NRL: South Sydney Rabbitohs v Brisbane Broncos – live!

78 mins: Penalty for Souths but Reynolds fluff his lines – and the kick – to spare Brisbane some additional agony.

76 mins: Reynolds relies on his kicking game again but the ball runs long to give Brisbane a rare period of respite. They do nothing with their set, however, and the ball is back with the Bunnies.

73 mins: More of the same. Brisbane bust their hump for little reward and Souths regain the ascendancy without expending much effort at all. A captain’s challenge for Souths is successful and they can do little wrong. Not long now.

66 mins: Soft! Tom Burgess is fed from dummy half and the big fellow pretty much strolls through an insipid last line from the Broncos to make it another try for the Bunnies. Pretty pathetic from Brisbane. Reynolds converts and dare I say it’s game over?

64 mins: The ball ping pongs from one end of the field to the other, and though Souths are now looking quiet the Broncos are doing nothing, either. A fresh set of six following some sharp work on the short side opens up another chance for the Rabbitohs, however.

62 mins: Some slippery work from Mitchell to Walker exposes some frailties in the Broncos through the middle. And now the Bunnies have another chance to press from inside their own half.

60 mins: Staggs coughs up the ball in the first play, not far from the Rabbitohs line, and that is an opportunity the Broncos could ill afford to lose. Johns goes high on Farnworth and now the Broncos can reset from halfway.

57 mins: Souths toss the ball all around the place and the Broncos are exposed left, right and centre. It turns into a one-on-one between the two Toms – Burgess and Dearden – and although the Rabbitoh wins the physical battle, he fails to ground the ball correctly and the decision is NO TRY. The Broncos stay in it. Just.

53 mins: A Broncos kick from inside their own 30 does little to ease the pressure and the Bunnies thrust forward again. Fifita does just enough on the last line and it’s a goal-line dropout. Great kicking from Reynolds. Advantage remains with the Rabbitohs.

49 mins: Brisbane throw everything at their last tackle but great work from Paulo hands Souths the ball and the ensuing penalty does nothing for Brisbane’s cause. Play slingshots to the other end of the ground and an obstruction from Farnworth hands Souths a penalty. Looks a bit soft – the onus, surely, was on Murray to get around the Broncos player and not the other way around. Regardless, the Bunnies extend their lead. South Sydney 22-10 Brisbane

44 mins: A Souths fumble in the greasy conditions hands the Broncos a turnover, and now a set restart gives them a real chance. A penalty doubles down on that and Fifita is basically too big, too strong as he shrugs one tackle and busts through two more to register a much-needed try for the Broncos. No dice on the conversion, though, and it’s now a 10-point ball game.

41 mins: Boyd tries to make some headway but Souths are equal to it. Not a great set from the Broncos. They’ll need to do better than that to get back in this.

Affairs were pretty even for the first half of the first half, but Souths stepped on the gas – and Brisbane eased off it – to give the game a lop-sided look at the break. Those last few exchanges made easy to understand how the Broncos are shipping points with such ease this season.

39 mins: A set restart for the Broncos is something, but they’ll need 1,000 of them to get competitive in this game. They’ve dropped off badly late in this half.

34 mins: Mago almost gets upended in a tackle but he flattens his body to stay safe. From the restart Nicholls fairly well strolls through a gang of disinterested looking Broncos through the middle of the park for the easiest try he’ll score this year. Or ever. Awful from Brisbane. Just awful.

33 mins: Brisbane lose their Captain’s Challenge and now the Bunnies advance again. Reynolds grubs one in and it’s a great kick: Boyd can do no more than take the ball dead. Souths well on top here.

30 mins: Awesome kicking from Paulo to thread the needle of four Broncos players and the only issue is whether Reynolds is on-side. Reynolds was in front of the kicker but Paulo did enough to make sure he was on-side and that is a beautiful try from Souths.

29 mins: Yet another set restart for Brisbane – Souths have been poor in this area tonight – but a high kick amounts to nothing as Coates knocks on. Over to you, Souths.

24 mins: Fifita doing a great job leading from the back half. More metres for the Broncos put the Bunnies under pressure but Souths are equal to the challenge and Walker emerges with the advantage. And now a penalty for interference hands Brisbane some precious territory. The Bunnies were on top but Brisbane are clawing their way back.

20 mins: The Bunnies are getting on top here, dominating possession, but a set restart deep in the Souths half gives the visitors a chance and they expose some gaping holes on the left with Farnworth sliding in unchallenged for a try against the run of play. Sloppy from the Rabbitohs. Staggs converts. Game on.

16 mins: Penalty for obstruction against Murray hands the Bunnies a penalty and Reynolds slots one through to make it an eight-point lead for the Bunnies. South Sydney 8-0 Brisbane

12 mins: A dust-up between Gagai and Turpin sees the ref get involved and the Bunnies awarded a penalty. Souths expose Brisbane on the right with speed and clean passing – Reynolds, Knight, Walker, Mitchell all getting involved – before Gagai finishes the job to get things going for the Rabbitohs. Easy conversion for Reynolds.

11 mins: Now Murray fumbles, handing the ball over to the Broncos when the Bunnies really should be driving towards the try line. Croft goes long at the end of the set but the Rabbitohs have it covered. Nobody is blinking yet.

8 mins: Penalty to the Rabbitohs deep in their own half. They’ve been a bit cleaner in these early exchanges. Fifita now tries to make some headway but a knock-on by Pangai means the Broncos have to defend deep in their part of the ground.

3 mins: Some handling errors from Souths keep Brisbane dangerous and close. Staggs has a chance on the short side but is hauled into touch. Could have done better there, the Broncos. Good defending from the Bunnies, however.

1 min: And we’re away. The Broncos work the ball forward, slowly and without much conviction. Fifita, though, makes a few early metres on the right. Johnston makes the catch for the Bunnies in a good early set for the Broncos.

What will it take for the Broncos NOT to get a berth in the prime-time Friday slot? I mean, they’ve lost nine of their past 10 matches and are about as bad as they’ve been. Like, ever. On the plus side, for Broncos fans, Souths have beaten Brisbane just nine times from 32 attempts in the NRL age. But that’s when Brisbane were any sort of chop.

Not long now, people.