“We just have to keep working on the areas that we need to work on and keep celebrating the good things that we did do today,” Warriors captain Apii Nicholls told Sky Sport after the game.
From the opening whistle, the Broncos threatened the Warriors’ defensive line, breaking through on multiple occasions. But scramble goal-line defence from the home side thwarted any points from being scored in the opening 20 minutes.
The visitors finally broke through in the 21st minute through fullback Tamika Upton, who pounced on to a short ball from 5m out and crashed her way over the top of Warriors lock Kaiyah Atai to score under the posts.
The Warriors looked to go on the attack but errors scrubbed two chances to even up the score. It was made worse when interchange Harata Bulter was sent from the field in the 27th minute for a head injury assessment (HIA) after a collision with Warriors teammate Shakira Baker.
The Broncos were in again seconds later after Upton was passed the ball on halfway before pinning her ears back through a gap in the Warriors’ defence. The fullback’s pace proved too much as she cruised in untouched for her second try of the afternoon.
The subsequent Warriors kickoff sailed into touch on the full, giving the Broncos another set in handy field position. A deft grubber by halfback Ali Brigginshaw on the last tackle was bobbled by Warriors fullback Nicholls on the goal-line and pounced on by Brisbane interchange Shalom Sauaso for the visitors’ third try.
Romy Teitzel kicked her third conversion of the afternoon from straight in front of the posts to extend Brisbane’s lead to 18 heading into halftime.
The Warriors were first to strike back in the second half on the back of a strong 30m run through the middle of the park by Baker, breaking two tackles. The home side got within 10m of the tryline before 19-year-old Ivana Lauitiiti took on four Broncos defenders and stretched over the line to get the Warriors on the board.
With momentum in their favour, it looked as though the Warriors were in again after a pinpoint cut-out pass by halfback Emmanita Paki found the hands of centre Payton Takimoana, who crossed the line for what would have been a try in nine consecutive games. But it was disallowed by the Bunker after it was deemed Takimoana knocked the ball on when putting it down.
The Broncos would add two more tries down the left edge through centre Mele Hufanga and second-rower Lauren Dam to extend their lead to 20 points through to the fulltime whistle.
With one round remaining in the NRLW regular season, the highest the Warriors can finish on the ladder is seventh. Next weekend, they travel to Sydney to take on the bottom-of-the-table Wests Tigers.
Warriors 6 (Ivana Lauitiiti try; Patricia Maliepo con)
Broncos 26 (Tamika Upton 2, Shalom Sauaso, Mele Hufanga, Lauren Dam tries; Romy Teitzel 3 cons)
HT: 0-18
