Bennett still the master

Bennett still the master

BRISBANE coach Wayne Bennett is still the master. It is now six wins from six grand finals for Brisbane, all with him as coach. The apprentice, Melbourne coach and former Broncos assistant Craig Bellamy, remains so. Retiring Broncos prop Shane Webcke got the fairytale farewell and Brisbane captain Darren Lockyer dominated, in typical style.

The Storm may have been the popular pick to win the grand final, but the Broncos had other ideas. They went in with their wealth of experience and came out deserving winners. Five-eighth Lockyer sealed it with a 73rd-minute field goal, putting the game out of Melbourne's reach. The first line break came in only the third minute and Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk was the man who split the defence, for a 30m run. The set ended with Broncos fullback Justin Hodges fielding a bomb from Storm five-eighth Scott Hill, 8m off the Brisbane line.

Melbourne were attacking again a couple of minutes later and this time they got a repeat set off a kick that trapped the Broncos in-goal. Again they came up empty, possession turning over after centre Matt King knocked on 10m out.


Brisbane, who had been defending for most of the first seven minutes, began to work their way into the game and soon they were threatening to score. Shaun Berrigan tried to burrow over from close range in the ninth minute, but Storm fullback Billy Slater came away with the ball and referee Paul Simpkins penalised him for a strip.

Replays showed Simpkins had erred and that the ball and gone straight into Slater's hands after Berrigan lost control of it, But Lockyer kicked the penalty show from in front to get the show on the road.

Cronk came up with his second big play of the game in the 12th minute, with a great 40-20 kick down a narrow corridor on the right, and this time Melbourne took advantage of the great field position. Hill beat tackles from Lockyer and Brisbane centre Brent Tate and then slipped between Lockyer, who came again, and winger Karmichael Hunt before getting an around-the-corner pass to winger Steve Turner for a try.

Hooker Cameron Smith missed the conversion from out wide, but the Storm were in front, 4-2. They didn't hold on to the lead for long, though. Turner knocked on from a Lockyer bomb and soon after Lockyer threw an inside ball for a Hodges try. Lockyer's conversion made it 8-4.

Melbourne spent most of the next 10 minutes deep in attack, but could not take advantage of any of the opportunities they had during that time. Brisbane knocked on 20m off their own line, but survived, Slater made a 60m kick return, but the Broncos survived again. Storm winger Matt Geyer knocked on at dummy half, 14m out, and centre Greg Inglis was tackled into touch, two metres out.

Brisbane got up the other end again a couple of times in the last few minutes of the first half, but they couldn't make it count, either. Centre Brent Tate knocked on 3m out, in the 38th minute, and the Broncos ran out of time to do anything after Slater had foolishly tried to beat the defence down the sideline, only to be tackled into touch. The scrum packed with five seconds left and the Broncos were quickly stopped on the only tackle they had.

Melbourne still weren't on their game early in the second half - Geyer threw a poor pass that went behind his supports, in the 45th minute, resulting in a change of possession - but the positive signs were strong. Inglis, who had been kept in check for most of the first half, made a 45m break after fielding a kick.

Hodges was penalised for a high tackle on Smith, 10m out from the Brisbane line, and Melbourne took the tap. They were rewarded with a 49th-minute try to King, running straight to collect a flat ball from Hill. But Smith didn't take the kick because he was still feeling the effects of the high shot and Geyer missed with the shot, leaving the game locked up at 8-8.

But the Storm couldn't build on that and in the 60th minute replacement prop Corey Parker kicked a penalty goal to put the Broncos back in front, 10-8. A minute later, Tate scored in the corner to make it 14-8. Parker missed the conversion from out wide. Melbourne were under the pump. They needed a stroke of luck. But King had a tried denied.

BRISBANE 15 (J Hodges B Tate tries D Lockyer 2 C Parker goals D Lockyer field goal) bt MELBOURNE 8 (S Turner M King tries) at Telstra Stadium. Referee: P Simpkins. Crowd: 79,609.

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