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Sport
Alex Mitchell

Hot Warriors start earns Brisbane NRL win

The Warriors have recorded consecutive NRL wins after beating Brisbane 20-6. (AAP)

Two first-half tries from Jesse Arthars and a masterful display from young star Reece Walsh has carried New Zealand to a 14-point win against Brisbane.

Arthars, on loan from the Broncos, made his parent club pay as his temporary home raced to an early 12-0 lead, kicking on to win 20-6 at Redcliffe's Moreton Daily Stadium.

The win sees them square the ledger at 2-2 after four rounds, while it means consecutive losses for the Broncos after starting 2-0.

Arthars opened the scoring early via a perfect Shaun Johnson assist as he sliced through a soft Broncos defensive line, while he doubled up in the right corner soon after courtesy of Walsh, who dummied then rode a spinning tackle to find the centre in plenty of space to score.

Brisbane's Adam Reynolds looked to have got his side going when he chased down his own grubber kick to score under the posts, but a Broncos' handling error and a silly penalty allowed Marcelo Montoya to complete a sweeping Warriors move and find the line for a 10-point halftime lead.

The Broncos had the best chances of a particularly scrappy second half via Corey Oates on the left wing, with a diving effort that saw him ground the ball in touch the closest either side came to scoring a try.

Walsh slotted two late penalties to extend the margin.

Warriors Matt Lodge and Addin Fonua-Blake set the tone in a dominant first half carrying for 121m and 113m respectively, while Walsh dazzled throughout with a series of dashing runs and flashy passes.

Adding insult to injury, Brisbane finished with only two fit players on the bench as five-eighth Albert Kelly (foot) and forward Pat Carrigan (knee) exited early.

They were also reduced to 12 men in the first half when Tom Flegler was reported three times in 20 minutes, although he is unlikely to face further scrutiny for his sin bin offence as a tackle adjudged to be around the knees appeared to impact his opponent in the hip.

Remarkably, Flegler was reported for a fourth time in the second half for a hip-drop tackle that saw Warrior Ben Murdoch-Masila taken from the field.

It was Flegler's first game back from suspension this season, having been banned twice last year.

They finished the game with 12 players with Brisbane hooker Jake Turpin binned for a professional foul while the Warriors' Jazz Tevaga was reported for the tackle that injured Carrigan.

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