Jack Bird's first game in the halves as a Bronco was a good one, earning praise from both his coach and captain.
Bird was instrumental in the Brisbane Broncos' 27-18 win over the Warriors – ending the home side's streak of five straight wins.
His shift from centre into the halves came late this week when Kodi Nikorima was ruled out with a leg injury on Friday.
The NSW representative was strong on defence throughout and layed on a crucial try for Jaydn Su'A late in the second half.
Coach Wayne Bennett was at his mumbling best post-match and was careful not to heap the praise on Bird, but acknowledged his half's performance was a "steady" one – and overall a pass mark.
"I thought he was steady. He did a job for us, played his role well," Bennett said.
"He wasn't a liability I know that much."
Captain Darius Boyd was one of his side's best in the win, and credited both Bird and Anthony Milford for controlling where the match was played.
"It was a great team effort but yeah, I thought the halves dictated us around the park really well and off the back of that our forwards did a great job getting us down the field," Boyd said.
"It was a big ask from us, he (Bird) only came in for a few sessions there (in the halves) this week and he's only had a few games at this club so I thought he came in and was energetic, he defended well and did his job."
The Broncos finished Saturday's match with an 88 per cent completion rate and ultimately strangled the Warriors out of the contest.
Bennett said he was proud of his side's effort and felt they had improved on what was a good outing last week in the 15-10 loss to the Knights.
"I am certainly proud of our effort. We played pretty well last week against Newcastle and I thought if we could improve a bit on that we would be alright and thankfully we did that tonight."
Kiwi-born Broncos winger Jamayne Isaako had himself a night out, finishing with a personal points tally of 18 – the 21-year-old seemingly getting stronger with every minute of first grade.
But giving praise to two players in one night was a bridge too far for Bennett.
When asked how much potential his young flyer had Bennett responded with: "Ask me that in 12 months.
"He's got a lot of potential but, I've coached a lot of guys with potential. It doesn't mean they make it."
The Broncos will now prepare to face the resurgent Melbourne Storm next Friday.
