Brisbane delivered a seemingly fatal blow to Canterbury's NRL finals hopes with a slick 42-12 victory at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
The Broncos Adam Blair poses for photos with fans. Photo: Photosport
It was a must-win for the Bulldogs, who looked in the mood to spring an upset after scoring the opener through Marcelo Montoya just six minutes in.
But they were completely overrun after that point, conceding six consecutive tries as the Broncos ran riot in front of 24,267 supporters.
The Bulldogs were starved of possession in the second half and the only time they touched the ball between the 53rd and 68th minutes was when Josh Reynolds copped an Anthony Milford kick to his stomach.
Making a mockery of suggestions they would struggle to back up from their first five-day turnaround of the year, Brisbane used the first game of the post-Origin period to play themselves back into form.
Des Hasler's men had no answers to their attacking onslaught, with the defeat leaving them stranded in 13th place, four points adrift from the eight with only six rounds to play.
While Brisbane were sluggish out of the blocks, they well and truly found their range after Newcastle-bound Tautau Moga levelled things up in the 22nd minute, capitalising on a handy break from Andrew McCullough.
They scored twice more - through a terrific Ben Hunt run-and-gun effort five minutes from the break, and then Jordan Kahu on the siren - to go into the sheds 16-6 ahead.
Then the Broncos took things up a few notches, and the floodgates opened.
Kodi Nikorima, Josh McGuire and Roberts each scored tries within a blistering seven-minute stretch from Brisbane.
Roberts' try was the pick of the bunch, burning through the line and past a lazy Bulldogs defence, before returning to complete his double on right on fulltime.
The margin could have been even bigger considering the Broncos bombed two other golden chances to score tries early in the second half.
"I enjoyed that performance," Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett said.
"Overall it was pretty good. Canterbury were playing tough early there and were doing some good things. I just liked our patience."
Hasler lamented a lop-sided penalty count but said that didn't cost them the game - their own mistakes did.
"We were probably again our own worst enemies," he said.
"We just had the momentum our way and made a couple of crucial errors which were all momentum changers.
"We're pretty disappointed with the outcome and performance. The scoreboard's going to reflect that, the Broncos were the better side."
- AAP