NRL 2025: Broncos lose Corey Jensen, Jesse Arthars for Bulldogs clash
Jensen (calf) and Arthars (rib) will miss Friday night's clash, while veteran Ben Hunt is likely to return next week as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.
It's a blow for the Broncos who were already without Origin stars Payne Haas, Pat Carrigan, Reece Walsh and Gehamat Shibasaki for next week's decider, but Maguire is confident his forward pack can get the job done.
Ben Talty will make his debut off the bench after starting the year playing with North Sydney in the NSW Cup, while journeyman Delouise Hoeter will start his first game since 2023.
Ben Talty will make his Broncos debut just weeks after he made the move to Brisbane. Picture: NRL Photos
'Ben Talty has come in here about a month ago and put his head down, and he's going to be on the bench,' Maguire said.
'He reminded me about how special rugby league is. I was able to sit with him yesterday and talk about how he is going to debut.
'The big fella had a few tears and gave me a big squeeze. It gave me a real sense of what it really means to play NRL.
'He has been trying for a long time, so it just goes to show how special it is what our game brings.
'For 'Della' (Hoeter), he has been out for 12 months, so it's another great story.'
Maguire backed Shibasaki to handle the pressure on his Origin debut, with the backline changes opening the door for Cobbo to return to the Broncos side for the first time since round 13.
Selwyn Cobbo is back in the Broncos side just a week after he signed with the Dolphins. Picture: NRL photos
Cobbo was dropped to reserve grade and has subsequently signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins after the Broncos were unable to offer him enough money to entice him to stay.
Maguire didn't want to comment on Cobbo's looming departure and backed him to take his opportunity at fullback.
'I'm not going to go into that. I stood here at the same thing last week talking about the same story. Selwyn is now focused on playing,' he said.
'We talk about players and how it's hard to keep everyone. That's what we're working through.
'Selly is working through this year and we've got a great opportunity with where we are at the moment. The competition is well and truly alive.
'Selly has been good over the past month.
'As much as you talk about turbulent, we've worked through things and Selly is really focused on playing with his teammates.
'He's in good form at the moment and trained really well just then, so he's ready to go.'
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ABC News
38 minutes ago
- ABC News
Ben Shelton beats Rinky Hijikata in 69 seconds at Wimbledon after final game was delayed overnight
Australian Rinky Hijikata has not managed a single shot as American 10th seed Ben Shelton wrapped up their paused second-round Wimbledon match with four unreturnable serves. Two-time grand slam semifinalist Shelton needed all of about a minute and exactly four points — three of which were aces — to wrap up a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Hijikata after their match was suspended the night before because of darkness at 5-4 in the third set. "Very different playing over two days and coming out for whatever that was — 55 seconds? — today," the 10th-seeded Shelton said. "I was hoping to maybe hit a few groundstrokes today. I might have to go to the practice courts." The American, who reached the final four at the 2023 US Open and this year's Australian Open, was about to try to serve out the match on Thursday at 9:30pm local time when action was halted on court two, which does not have a roof or artificial lights. They came back out to the same stadium a little less than 16 hours later and, after a warm-up period that was quite a bit longer than the actual play on Friday, Shelton began with a 227 kph ace. The 22-year-old left-hander then hit a second serve that resulted in a framed return by Hijikata, followed by an ace at 225 kph and one more at 190 kph to end things quickly. "You come out here, serving for the match, the nerves are there a little bit. To hit three aces and take the pressure off of myself, I couldn't have been happier with what I came out here and did," said Shelton, who will face 105th-ranked Márton Fucsovics of Hungary for a chance to reach the fourth round at the All England Club for the second consecutive year. Gold-medal-winning footballer and Shelton's girlfriend Trinity Rodman joked on social media: "Nothing like a 2-minute-long match. Congrats Benny." Shelton told the crowd: "I'm sorry that you guys didn't really get to see much tennis." Right before things were halted Thursday, Shelton held three match points while leading 5-3 and at 0-40 on Hijikata's serve, but the 87th-ranked Hijikata grabbed the next five points to extend the contest into what turned out to be a second day. "It was difficult. At that point we kind of knew we were playing in conditions that weren't ideal for tennis so for me it was like 'what's one more game?'," Shelton told ESPN. "I understand the tournament's got to make whatever decisions they make and players have got to live with it. For me, I lived with it, I came out today and did what I do." Shelton said he had had matches split over two days on three or four previous occasions at Wimbledon, which does not prize night-time sessions like the Australian and US Opens do. "This seems to be the tournament I usually split over two days," he said. "Whether it's rain or it gets dark out here, it's one of those tournaments that you've got to be able to adjust on the fly, get used to stopping, starting, re-warming up. It's part of what makes tennis fun." Shelton faced only three break points against Hijikata, saving all of them. "A great match," he said. "A clean match." AP/ABC
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Broncos' top-four charge is on as Mam leads comeback
Ezra Mam has engineered a Brisbane comeback for the ages, keeping the Broncos in the race for the NRL top four with a 22-18 win over Canterbury. On a Friday night when the Bulldogs' halves picture grew even murkier, Brisbane scored four tries in the final 20 minutes to win the game after trailing 18-0. Booed with every touch of the ball at Accor Stadium, Mam was at the centre of it all as he laid on three perfect passes late to mask over a poor Brisbane first half. The result kept the Broncos within two wins of the top four and the injury-stricken Warriors, and marked their second victory over Canterbury this year. Down on confidence and strike a month ago, the Broncos have now won four straight after also overhauling a 16-point deficit against Cronulla last month. But for 60 minutes on Friday, this looked like it would be anything but a good night for a Broncos side fielding two debutants. Selwyn Cobbo had a nightmare first half at fullback, while halfback Adam Reynolds sent two kicks out on the full and had another charged down. Canterbury never looked at their absolute best either, with Lachlan Galvin and Toby Sexton in the halves, and Matt Burton shifted to centre. But at 18-0 after 60 minutes and with Canterbury on the attack, it looked as if the Bulldogs had done enough to move back, momentarily, to the top of the ladder. Enter Mam. The five-eighth breathed life back into the Broncos when he made use of some broken play, shrugged off two defenders and sent Josiah Karapani over. Five minutes later he again created havoc on the left, laying on a beautiful cut-out ball to put centre Delouise Hoeter between two defenders and make it 18-10. Billy Walters also starred after doing likewise against Cronulla a fortnight ago, scoring a crucial try when he deceived Connor Tracey out of dummy-half. Then it was Mam again who produced the match-winner, juggling a ball before this time going short to second-rower Brendan Piakura to put him across. Mam has been the most controversial figure in rugby league this year after his nine-match ban for crashing a car while driving unlicensed and with drugs in his system. But after being Queensland's 18th man for State of Origin II, he was the difference on Friday night. "The way Reyno (Reynolds) and Ezra are coming together, they are starting to grow together a bit," coach Michael Maguire said. "Ezra took the game on. I saw Reyno talk to him at halftime about what they needed to do, and he went out there and did it.'' Cobbo also had two big plays late in his first NRL game in five weeks, after a nightmare first half when the Dolphins-bound star failed to clean up two kicks in the lead-up to Bulldogs tries. Filling in at fullback, he and Deine Mariner first let Burton chase through on his own kick and score. Another then came when a Galvin bomb was allowed to bounce, and Viliame Kikau strolled over. For Canterbury, the loss left more questions than answers about their halves after Burton was shifted to the centres with Stephen Crichton and Jacob Kiraz in NSW camp. Galvin and Sexton played on both sides of the ruck, but the Bulldogs were constantly guilty of pushing too many passes and searching for points. Several balls also went down on Galvin's left edge, as he and Burton struggled to find cohesiveness down that side. "We were trying to land knockout punches when we got some good ball," coach Cameron Ciraldo said. "The Broncos were defending well, and I think we just got frustrated and handed the ball over way too cheaply. "We were trying to force it too much." Ezra Mam has engineered a Brisbane comeback for the ages, keeping the Broncos in the race for the NRL top four with a 22-18 win over Canterbury. On a Friday night when the Bulldogs' halves picture grew even murkier, Brisbane scored four tries in the final 20 minutes to win the game after trailing 18-0. Booed with every touch of the ball at Accor Stadium, Mam was at the centre of it all as he laid on three perfect passes late to mask over a poor Brisbane first half. The result kept the Broncos within two wins of the top four and the injury-stricken Warriors, and marked their second victory over Canterbury this year. Down on confidence and strike a month ago, the Broncos have now won four straight after also overhauling a 16-point deficit against Cronulla last month. But for 60 minutes on Friday, this looked like it would be anything but a good night for a Broncos side fielding two debutants. Selwyn Cobbo had a nightmare first half at fullback, while halfback Adam Reynolds sent two kicks out on the full and had another charged down. Canterbury never looked at their absolute best either, with Lachlan Galvin and Toby Sexton in the halves, and Matt Burton shifted to centre. But at 18-0 after 60 minutes and with Canterbury on the attack, it looked as if the Bulldogs had done enough to move back, momentarily, to the top of the ladder. Enter Mam. The five-eighth breathed life back into the Broncos when he made use of some broken play, shrugged off two defenders and sent Josiah Karapani over. Five minutes later he again created havoc on the left, laying on a beautiful cut-out ball to put centre Delouise Hoeter between two defenders and make it 18-10. Billy Walters also starred after doing likewise against Cronulla a fortnight ago, scoring a crucial try when he deceived Connor Tracey out of dummy-half. Then it was Mam again who produced the match-winner, juggling a ball before this time going short to second-rower Brendan Piakura to put him across. Mam has been the most controversial figure in rugby league this year after his nine-match ban for crashing a car while driving unlicensed and with drugs in his system. But after being Queensland's 18th man for State of Origin II, he was the difference on Friday night. "The way Reyno (Reynolds) and Ezra are coming together, they are starting to grow together a bit," coach Michael Maguire said. "Ezra took the game on. I saw Reyno talk to him at halftime about what they needed to do, and he went out there and did it.'' Cobbo also had two big plays late in his first NRL game in five weeks, after a nightmare first half when the Dolphins-bound star failed to clean up two kicks in the lead-up to Bulldogs tries. Filling in at fullback, he and Deine Mariner first let Burton chase through on his own kick and score. Another then came when a Galvin bomb was allowed to bounce, and Viliame Kikau strolled over. For Canterbury, the loss left more questions than answers about their halves after Burton was shifted to the centres with Stephen Crichton and Jacob Kiraz in NSW camp. Galvin and Sexton played on both sides of the ruck, but the Bulldogs were constantly guilty of pushing too many passes and searching for points. Several balls also went down on Galvin's left edge, as he and Burton struggled to find cohesiveness down that side. "We were trying to land knockout punches when we got some good ball," coach Cameron Ciraldo said. "The Broncos were defending well, and I think we just got frustrated and handed the ball over way too cheaply. "We were trying to force it too much." Ezra Mam has engineered a Brisbane comeback for the ages, keeping the Broncos in the race for the NRL top four with a 22-18 win over Canterbury. On a Friday night when the Bulldogs' halves picture grew even murkier, Brisbane scored four tries in the final 20 minutes to win the game after trailing 18-0. Booed with every touch of the ball at Accor Stadium, Mam was at the centre of it all as he laid on three perfect passes late to mask over a poor Brisbane first half. The result kept the Broncos within two wins of the top four and the injury-stricken Warriors, and marked their second victory over Canterbury this year. Down on confidence and strike a month ago, the Broncos have now won four straight after also overhauling a 16-point deficit against Cronulla last month. But for 60 minutes on Friday, this looked like it would be anything but a good night for a Broncos side fielding two debutants. Selwyn Cobbo had a nightmare first half at fullback, while halfback Adam Reynolds sent two kicks out on the full and had another charged down. Canterbury never looked at their absolute best either, with Lachlan Galvin and Toby Sexton in the halves, and Matt Burton shifted to centre. But at 18-0 after 60 minutes and with Canterbury on the attack, it looked as if the Bulldogs had done enough to move back, momentarily, to the top of the ladder. Enter Mam. The five-eighth breathed life back into the Broncos when he made use of some broken play, shrugged off two defenders and sent Josiah Karapani over. Five minutes later he again created havoc on the left, laying on a beautiful cut-out ball to put centre Delouise Hoeter between two defenders and make it 18-10. Billy Walters also starred after doing likewise against Cronulla a fortnight ago, scoring a crucial try when he deceived Connor Tracey out of dummy-half. Then it was Mam again who produced the match-winner, juggling a ball before this time going short to second-rower Brendan Piakura to put him across. Mam has been the most controversial figure in rugby league this year after his nine-match ban for crashing a car while driving unlicensed and with drugs in his system. But after being Queensland's 18th man for State of Origin II, he was the difference on Friday night. "The way Reyno (Reynolds) and Ezra are coming together, they are starting to grow together a bit," coach Michael Maguire said. "Ezra took the game on. I saw Reyno talk to him at halftime about what they needed to do, and he went out there and did it.'' Cobbo also had two big plays late in his first NRL game in five weeks, after a nightmare first half when the Dolphins-bound star failed to clean up two kicks in the lead-up to Bulldogs tries. Filling in at fullback, he and Deine Mariner first let Burton chase through on his own kick and score. Another then came when a Galvin bomb was allowed to bounce, and Viliame Kikau strolled over. For Canterbury, the loss left more questions than answers about their halves after Burton was shifted to the centres with Stephen Crichton and Jacob Kiraz in NSW camp. Galvin and Sexton played on both sides of the ruck, but the Bulldogs were constantly guilty of pushing too many passes and searching for points. Several balls also went down on Galvin's left edge, as he and Burton struggled to find cohesiveness down that side. "We were trying to land knockout punches when we got some good ball," coach Cameron Ciraldo said. "The Broncos were defending well, and I think we just got frustrated and handed the ball over way too cheaply. "We were trying to force it too much."
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘I'm filthy': Cameron Ciraldo says the Bulldogs haven't reached their attacking potential as Lachlan Galvin fails to fire in the halves
A frustrated Cameron Ciraldo admits his side hasn't reached its attacking potential yet this season, with the Bulldogs coach disappointed in how his team handled the second half on Friday night as the Broncos stormed home to beat them 22-18. The Bulldogs led 18-0 in the second half but conceded the final four tries as a new-look backline failed to fire the premiership fancies with the game on the line. All eyes were on mid-season recruit Lachlan Galvin who was initially named on the bench but started at five-eighth alongside Toby Sexton, with Matt Burton switching to centre given they had Stephen Crichton and Jacob Kiraz away on Origin duty. Galvin set up a try with his right boot but made two errors and didn't gel well with his teammates on the left edge in what was his second start since leaving the Wests Tigers. Canterbury's attack is an easy focus given they were leading the league before Galvin arrived, with the next two months set to determine what their spine looks like heading into the finals. 'I don't think our attack has reached its potential all year, so we're searching for that, as most clubs are,' Ciraldo said. 'We're searching for what works. We've had a lot of turnover with different back-rowers and things like that so we're still searching. 'We've got nine or 10 weeks to go to figure that out, but you've got to learn your lessons quickly. We didn't learn ours from last week and take those into tonight.' While the halves conundrum will dominate the headlines for the rest of the season, Ciraldo doesn't have to worry about being asked questions about Sexton's future after the halfback signed a deal to play for Catalans. Sexton joined the club midway through the 2023 season and has done a fine job in the halves, but his role became a major talking point once Galvin signed. 'He came and saw me last night (Thursday) and told me about it,' Ciraldo said. 'It's really good for him and his family and I'm stoked for him because he's worked really hard. 'He was playing for Tweed Heads a couple of years ago and came down to the Bulldogs to get an opportunity. 'He had to bide his time at the start and then got his opportunity, and he's done really well. 'It's a great opportunity for him over there, but he was really clear that he's not thinking about that right now. He's thinking about how we get better at the back end of the season, and that's what we're all thinking.' Ciraldo has a week to decide who he should pick in the halves for their next game, with the coach disappointed in his side's second-half performance after failing to learn lessons from last week's loss to Penrith. 'I haven't thought too far past that game. We've got to go back and review that,' he said. 'There was a lot to like about what we did in the first half, but there are some lessons there. I'm filthy that we didn't learn our lessons from last week. 'We had to stand up and be better this week than what we were last week in those areas that we practised all week, but we weren't. 'I thought we were trying to force it too much. 'I thought the Broncos were defending really well at the start of the second half and we earned some possession, but we had to keep asking questions and play the field position game. 'We didn't, we tried to force it and it probably played into their hands.'
