The Broncos and Eels lit up Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night with a 12-try thriller that had viewers around the nation on the edge of their seats.
With both sides hell bent on avenging Round 1 losses, the classic battle of north vs south served up an attacking feast before the Eels prevailed 40-32 with an average audience of 1.29 million viewers tuning in.
Other key numbers from Thursday's blockbuster showed:
- The fixture was 34% up on the corresponding timeslot last year
- Across both Nine and Fox, the match reached 2.7 million total viewers
- Broncos v Eels was the #1 most searched topic on Google in the past 24 hours.
Those viewers and fans at the ground were in awe as the Broncos raced to a 20-6 lead inside the first half hour before the Eels dug deep and hit back with three tries in five minutes to take a 22-20 lead to the break.
With tension mounting in the second half and the end to end action ramping up the Broncos took the lead back when Reece Walsh produced a cracking chip-and-chase try but the Eels refused to lay down.
Freakish tries to Sean Russell and Jonah Pezet put Parra back in front as Jason Ryles' men got on the board for 2026 and consigning the champions to a 0-2 start.
All Tries - Broncos v Eels
The Round 2 action continues on Friday night on Foxtel, Kayo, Nine and Nine Now as the Warriors host the Raiders before Alex Johnston chases history at Allianz Stadium when the Rabbitohs take on the Roosters.
