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The ‘strike player’ that could take the Broncos to GF
Nicholas Quinlan • September 22nd, 2025 7:29 pm
Corey Parker believes that Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs could be the strike player that swings their preliminary final against the Panthers in their favour.
After missing the finals last year, the Bronx under coach Michael Maguire have stormed into a top four spot and now find themselves one game away from their second Grand Final in three years.
But standing in their way are the four-time defending champions in the Penrith Panthers, with it being the first time that they have met in finals since the 2023 Grand Final.
The Panthers come into the match as favourites despite being the lower seed and playing away from home after convincingly beating the Bulldogs on Sunday, to see them progress to their sixth preliminary final in a row.
But the 347-game player for the Brisbane Broncos noticed in that 46-26 win that Penrith showed a weakness in their left edge defence, which was exploited by Jacob Preston.
This has led him to believe that the Broncos can exploit this deficiency through Kotoni Staggs.
“If you just look at what unfolded yesterday, I thought there was some real opportunity (for the Broncos to exploit),” Parker said on SENQ Breakfast.
“You saw Jacob Preston punch through on that edge a few times, asking a few questions of Blaize Talagi and Casey McLean, and there was a couple of clean line breaks as he scored some tries.
“So, guess who is one of our best strike players outside on the right, Kotoni Staggs.
“It could be a good afternoon for Tones, but it’s going to be one hell of a game between those two teams (who are) arguably two of the most exciting teams to watch when they are on.”
Staggs has been in good form recently, having managed to score seven tries, three try assists, and eight line breaks in his last seven games, showing his influence in the centres and ability to get past opponents or create opportunities for his teammates to do so.
The Broncos will come into this preliminary final well rested, having had the week off through their Qualifying Final win against the Raiders.
Their clash against the Panthers will take place on Sunday afternoon with a 4:05pm AEST kick-off.
SEN will have live coverage of the match through SEN League alongside Broncos Radio, which can be found on the SEN app.
