A last-minute try from Jake Turpin helped rescue a poor Brisbane Broncos performance and seal an 18-14 win over North Queensland Cowboys.
Brisbane opened the scoring when an offload by Tevita Pangai Jnr set Jamayne Isaako away and Anthony Milford finished the try.
The Broncos kept creating chances in the first half but couldn’t take them and an error from Gehamat Shibasaki led to Shane Wright scoring his first NRL try under the posts for the Cowboys.
Brisbane looked a shadow of the team that started the game and the Cowboys took the lead when Jake Clifford kicked for himself on 57 minutes after the halfback had earlier been denied a try due to an obstruction.
But an error from Gideon Gela-Mosby led to David Fifita reaching out to score a try that levelled the scores at 12-12.
Clifford gave the home side the lead with a penalty before Turpin struck late on.
Cowboys: Drinkwater, Feldt, Hess, Opacic, Gela-Mosby, Morgan, Clifford, McGuire, Granville, Scott, Cooper, Wright, Taumalolo; Interchanges: Asiata, Bolton, Molo, Hola
Tries: Wright, Clifford; Goals: Clifford 3
Broncos: Milford, Isaako, Shibasaki, Staggs, Oates, Boyd, Turpin, Lodge, McCullough, Haas, Fifita, Pangai jnr, Ofahengaue; Interchanges: Segeyaro, Flegler, Kennedy, Carrigan
Tries: Milford, Fifita, Turpin; Goals: Isaako 3
On report: Flegler (47) – shoulder charge
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.
