WARRINGTON Wolves have beaten NRL opposition in a competitive match for the first time in their history tonight.

They established a 20-0 lead in as many minutes and held off a spirited fightback from the giants of Australian rugby league in the second half.

Every supporter was on their feet chanting ‘barmy army’ in the closing moments in acknowledgement of the achievement.

Tonight, The Wire became the first Super League team to defeat an Aussie outfit since the World Club Series was expanded in 2015, so the feat is not to be sniffed at.

Some will point to the scheduling, that Brisbane are still 12 days away from their season starting properly but that has not stopped them and their NRL rivals ruling the roost in previous years.

And don’t be mistaken, this was a Brisbane side not far off being at full strength and one littered with internationals.

But Wolves were hungry for this, possibly since their narrow 18-12 loss to St George Illawarra Dragons two years ago when Tony Smith’s troops felt they had let themselves down.

On this occasion, Wolves had a pack of trouble for Broncos with the forwards making every tackle and ball carry count.

They looked dangerous when the ball was spun wide to Ryan Atkins and Rhys Evans.

And they had a new hero, a man sorely missed in that loss to Catalans Dragons in the Super League opener in France last week.

Kevin Brown paraded around the field with a glint in his eye that said ‘This is my house, and you’re not taking away the spoils.’

Wolves made a stunning start to the game, thanks to a trademark move.

Joe Westerman charged down Ben Hunt’s kick and raced 50 metres before the scrum half pulled him down.

But from the play-the-ball Brown took play down the narrow side and dummied his way over to score with his first touch in Wire colours after 1min and 45secs.

And with Dec Patton adding the touchline conversion, Wolves had the perfect start.

It was soon 8-0, with Patton booting a 26-metre penalty after Matt Gillett held Hughes down too long in the tackle.

Wolves extended their lead the next time they got into the danger zone on the back of a penalty for offside from Darryl Clark’s dummy-half dart.

Some neat interpassing around the ruck kept the Brisbane defenders tight, allowing Brown to find Ryan Atkins on the charge on the next tackle and the centre planted the ball down with a stretch. Patton’s extras moved Wolves to 14-0 after 14 minutes.

When David Mead made a hash of Brown’s high kick the scrum possession allowed Wolves to launch another attack for their third try.

The ball was quickly swept right before Matty Russell cut inside and weaved his way to the line. Again Patton was on target to make it 20-0 after 19 minutes.

Brisbane’s most threatening attack so far came to nought as Evans read a pass to swallow up Darius Boyd coming from deep and then Anthony Milford’s grubber was too strong, to give The Wire a seven-tackle set from a tap restart.

Broncos got off the mark in the 25th minute with a successful chip and chase started by the boot of Andrew McCullough, continued by Jordan Kahu for Corey Oates to dive over in the corner. Kahu converted from the touchline.

A strong defensive period that included good work from Evans and Tom Lineham then kept out the visitors from repeat sets before a Josh McGuire forward pass eased the pressure.

Wolves had another try in them before the break thanks to Atkins setting up position with an in-and-out foray that left Hunt pulling him down a few metres short.

From the play-the-ball Lineham dived over, just managing to keep his left knee out of touch in the process.

Although Patton missed from the touchline for the first time, Wolves would have been ecstatic to be turning around 24-6 ahead at the break.

Four minutes into the second half though Wolves were served a warning when James Roberts wrong-footed Brown and handed off Atkins to race 90 metres to the line, despite a valiant covering effort from Evans.

With Kahu converting, suddenly the mountain did not look as high for Broncos.

A crunching Brown tackle that forced a knock on from McGuire on Brisbane’s 20-metre line got his teammates excited but perhaps too much so as they went wide early in the next set and Patton’s poor pass ended up going into touch.

Milford opened up The Wire with a short pass that sent Jai Arrow away and as the cover got back the pair traded passes again before the sub forward was stopped inches short superbly by Kurt Gidley.

Ashton Sims came up with the ball from a tackle and seconds later Evans and Russell broke free down the right. After Boyd managed to halt Russell’s progress on what was the last tackle a melee erupted.

And another one started on the opposite touchline involving Brown but when Roberts ran in to claw him from behind Wolves were awarded the penalty and from that set Westerman set up position perfectly for Patton to drop a goal and re-establish a three-score lead at 25-12 with 18 minutes remaining.

Successive penalties led to Patton booting a further two points from 18 metres four minutes later.

When Lineham missed Boyd’s kick it allowed David Mead to sneak in from behind to record Broncos’ third try and Kahu’s conversion cut the gap to nine points with eight minutes remaining.

But that was as good as it got for Wayne Bennett’s side on a night to remember for Wolves fans.

Wolves: Kurt Gidley; Matty Russell, Rhys Evans, Ryan Atkins, Tom Lineham; Kevin Brown, Dec Patton; Mike Cooper, Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Jack Hughes, Andre Savelio, Joe Westerman. Subs: Brad Dwyer, Joe Philbin, Harvey Livett, Ben Westwood.

Broncos: Darius Boyd; Corey Oates, James Roberts, Jordan Kahu, David Mead; Anthony Milford, Ben Hunt; Joe Ofahengaue, Andrew McCullough, Herman Ese’ese, Sam Thaiday, Matt Gillett, Josh McGuire. Subs: Alex Glenn, Tevita Pangai, Jai Arrow, George Fai.