The Broncos thrashed the Tigers 46-12 on the back of masterclasses from Reece Walsh, Adam Reynolds and Payne Haas in the battle between first and last at Suncorp Stadium.
The Broncos have now won their first five games of the season for the first time since 1998 when they beat the Bulldogs in the grand final to lift the trophy.
The Tigers, meanwhile, became the first team since Newtown in 1968-69 to start 0-5 in back-to-back seasons.
The Broncos scored eight tries to Kurt Capewell, Payne Haas, Selwyn Cobbo, Herbie Farnworth and doubles to Jordan Riki and Kotoni Staggs, while the Tigers scored two to Isaiah Papali’i and Jake Simpkin.
Adam Reynolds set up Jordan Riki, who produced a brilliant solo run to the line to give the Broncos an early lead.
Ezra Mam produced a pinpoint grubber for Kurt Capewell to dive over and extend the Broncos lead.
Payne Haas was twice a part of a brilliant sequence of play to score from dummyhalf to push the Broncos lead out to 16.
Selwyn Cobbo pounced on a stray pass from John Bateman to run almost the length of the field for the Broncos’ fourth try.
Riki dived on a pinpoint Reece Walsh grubber to bring up his double and make it 28-0 at halftime.
Brandon Wakeham came up with a pinpoint bomb for Isaiah Papali’i to catch and dive over to get the Tigers on the board.
Walsh set up Herbie Farnworth with some slick hands for the Broncos’ sixth try to restore their 28-point lead.
Walsh then set up Kotoni Staggs with his third try assist of the night as the Broncos hit 40.
Jake Simpkin scored a consolation try for the Tigers, but it was far too little too late.
Staggs scored his double after a another pinpoint grubber from Reynolds to put the icing on the cake of a big win as the Broncos cemented top spot and the Tigers cemented bottom.
BIG HITS
WALSH SHINES TO STAMP ORIGIN CLAIM
Reece Walsh should be the first phone call Billy Slater makes if Kalyn Ponga is not fit for Origin I after his stunning start to the season for the Broncos.
Walsh had 178 run metres, six tackle busts, two offloads, three linebreaks, one linebreak assist and three try assists to dominate the Tigers.
Cooper Cronk believes Walsh is a real chance of debuting for the Maroons if incumbent Kalyn Ponga is not fit.
“He is in the picture there is no doubt,” Cronk said.
“He has set the world on fire in terms of fullbacks right now. Nothing is in stone about Kalyn Ponga.
“Geez Reece Walsh would be one of the phone calls you would make if Kalyn is not right.”
Mal Meninga believes Walsh will be a part of the squad for sure and can expect a call from Slater any day now.
“He is playing good enough rugby league to be in the picture,” Meninga said.
“Billy will be giving him a call, maybe even tomorrow. It could even be tonight.”
DISCONNECTED TIGERS HIT ‘MIND-BLOWING’ NEW LOW
The Tigers’ horror season went from bad to worse as they surrendered to the Broncos 46-12 to remain the only winless side after five rounds and it is hard to see where their first win is coming from.
Cooper Cronk believes the Tigers players showed no connection with each other on both sides of the ball.
“The Tigers’ inability to be on the same page both with and without the ball is mind-blowing at the moment,” Cronk said.
“The Cobbo try in the first half summed them up. The disconnection from the Tigers and Selwyn Cobbo runs the length.
“Any time the Tigers make an error or ill-discipline, the Broncos pounce and there is just no resilience in the Tigers’ defensive line.”
The Adam Doueihi fullback experiment is not working judging by his effort in defence against the Broncos after he looked uncommitted and disinterested at times.
“Adam Doueihi’s defensive effort was pretty poor,” Meninga said.
“In my words it was pretty ordinary.”
“I’m with Mal, Doueihi’s energy and commitment and intensity needs to improve because if their big guns are going to fight back and give them any chance, Doueihi needs to improve,” Cronk said.
Meninga believes the Tigers need a better understanding of their roles as individuals and can’t try and solve problems by themselves.
“The Tigers players are trying to fix it by themselves that’s the problem,” Meninga said.
“I don’t know what Sheensy can say to them really. It is about individual effort and getting clarity around your role.”
REYNOLDS IN CAREER BEST FORM AS BRONCOS RUN RIOT
Cooper Cronk believes Adam Reynolds is playing the best rugby league of his career after he led the Broncos to their fifth straight win to start the season.
Reynolds controlled proceedings from start to finish with two tackle busts, two linebreak assists, a try assist and seven conversions, while his kicking game was near perfect.
The clunky play at Souths is evidence of how much they are missing Reynolds and the Broncos are reaping the benefits of his calm head and pinpoint skill-set.
“I think this is the best football Adam Reynolds has played,” Cronk said.
“I think he has got his game in the sweet spot. He has the ingredients around him. He is the puppet master at the moment and he is pulling all the right strings.
“He said during the week he is seeing things clearly and he does a lot of work and he knows what he needs to do and he never steps outside that box.
“The other thing too is his leadership. All those other players understand their roles and it is pretty straight forward and they have got to execute.
“It all comes down to the No.7. Yes I think he is in the form of his career.
“Can the Broncos go on and do something very special right now? It is 20-odd weeks until the finals start, but they are a really good footy team.”
Payne Haas is also giving the Broncos an amazing platform up front and his skill-set makes him the envy of every coach in the NRL.
Haas’ freak try saw him feature twice in back-to-back plays and dive over himself out of dummyhalf.
MATCH PREVIEW
The Broncos are the NRL’s in form team, sitting on top of the ladder after four rounds with wins over the Panthers and Dolphins along the way.
Brent Naden drops out due to illness with Starford To’a coming into the centres. Alex Twal starts at prop with Stefano Utoikamanu switching to the bench. Shawn Blore joins the pine.
The Broncos are 1-17.
Meanwhile, their Round 5 opponents are languishing at the bottom of the ladder without a victory to their name.
Tim Sheens’ Tigers revolution has got off to a shaky start, with big-name recruits Api Koroisau and Isaiah Papali’i failing to fire.
Halfback Luke Brooks has also been heavily criticised for his early-season form, with the club reportedly chasing veteran playmaker Mitchell Pearce.
Brisbane will be looking to continue their red hot form and make a statement victory against the wooden spoon favourites.
However, the Tigers have nothing to lose and will be attempting to mastermind an upset.
