.

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:37am

68′ The mistakes keep flowing from the premiers

Reece Walsh takes off from dummy half on the last, then offloads to Jordan Riki, who has to force a kick.

Dylan Edwards cleans up, and then the Broncos are called for one of the most blatant offsides I’ve ever seen on the ensuing tackle.

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:35am

66′ Mam saves Mariner from embarrassment

Deine Mariner skies for a bomb but fumbles yet again in the contest with Casey McLean.

Jack Cogger cleans up and is only 5 metres from scoring, but Ezra Mam arrives from nowhere to knock the ball out.

Cleary challenges, but McLean is called for the knock-on.

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:31am

63′ The Broncos blow ANOTHER chance

Kotoni Staggs is phenomenally stopped by Casey McLean on the right, then Ezra Mam hits Xavier Willison as he goes through a hole and, just like Jordan Riki in the first half, Willison drops it gold.

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:29am

61′ Talagi drops the kick-off

Blaize Talagi fumbles a tumbling kick-off and I thought it went back, but he’s called for a knock-on.

I think it went as far backwards as Tom Jenkins’s drop earlier.

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:27am

60′ Penrith extends the lead

The Broncos are pinged for offside and Nathan Cleary hurriedly takes the shot at goal to make it 20-0, pushing the lead out beyond three converted tries.

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:21am

53′ A classic Panthers mauling

The Broncos threaten down the right as Walsh unleashes Deine Mariner.

He steps back inside and appears to be out of danger, but Tom Jenkins gets a hold of him, then Dylan Edwards, Blaize Talagi and Casey McLean join in to drag him into touch and they are FIRED UP.

7h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:18am

51′ Panthers win their captain’s challenge

Tom Jenkins drops the ball cold in a tackle and is called for a knock-on.

Nathan Cleary quickly challenges and I assumed it was about a potential strip, but that’s not the case. The challenge turns out to be successful because it’s ruled that Jenkins dropped it back.

The “BS” chant goes up in the Lang Park crowd, but I’m not certain it was wrong.

8h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:15am

48′ Broncos trying but aren’t matching Penrith

Brisbane has let a bomb bounce on their tryline, thrown a ball into touch and, after Ben Hunt finally stabbed a kick into the corner to stop Dylan Edwards adding to his 160 metres, there’s no support from the kick chase from the right side.

So Edwards pinches 20 metres on the kick return.

8h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:09am

43′ Aaaaaaaand the mistakes continue

The Broncos get a penalty and have a chance for a full set in Penrith’s half, but Jordan Riki knocks on in the wrestle.

The back rowers on that side of the field are having a ‘mare. I think that’s six errors between Riki and Isaiha Papali’i.

8h agoFri 6 Mar 2026 at 10:05am

41′ We’re back on at Lang Park

Can the Broncos pull another rabbit out of their collective hat?