It was the moment Brisbane’s finals hopes went off life support and into the grave.
With a minute left in Saturday’s game, with Brisbane trailing North Queensland 18-10, the Broncos found themselves on the Cowboys’ try line and the equation before them was simple.
A dejected Kotoni Staggs on Saturday night. Getty
Make the last tackle try and keep your chances of winning Townsville alive or say goodbye to their wretched Premiership defence.
For a moment, the play looked promising.
The Broncos spread the ball from the left side of the field all the way to right, where Kotoni Staggs faced a two-on-one coverage.
All he had to do was bring in Murray Taulagi and pass the ball to Jordan Reiki or Ben Hunt, both of whom were unmarked on his outside.
And although he did make taulag, his pass was knocked down by Ricky.
“That’s the story of their season, Brisbane,” former Broncos hooker Michael Ennis said on Fox League.
The Cowboys held on for an 18-10 win and ended any remaining hopes the Broncos had of an improbable run to the season finale.
After losing to the Sharks in Round 18 and losing their eighth game in a row, the Broncos needed to win eight on their first try to have any chance of reaching the finals.
They knocked off Penrith in Sydney to clear the first hurdle but stumbled at the second on Saturday night.
“I’m really upset for the players and the staff because they’re doing a hell of a job right now,” Broncos coach Michael Maguire said in his post-match press conference.
“Unfortunately we missed a lot tonight by missing opportunities. I think we overstepped the mark two or three times in the first half and weren’t able to capitalize. Unfortunately, those things come back and help you later in the game.”
“We need to continue to be positive about the fact that depending on what happens, what happens will happen.”
He praised some of his players leaving at the end of the season: captain Adam Reynolds, who sat next to him at the press conference, as well as South Sydney-bound Payne Haas and Perth signing Gehamat Shibasaki.
“We have some great people in our gaming group who still have games left,” Maguire said.
“As a group, I’m really proud of them and there’s a lot of faith in who we are as a group, but now is just not our time.”
The Brisbane side who beat Penrith last week and lost to North Queensland on Saturday night were the polar opposite of the Broncos, who have lost eight games in a row.
Buoyed by the return of multi-million dollar stars including Reynolds, Haas, Reece Walsh and Patrick Carrigan, they threatened Penrith and North Queensland in attack and defended resolutely.
In the 55th minute of the Townsville match, Reynolds, Walsh and Mame combined to reduce the deficit to 16-10, including the conversion, with Haas used as a trap runner.
It was a brilliant performance from the backline in Cowboys territory that brought back memories of the Broncos’ brilliant run to premiership glory last season when their stars sang and their attacks went well.
But Brisbane, despite having an abundance of possession on the North Queensland line in the closing minutes, were unable to crack the Cowboys’ defense again.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ victory strengthened their position in eighth place in the standings.
Todd Payten’s side are one win ahead of the ninth-place Bulldogs, who pulled off an upset win over the Warriors earlier Saturday afternoon.