The Brisbane Broncos have responded to their narrow loss to the Roosters last weekend in the best way possible.

Led by Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt, the Broncos completely played the reigning NRL premiers off the park, whilst sending a serious message to fellow title contenders in the process.

The Broncos were every bit as good as the 47-12 score-line suggested.

Anthony Milford tore the Bunnies to pieces for almost the entire 80 minutes, scoring two tries, making three line breaks, and running for well over 200 metres.

Ben Hunt helped himself to a hattrick of tries as well as laying on two try assists.

The fact that both of the Brisbane halves are firing this close to the finals puts the Broncos in a great position as they prepare for September.

The retiring Justin Hodges also had a day to remember with three try assists of his own.

Monster winger Corey Oats has all but settled the argument on who will play outside Jack Reed in the upcoming finals campaign. His performances as of late will surely see him edge Lachlan Maranta for a position on the wing.

Last weekend’s close loss to the Roosters is all but forgotten, and although it may ultimately cost the Broncos the minor premiership, it seems it hasn’t affected their mind-set moving forward.

With a home game, albeit against the Storm, next Thursday night, and a far superior point’s differential to the Cowboys, the Broncos will surely finish in the top two.

A top-two finish would of course set up a home semi-final, likely against the Cowboys, at a sold out Suncorp Stadium.

If the Roosters were to slip up against either the Sea Eagles or Bunnies, the Broncos could very well finish top of the table.

Another factor working in the Broncos favour is that Josh McGuire aside, they have nearly a full squad at their disposal.

The way Sam Thaiday and Adam Blair have been playing, they haven’t missed the QLD representative McGuire as much as perhaps first feared.

Jarrod Wallace has also provided a more than handy option off the bench, while Alex Glenn and Matt Gillett have ensured Thaiday’s spot in the second row and has been covered.

Wayne Bennett has certainly earned his money in his first season back at Windy Hill, and I can’t imagine he’d be anything but over the moon about last night’s performance … not that he’d show it.

The warning shot has been fired. It’s not up to the likes of the Roosters, Cowboys, Storm, Sharks and Bulldogs to send their own signal of intent.

The competition won’t be won in round 25, but the Broncos looked as though they have timed their run well.

Their attacking stars are in good form, their casualty ward is almost bare, and Wayne Bennett knows a thing or two about winning premierships.

Rabbitohs career could be over for Luke

After beating a shoulder charge sighting last weekend on a technicality, Issac Luke will again face the judiciary this weekend for the same outlawed tackling technique.

Although last weekend it’s obvious he was bracing himself for impact, this week he has little argument after his shot on Corey Oates, and will surely face some time on the sideline.

With only a week to go in the premiership, and with Souths no certainty to finish in the top four, if Luke is to cop the expected two weeks, his South Sydney career may be over.

Souths, after scoring a try to stay alive in the game, had the Broncos pinned in their own twenty. After three tackles they had just worked the ball past the 10 metre line, until Luke’s moment of madness eased the pressure on the Broncos.

Just a few minutes later the Broncos scored through Anthony Milford and extinguished what little hope the Bunnies had of coming back.

I have no idea what Luke was thinking by running at Oats with his arm tucked in and his shoulder out.

Given the increased scrutiny over the past few weeks, coupled with the importance of every game in the Bunnies season, it beggars belief as to what was going through his mind.

The Bunnies will almost certainly be without Luke for next weekend’s monster clash with the Roosters, and he may even be absent for their opening game of the finals, which now looks like a knockout final.

Although it won’t happen, Souths could technically still miss the eight, let alone the top four, which now looks gone.

I don’t imagine the coaching staff, or fans, will be all that happy with Luke’s moment of madness.

For the record it didn’t cost the Rabbits the game, but it certainly didn’t help.

Fans continue to vote against Thursday night footy

Last night’s fixture had it all. Second vs fourth. The premiers, looking to secure a top four spot, vs a Broncos side looking to stay in the race for the minor premiership.

In the battle of the halves we had Adam Reynolds vs Ben Hunt.

Burgess and Burgess vs. Blair and Thaiday. McCullough vs. Luke.

A huge game to be played in Sydney’s premier rugby league stadium with everything on the line.

The game had it all … except a decent crowd.

12,000 people turned up to watch a battle of the NRL heavyweights.

Channel 9 will be licking their lips with the ratings to come in tomorrow, however it’s pretty embarrassing for the code that such a marquee game can attract such a downright horrible attendance.

Anyone who has travelled via car to Allianz Stadium on a work night would have their own horror stories. The Moore Park area is literally the worst place to be at 7:20ish on a Thursday or Friday night.

Not to mention the fact that the majority if fans would have to be at work by 9 am tomorrow morning.

This fixture should have attracted well in excess of 25,000, but instead brought in less than half of that.

Channel 9 have offered up the big bucks to secure the NRL rights for the next hundred years, but at what cost?