Broncos home over Raiders in thrillerThe Baby Broncos have survived a massive scare from the Canberra Raiders, finishing 25-24 golden-point winners on the back of a 38-metre field goal from Peter Wallace.
Brisbane had led 24-0 with a quarter of an hour to play, but an incredible burst of four tries in nine minutes sent the game into extra-time.
The 21,378 at Suncorp Stadium crowd were stunned into silence as Canberra had looked dead and buried before 19-year-old strongman Josh Papalii - a late call-up for injured Josh Miller - inspired the comeback with the first two of their tries.
The Raiders played the first half like the last-placed side they are, and could have no complaints with the score after an hour of play, as they attacked without intensity and their defensive efforts looked, at times, unwilling.
By comparison, Brisbane's first-half was a showcase of the potential in their youth. Jack Reed was strong, Corey Norman played with more confidence and flair than ever before, Gerard Beale and Josh Hoffman were at their best, and debutant winger Shea Moylan gave nothing away.
But the final 15 minutes, and the need for a face-saving field-goal from Wallace, who was impressive throughout, clearly shows that the generation-next Broncos will always be vulnerable without their core of Origin stars.
Returning from a pectoral strain suffered in round 8, 2010 State of Origin prop David Shillington was kept quiet by the unheralded Brisbane pack.
Alex Glenn, who at 22 became the youngest captain in the club's history, played with plenty of passion, and it took him less than 10 minutes to claim the game's first points, as he shrugged off Bronson Harrison and Dane Tilse in a bullocking close-range effort.
Andrew McCullough ensured the pressure stayed on the men in green after the first try, hoofing a 40/20 downfield to give halfback Peter Wallace more time to attack the Raiders left edge.
Shortly after, Blake Ferguson defused one likely try by batting a Wallace grubber over the dead-ball line, but the second seemed imminent, and it came 15 minutes in, with fluid build-up allowing young centre Dale Copley to race to the quarter.
Falling off tackles with embarrassing regularity, the Raiders could have been down three tries after a quarter of the way through, but they were given a reprieve when video referee Phil Cooley ruled that Reed had knocked on a bomb from Norman before Wallace's grounding.
After plenty more attack and a short-range penalty conversion from Wallace, the in-form Broncos had their third try minutes before the half-time break, as Reed managed to offload to Norman, who sent Beale scampering through on the right-hand edge.
Canberra came from the break looking like a side ready to compete, but they had no answers went sure-footed fullback Josh Hoffman jagged inside Ferguson with a big left-foot step and went running in to score.
Brisbane looked to be clock off early in the second, and after denying several attacking forays with last-ditch efforts, they eventually conceded their first try with 15 minutes to play.
Papalii's first try came from an offload close to the line, and his second, from a similar position, was another show of his strength, as he took the hit-up from 10 metres out and just refused to be stopped.
Where the Raiders had looked dead in the water just moments before, the game was suddenly up for grabs when Tom Learoyd-Lahrs burrowed his way over under the posts.
Trailing by six points, the Raiders were all of a sudden an unstoppable machine, and with the remarkable turnaround in full swing, there was only stunned silence from the crowd when they scored their fourth try in nine minutes.
Halfback Sam Williams hoisted the bomb and after a mad scramble in the in-goal, Jarrod Croker was awarded the try, allowing Ferguson to convert and tie scores.
Norman had two atrocious long-range field-goal attempts, before the final hooter went, sending the game to golden point.
Broncos: 25
Tries: Glenn, Copley, Beale, Hoffman
Goals: Wallace 4
Field goal: Wallace
Raiders: 24
Tries: Papalii 2, Learoyd-Lahrs, Croker
Goals: Ferguson 4
Crowd: 21,378 at Suncorp Stadium
Source: Bigpond Sport
Topic: Broncos home over Raiders in thriller
