Match Details
Match Date	5th Sep, 2013
Opponent	Brisbane
Result	Loss 11-16
Coach	Des Hasler
Captain	Michael Ennis
Venue	Brisbane (Suncorp Stadium)
Crowd	26,599
Referee	Gavin Badger Alan Shortall

Ben Barba played, his 2014 selection rival Josh Hoffman was gone by the time he came off the bench, and his new Brisbane teammates secured a last-ditch victory over finals-bound Canterbury.

On the opening night of round 26, Dally M medallist Barba made his comeback from an ankle injury against the team he is joining next year and against a background of saturation coverage of claims the real reasons for him being stood down at the start of the season had been covered up.

With eight minutes to go, it looked as though he would finish the evening a winner, with Canterbury halfback Trent Hodkinson landing a field goal from in front. But a second try for the night by winger Corey Oates ended a disappointing season on a high.

Barba entered the contest in the 35th minute; his touted clash with Hoffman never eventuated because the Broncos fullback was forced off with a shoulder injury 11 minutes earlier. Barba initiated a spectacular 56th-minute try for centre Krisnan Inu, offloading in heavy traffic to Josh Jackson, who in turn found Inu.

Inu seemed to have been rounded up by the Broncos defence – but Jack Reed and Oates collided and Inu streaked away to score, making it 10-10 with 23 minutes left.

Playing his final game, Brisbane halfback Scott Prince got involved early when he bundled Canterbury winger Mitch Brown over the touchline in the 14th minute when he looked certain to score in the north-western corner. Three minutes later, tempers flared when Bulldogs five-eighth Josh Reynolds appeared to be third man into a tackle. Broncos players rushed in before calm was restored by the referees. There was no report, however – just a penalty to Brisbane. Oates, who had scored six tries in his eight first grade appearances, subsequently went close to scoring. Then came the departure of Hoffman, after a tackle by Inu.

Brisbane continued to hammer the Bulldogs line, with only some heroic defence repelling Reed, who later fumbled over the tryline.

Reynolds skipped into the clear at the 27-minute mark, with the match still scoreless, but his pass to Josh Morris went to ground. It was only a temporary setback for the No.6. At 28 minutes, he threw a dummy and glided past some threadbare defence to score the first try of the match, which Hodkinson coverted from 10 metres in from touch.

The shoulder charge rule was debated again when Oates raced into the clear with only Morris to beat. The custodian body-checked him, as cover defenders have been doing in that situation for a century, and was duly penalised for a shoulder charge. Soon after, Broncos halfback Ben Hunt kicked to the corner and Oates finally claimed his seventh try, which went unconverted.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

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