BRISBANE BRONCOS 16 PENRITH PANTHERS 14
TOM SMITH, Suncorp Stadium, Sunday

ADAM REYNOLDS’ clutch conversion sealed Brisbane’s epic comeback in their engrossing preliminary final against Penrith, ending the Panthers’ stranglehold on the NRL title and setting up a mouth-watering decider against Melbourne.

Paul Alamoti’s two first-half tries sent the visitors to the sheds up by 14, but the Broncos piled on 16 second-half points to keep their season alive.

Star fullback Reece Walsh had a quiet afternoon until he assisted Deine Mariner’s 76th-minute try to level the scores, and handed the goal-kicking duties to his captain for the decisive conversion.

Despite missing the last seven weeks with a hamstring injury, the 35-year-old drilled the shot from near the sideline to send a febrile Suncorp Stadium into raptures.

The result snaps Penrith’s run of four consecutive premierships and means Michael Maguire’s first year in charge of the Broncos will finish on the biggest stage.

It also exorcises some of the demons from the 2023 decider, when Penrith mounted an astonishing late fightback to snatch the silverware from Brisbane’s grasp.

The Queenslanders were boosted by the return of Reynolds and playmaker Ezra Mam from hamstring complaints, although workhorse Patrick Carrigan missed with suspension.

They were also helped by the visitors losing Scott Sorensen to a head-injury assessment just two minutes in.

But led by the outstanding Nathan Cleary, the Panthers got on top early, and opened the scoring via Alamoti in the right corner.

Casey McLean appeared to snaffle a 90-metre intercept try before the officials chalked it off for offside, although Penrith found more points when Xavier Willison conceded a penalty for diving at Luke Garner’s legs.

The hosts looked dangerous when Maguire injected Mam, but Penrith hit the scoreboard again through Alamoti, who nabbed his fifth try of these playoffs.

Soon after the restart, the desperate Broncos denied Alamoti his hat-trick, then found their first points when Kotoni Staggs grounded a smart Reynolds grubber behind the Panthers’ goal-line defence.

The game erupted when Mam tackled Cleary after a kick and Liam Martin’s swinging arm sparked a melee, and the Penrith enforcer was lucky to remain on the park.

Roared on by the biggest NRL crowd ever to pack Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane struggled to convert their ascendency into points and looked out on their feet as the clock ticked down.

But within a minute of coming off the bench, Willison pounced on a Ben Hunt pass which ricocheted off Cleary to set up a grandstand finish.

Walsh missed that conversion attempt before quickly making amends, attracting a swarm of pink jerseys then jamming a basketball pass to the unmarked Mariner, who found the right corner to level things at 14-all.

Lining up his first shot at goal in almost two months, five metres in from touch on the wrong side of the ground for a right-footer, Reynolds nailed the moment.

Penrith then had three minutes to erase the two-point deficit – but the Broncos swamped danger man Cleary, forcing Dylan Edwards to spray a speculative attempt and seal the Queensland club’s victory.

The Broncos now advance to their second decider in three years, aiming to collect their first title since 2006 when they coincidentally prevailed over the Storm.

GAMESTAR: Brisbane prop Payne Haas churned out a mountain of work in the middle, racking up 186 running metres and 46 tackles over a mighty 80-minute shift.

GAMEBREAKER: Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds nailed his tricky conversion of Deine Mariner’s late try to book his side’s Grand Final ticket.

MATCHFACTS
BRONCOS
1 Reece Walsh
2 Josiah Karapani
3 Kotoni Staggs
4 Gehamat Shibasaki
5 Deine Mariner
6 Ben Hunt
7 Adam Reynolds
8 Corey Jensen
9 Cory Paix
10 Payne Haas
11 Brendan Piakura
12 Jordan Riki
13 Tyson Smoothy
Subs (all used)
14 Ezra Mam
15 Kobe Hetherington
16 Xavier Willison
17 Ben Talty

Tries: Staggs (48), Willison (70), Mariner (76)
Goals: Walsh 1/2, Reynolds 1/1

PANTHERS
1 Dylan Edwards
2 Paul Alamoti
3 Izack Tago
4 Casey McLean
5 Brian To’o
6 Blaize Talagi
7 Nathan Cleary
8 Moses Leota
9 Mitch Kenny
10 Lindsay Smith
11 Scott Sorensen
12 Liam Martin
13 Isaah Yeo
Subs (all used)
14 Brad Schneider
15 Liam Henry
16 Isaiah Papali’i
17 Luke Garner

Tries: Alamoti (11, 36)
Goals: Cleary 3/3

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-8, 0-14; 6-14, 10-14, 16-14

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Broncos: Payne Haas; Panthers: Nathan Cleary

Penalty count: 5-6
Half-time: 0-14
Referee: Grant Atkins
Attendance: 52,491