No gold as finals thrust is a draw
THE finals hopes of Brisbane and the Warriors remain fragile after they played out a rare NRL draw, with the scoreline 18-all after a 90-minute golden point thriller last night.
The Broncos reeled in a 16-6 halftime deficit but it was not enough to avoid the first draw since Round 21 in 2016 when Cronulla also remained level at 18-all with Gold Coast Titans.
Both Brisbane and the Warriors may have been lastround winners but were still sweating on keeping in touch with the top eight with a victory, sharing matching 6-9 records when they arrived at Suncorp Stadium.
However, they are sweating on their finals hopes after neither side could nail a golden point-winning field goal, with a total of six attempts sailing past the uprights in the 10 minute extra-time period.
Both sides now languish three points outside the top eight.
Brisbane appeared to have iced the result when teenage back-rower David Fifita backed up from Queensland’s heartbreaking State of Origin series defeat to score a blockbusting 66th minute try.
Fifita, 19, cut through five defenders to give the hosts an 18-16 lead with the Warriors’ will seemingly broken.
However, the visitors got a final chance to send the match into overtime when Tevita Pangai was penalised for a strip in the 77th minute and hooker Issac Luke coolly stepped up to slot the kick.
That was the last time anyone booted truly for the match with Warriors half Kodi Nikorima spraying three golden point field goal attempts and Brisbane’s James Segeyaro and Anthony Milford messing up another three in a heart-stopping finish.
Earlier, Brisbane cut the halftime deficit to 16-12 when skipper Darius Boyd crashed over in the 46th minute before Fifita’s heroics appeared to give Brisbane a second straight win.
The Warriors grabbed a 10point halftime lead after carving up Brisbane’s right side edge.
Brisbane drew first blood when prop Payne Haas ran off Jake Turpin to power over in the seventh minute but after that it was all one way traffic.