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THE greatest game of all has a new greatest grand final.
Rugby league genius Johnathan Thurston kicked an 83rd minute field goal to deliver the Cowboys their maiden premiership with a 17-16 victory over Brisbane at ANZ Stadium on Sunday night in the first NRL grand final to be decided in golden-point extra time.
The four-time Dally M Medallist etched his name even deeper into the game’s annals by hitting the match-winner from in front of the posts, then disappeared under a huddle of his delirious teammates.
The Cowboys had trailed 16-12 for most of the second half, and that was still the deficit when the siren sounded and five-eighth Michael Morgan surged towards the Broncos’ line.
Morgan delivered a one-armed flick pass to winger Kyle Feldt, who touched down in the corner to tie the scores, pushing the first all-Queensland grand final past Newcastle’s triumph over Manly in 1997 and Canberra’s extra-time thriller against Balmain in 1989.
Feldt had stripped Broncos halfback Ben Hunt of the ball just 60 seconds earlier to give his side one last possession after they looked done and dusted.
Thurston had the chance to win the game in regulation time but, agonisingly, his sideline conversion attempt of Feldt’s try hit the post.
The crowd of 82,758 held its collective breath as Thurston lined up the kick but it thumped into the post, sending the game into extra time.
Hunt spilled the kick-off, giving the Cowboys prime position to set up for the winning field goal.
Thurston and fullback Lachlan Coote lined up for the kick on successive plays but could not get a shot away.
But when the ball came to Thurston at the end of the set, the Clive Churchill Medallist made no mistake.
Having won a premiership as a bench player with the Bulldogs in 2004, Thurston was desperate to help North Queensland win their first.
‘‘I can’t believe it. I can’t believe what we just done,’’ Thurston told Channel Nine moments after his heroics.
Brisbane, who were a perfect six from six in grand finals before Sunday night, were poised to secure a seventh premiership but could not close the game out.
It was also Wayne Bennett’s first grand final loss as a head coach after winning six titles with Brisbane and another with the Dragons in 2010.
Brisbane led 14-12 at the break after a frenetic first half, in which play pulsed from end to end and the teams traded tries in the opening 10 minutes.
Corey Parker’s 40-metre penalty goal opened the scoring in the sixth minute, then the Broncos went 90 metres a minute later to stretch their lead to 8-0.
Adam Blair popped a miracle pass as he was being tackled on his 10-metre line, then Anthony Milford and Jack Reed combined to send Corey Oates away on a 65-metre gallop to score the first try of the grand final.
The Cowboys responded just three minutes later when hooker Jake Granville collected the ball from the scrum-base close to Brisbane’s line and passed inside for centre Justin O’Neill to score.
Thurston’s conversion trimmed the deficit to 8-6 and the Cowboys were back in business.
Oates tackled opposite number Kyle Feldt into touch in the 13th minute to save a try, then the Cowboys had to scramble in defence three minutes later when Milford burst into the clear down Brisbane’s left edge.
The Cowboys hit the front for the first time when prop James Tamou steamed on to a Glanville short pass to score in the 25th minute.
Thurston converted for a 12-8 lead but the champion halfback’s handling error nine minutes later led to Brisbane’s second try.
Broncos back-rower Matt Gillett scooped up the ball after Thurston lost the handle in a tackle by Gillett and hooker Andrew McCullough.
Gillett broke through several attemped tackles before off-loading to Reed, who touched down to the left of the posts.
After video referees Bernard Sutton and Luke Patten were convinced Thurston was not stripped of possession, they confirmed referee Gerard Sutton’s decision of a try.
Thurston did not protest.
In the absence of Parker, who had been replaced a few minutes earlier, winger Jordan Kahu converted Reed’s try to give the Broncos back the lead at 14-12.
That was how it remained until half-time, though Milford was called on to force Thurston’s speculative chip kick dead in-goal in the final seconds of the half.
Kahu extended Brisbane’s lead to 16-12 in the 43rd minute after the Broncos received back-to-back penalties.
That appeared certain to be the only points of the second half after the Broncos grimly defended their line for long periods, but Morgan and Feldt provided a twist in the tale after the siren then Thurston – who else – determined the outcome in extra time.