Broncos finals hopes in free fall after loss to Dragons

Well, they gave their home fans a brief hope, but ultimately it was too little too late for the Broncos.

Where does their season go from here? Six straight defeats has them at least two wins outside the top eight, languishing in 13th and a far cry from the side who charged to last year’s grand final.

They have winnable games ahead of them in the race to September, with Melbourne in round 27 their only top-four opponents, but have some major concerns to fix.

As for the Dragons, they are so hard to predict. One game, or in this case one half, they are brilliant, and then suddenly the script is flipped.

Take nothing away from Shane Flanagan’s men though; at least for now, they are in the top eight.

78 min: What a try! Staggs scores his second to set up a thrilling finish. Staggs fails to add the extras. Dragons 30-26

73 min: Mozer scores a soft try running from dummy-half. Staggs converts. Dragons 30-22.

64 min: Staggs runs on to a sweet offload from Sailor and goes 70m, outpacing Marschke to the corner, to reduce the Dragons’ lead to 12. Staggs misses the kick. Dragons 28-16

How on earth did Jaydn Su’A lose his State of Origin spot?

The Queenslander was the only member of the Maroons pack not to be chosen to avenge the game two capitulation ahead of Wednesday night’s decider, but the way he is playing tonight could well have Billy Slater questioning his call.

Granted the Broncos have gifted the Dragons plenty of chances to attack through simple errors and soft penalties, but Su’A has been a terror.

Slater hinted at niggling injury concerns when discussing the Su’A omission at the start of the week, but by half-time the Red V tearaway had compiled a heck of a resume: 108 metres and eight tackle busts and a try.

Ezra Mam’s try, however, has put some life back into the 34,224 Suncorp Stadium fans. They need to find some volume though to give the hosts a lift.