Thirty Minutes of Madness

Deconstructing the final stanza in the greatest game’s greatest Grand Final.

50:00 — It’s 16–12 Broncos.

The same Broncos, who just three weeks ago, in a Qualifying Final, beat these same Cowboys 16–12 on the back of purified defensive grit.

Of the Broncos defense, supercoach Wayne Bennett remarked:

“These guys are as good as anyone I’ve ever had because they have a belief and a trust in each other and they don’t want to let each other down.”

Thirty minutes to go. Game on.

50:01 — Sam Thaiday brings the ball up, tackle one, following a melee that gets kickstarted by Lachlan Coote’s loose elbow to the face of Darius Boyd.

Surprise, surprise, Justin Hodges find his way to the middle of it all.

50:26 — Ben Hunt finds touch. Watch for this to be a repeating theme.

51:50 — After a 55m gain by the Cowboys, Coote’s grubber proves fruitless. Broncos ball on their own 20.

52:46 — Ben Hunt finds touch twenty-two out.

54:15 — A Lachlan Coote bomb gives the Cowboys a repeat set on their line. Five seconds later, Michael Morgan is held up over the line on tackle one.

56:02 — An identical Coote bomb, on review, is deemed to have been knocked-on by Justin O’Neill. 20 metre Bronco restart.

Bronco defence looking impenetrable.

57:05 — After making a monster 69m in five tackles, Hunt shanks a bomb and Thurston catches it in goal. Cowboys 20m restart.

58:02 — Thurston weights a chip-kick perfectly and Boyd is tackled in-goal by Kyle Feldt.

Commentator Gus Gould says: “Thurston just needs some thinking music… He’s just giving ‘imself some thinking time.”

59:21 — Thurston throws a face-ball on the line to Kane Linnett who is tackled by Hunt.

This is Thurston’s thinking time.

59:30 — Coote’s grubber is played at by a Bronco. Six more for the Cowboys.

60:10 — Thurston throws an identical face-ball to Linnett, putting him into a huge hole. Linnett knocks on, throwing away a certain try.

Gus Gould: “He spills his lollies! Thurston cannot believe it. And neither can the coaching staff. Oh no!”

Commentator Rabs Warren says: “If Jonathan Thurston was a gearbox, let me tell you now, he is at the heaviest gear he can play at!”

60:55 —Human spark-plug Jake Granville comes to the sideline.

Gus Gould: “Gee that was brilliant play by Thurston. So unlucky.”

Rabs Warren: “You people watching this in other parts of the globe, Thurston is our number one player… He’s won everything, to put it simple.”

61:36 — A Ben Hunt bomb is easily diffused by Kyle Feldt.

62:19 — Michael Morgan shimmies across the defensive line, steps off his right foot and flick passes, one-handed to Justin O’Neill on his right.

O’Neill is pushed out of bounds, throwing the ball back in-field to an unsteady Ethan Lowe, who kicks high and ineffectively. Darius Boyd returns the kick to just past the 20m line.

Gus Gould: “How good is this... ”

Commentator Sterlo says: “And all of a sudden Brisbane just look a bit tired.”

62:53 — Thaiday tries to offload the ball and James Tamou slaps it from his hands. Turnover.

Hunt screams at Thaiday in frustration. Cowboys ball on the 40m line.

63:14 —6ft tall, 108kgs, John Asiata is now making incisive runs every set.

Rabs Warren: “Are the Cowboys coming to get you?”

63:24 — Coote dummies, breaks the line, hits the ground… and scores.

Except he doesn’t. Double movement. Broncos ball and penalty.

Gus Gould on Coote’s double movement: “He knew it. It’s just the desperation of the situation…”

Still, it’s 16–12.

The Broncos have now repelled 11 sets on their line in the last 13 minutes.

Rabs Warren: “He’s at full-pace Thurston ...”

Commentator Wally Lewis says: “He’s ready…”

…

Rabs Warren: “I don’t think I’ve seen him like this. He knows this is marked urgent. It’s the biggest prize available that … he hasn’t achieved.”

64:33 — Hunt rolls the ball into touch, 12m out.

65:27 — High tackle from Blair on Granville. Penalty Cowboys.

Gus Gould: “There’s one over the top. Big man on little man.”

66:10 — Ball played at by the Broncos. Six more tackles.

Gus Gould: “This is extraordinary.”

66:37 — O’Neill is stopped just short of the line on the first tackle.

Rabs Warren: “This is fabulous defence from Brisbane!”

66:54 — Linnett drops another pass.

This time a simple one from Coote on the 10m line.

Gus Gould: “The Broncos have got them covered everywhere.”

68:10 — Hunt grubbers to the corner. The ball bounces through Feldt’s hands and into the in-goal where he’s tackled by Jack Reed. Line drop-out.

Gus Gould: “Mark down that moment right there. Mark that moment down right there.”

Sterlo: “This could be the game coming up right here.”

69:21 — Corey Oates is called for a knock-on, furiously disputing the call.

Gus Gould: “Corey Oates is blowing up.”

69:52 — Jason Taumololo with a surging run and quick play the ball. Granville darting out of dummy half.

Three tackles and the Cowboys are already just 40m out.

70:05 — On the 4th tackle, Thurston’s pass misses its target and he scrambles to recover it.

Morgan is forced to bomb the ball out of dummy half on the fifth, after skipping to the blind-side and finding no space.

With no pressure on Boyd, he still bobbles the catch, appearing to knock-on as he brings it in towards his body.

Maybe the footy Gods are evening the score after the Oates mistake?

Gus Gould (seeing the replay): “Did it go backwards? … He was never going to catch that football… Ooooeeerrrrhhhh. How’s that not a knock-on?”

70:56 — Oates breaks the line off a short-ball, but loses it above his head, momentarily. 6ft4 and 107 kilograms, Oates’ height saves him.

71:16 — Hunt finds touch again, 23m out.

For the 4th time in 20 minutes, Hunt kicks the ball out, looking to settle and reset the Broncos defensive line.

This is clearly the game plan.

But the Broncos have not threatened at all in more than twenty minutes of football.

72:05 — Thurston is hammered by Blair.

As he holds the ball up and runs into the line, Blairs spears in from Thurston’s right, and hits him, unseen.

Rabs Warren: “Oooooaaaaahhhh!!! Absolutely smashed by Blair! He really pulled the curtain down there!”

Thurston’s 4th tackle option is again brought undone, leaving Morgan to bail him out for the second time in two minutes. He bombs high again. This time, Boyd gathers it in easily.

Once again, a Broncos set begins on their own line.

72:50 — Hunt makes a break, stepping two tacklers, and escaping the lurching tackle of some tired Cowboys forwards.

He’s brought down from behind by a speeding Michael Morgan.

73:05 — Anthony Milford kicks on the last. Thurston is there to recover, a metre out from his line, and then — dodgy groin and calf be damned — he somehow steps his way out past the 10m line.

Gus Gould: “Under seven minutes to go now. Next try wins. We’re in that territory. Next. Try. Wins.”

73:45 — Thurston makes a bad last tackle read, and forces a rushed pass to Granville, who puts up a desperate bomb, putting every teammate offside in the process.

That makes three last tackles in a row with no impact from Thurston.

With no kick pressure, the bomb is easily caught by Jordan Kahu.

Gus Gould: “A lot of tired boys out there from both sides. Gee whiz. What a cracking game.”

Sterlo: “There hasn’t been a try since the 34th minute. We may not see another one.”

74:37 — 5th tackle Broncoes and a bloody-nosed Hunt kicks the ball over the sideline again.

Gus Gould: “He sticks with his plan. He gives his defence a rest.”

75:33 — After making a break, Ethan Lowe loses the ball to Milford, who strips it in a one on one tackle.

This is the first time you wonder — Was that it? Is that it for the Cowboys?

76:22 — After a strong set from the Broncos, with a 50m gain, McCullough finds touch, 11m out.

They are sticking with the plan.

But for the past 26m, they haven’t once threatened the Cowboys line.

Gus Gould: “Again, another walk and a rest to do their next defensive set… Next try wins.”

The Cowboys are slow to set the scrum.

Sterlo: “They need to take a couple of chances now. They’re at the wrong end of the field.”

76:55 — Hunt is penalised for a lifting tackle on Linnett.

Sterlo: “As harsh as it sounds, North Queensland needed a penalty.”

The tackle is put on report.

Gus Gould: “Three minutes to go. Three minutes to go. Thurston and his troops have to craft out a try to win.”

Thurston’s penalty kicks finds touch at the halfway mark.

Sterlo: “I know it’s strange, but they needed that.”

77:15 — Granville throws a dreadful pass to Coote, who has dives to catch it.

The nerves are in.

Rabs Warren: “He had to have tentacles to catch that!”

Less than three minutes to go.

77:30 — Another powerful run by Matt Scott, with a second effort that gains an three more metres. Scott, Tamou, Taumololo, and Asiata. The Cowboys fowards have been just a fraction more dominant than the Broncos’ in this second half.

77:47 — Morgan almost breaks through on the right edge.

Over and over he’s been tempting that side of the field — never quite breaking through.

Feldt throws a dreadful pass out of dummy half to Thurston, who catches it at his bootlaces.

The nerves are well and truly in.

77:56 — Thurston drifts across the field, and this time, it’s Thaiday who spears in and smashes him, unseen.

For the 4th time in 4 minutes, Thurston offers nothing on the 5th tackle.

Your heart drops as you think — Is that it for the Cowboys now?

78:11 — Out of dummy-half, Granville flirts with the line, before putting in a grubber that Jack Reed seizes upon easily.

Broncos ball.

Well, that must be it for the Cowboys.

The Broncos start the set slowly.

Four tacklesand they’ve only made it to the 20m line.

Sterlo: “They’ll have another possession the Cowboys.”

78:47 — Anthony Milford breaks a Jake Granville tackle, swipes past Tamou, and slips the grabs of Ethan Lowe, breaking into the back field.

Rabs Warren: “Milford! Steps away from one! Gets out of another! He’s outside the 40! He’s cleared his own half! Got the ball away!”

Well. That is definitely going to be it for the Cowboys.

Milford offloads to Hunt who looks around, sees no support and slides to the ground, surrendering to the tackle.

78:56 — As Hunt falls to the ground, Feldt swipes at his arm, dislodging the ball, and it falls, bouncing miraculously, straight back into Feldt’s grasp.

Cowboys ball. Last shot. Last hope.

79:00 — ONE MINUTE TO GO.

Cowboys down by four. 54 metres out from their line.

Jack Reed stands and stays in the play-the-ball area, an obvious penalty at any other moment in the season.

The Broncos defensive line rushes up, the Cowboys spread the ball wide, and Thurston throws a cutout ball to Linnett, who unfathomably, almost drops it again.

He’s jelly. He’s gone. He’s lost it.

Three passes now, for nearly three catastrophic drops.

On that first push, the Cowboys make just 2m.

52 to go.

79:21 — Antonio Winterstein makes a strong 10m run.

79:28 — Taumololo makes 13 more metres, bullocking, desperate.

Another quick play the ball and Granville scoots from dummy half, moving it wide to Tamou.

79:36 — Inexplicably, as he approaches the line, Tamou palms the ball, extending his hand to the line.

As the tackle hits, he swings his arm around McCullough, throwing a ball out the back, keeping it alive.

79:44 — SIXTEEN SECONDS LEFT.

Matt Scott is taken to ground 12m out. As he falls, he looks, hoping for an offload. No-one is in support.

Granville to dummy half.

Wally Lewis: “One to go!”

Rabs Warren: “Tackle fiiiiiiive!”

Granville throws another shocking pass and Thurston is forced to to wheel around, picking the ball off his toes, his back turned to the defence.

The nerves have got to Granville too.

Thurston evades a desperate Adam Blair tackle.

Thurston fends off McCullough’s two-arm grab.

Running backwards now, looking for space, left and right, looking to keep the ball alive, he jumps over a Corey Parker tackle and launches the ball into Morgan’s hands.

79:55 — Morgan receives the ball 22m out.

Running to his right, again, he dummies, holding back his pass, creating a sliver of space between Milford and Reed.

79:58 — Morgan extends his arm through the gap between the defenders, as Reed catches him around the legs.

Falling now, one arm extended, the ball is held in his outstretched hand.

79:59 — Corey Oates, 20 years old, sensing the danger takes a step towards a falling Morgan, who flicks the pass to Feldt!

80:00 — Feldt is in space!

80:00 — Feldt is one step, two step, ball down…

80:00 — Tryyyyyyyyy!!!!!!

All Commentators: “Ooooooowwwaahahhhahahahahahwhhwhwhwha!!!”

Mayhem. Madness. Ecstasy.

Rabs Warren: “And Feldt! Feldt has scored in the corner!”

All Commentators: “Ooooooowwwaahahhhahahahahahwhhwhwhwha!!!”

Darius Boyd falls to the ground, distraught.

16–16

Rabs Warren: “They’ve got a kick to win it! They’ve got a kick to win it!”

Gus Gould: “Well if you don’t believe in fairytales, we might see the giant fairytale of all time!”

The Cowboys celebrate.

Thurston puts his head down, hands on his knees.

Gus Gould: “Can you believe it!”

Then a long wait.

A long, long wait.

Thurston takes his headgear off.

Picks up the green kicking tee.

Gus Gould: “Here he comes. One of the greatest of all time. One kick. One moment in time.”

Thurston puts his headgear back on.

Rabs Warren: “This. This will be his crowning glory. The fulfilment of his destiny.”

He walks to the spot.

Sterlo: “The [Cowboys] 21st season. They’ve been to one [Grand Final] ten years ago. This is the best team they’ve ever fielded. He is the best player they’ve ever had.”

Thurston yells at the camera as it gets too close — ‘F#$k off’.

He sips water.

Sterlo: “The amount of people willing this [kick] over is astronomical.”

Thurston pulls up his socks.

Gus Gould: “We know he’s had groin problems. We know he’s had calf problems. He hasn’t been kicking well.”

Thurston reties his right boot.

Minutes have passed.

He places the ball 6 inches closer in from the sideline than he should, and the referee orders him to move it back.

Rabs Warren: “Jonathan Thurston is 21 metres out. 1 metre in from touch … From Captain. To legend. To immortality, perhaps.”

On one knee he lines up the ball.

Looking, tracking its future course.

He pulls up his socks again. Taps the toes of his boots to the grass, one after the other.

The same routine.

723 goals in his career.

This is 724.

The same steps back and around and to the side.

Deep breaths.

Waiting. Thinking. Focus. Focus.

Chin up. He is ready.

Off the boot, it looks like it’s sailing over.

That Thurston curl, that classic Thurston curl…

And then suddenly, at the very last minute, the ball just ever so slightly straightens out.

For once, the curl has deserted him.

Deserted the Cowboys.

Deserted Townsville and North Queensland and Jonathan Thurston, the 4 time Dally M winner and future immortal.

And as the kick straightens, it hits the post.

Thurston screams.

And screams.

16–16. Still.

A two-minute break. And then it’s game on again.

First team to score, any score, wins.

Coin toss to decide who kicks off.

Hodges and Thurston embrace.

Two indigenous captains. Two Queensland champions. Mutual, massie respect.

“It’s your call Jonathan”, calls the referee.

Hodges tosses the coin.

Thurston calls heads.

It’s heads.

Luck swings to the Cowboys again.

— “What do you want do mate?”

— “Ahhh. We’ll kick.”

The referee turns to Hodges now — “Which way do you want to run?”

Hodges tosses a few blades of grass in the air and points.

Thurston runs back.

— “Boys! Boys! We’re kickin’ off.”

The two minute break is over.

Gus Gould: “I’d love to interview the football Gods one day and say — Why didn’t you let that go through? Why is it that you denied him that moment? What are they possibly thinking to deny him and us that moment? That’s incredible isn’t it?”

The teams are lined up and it’s kick-off time.

Rabs Warren: “The most dramatic Grand Final that I can remember.”

Mayhem. Madness. Ecstasy in the crowd.

80:00 — Feldt’s kick-off is towering.

It comes down to Ben Hunt.

A safe pair of hands.

A steady, trusted guide for this Broncos team all year.

80:07 — Hunt drops the ball.

Hunt has dropped the ball.

1 metre out.

He keels over in shock.

There is no time to adjust.

No time to process.

The scrum soon sets.

Rabs Warren: “Thurston’s kicked five field goals this year.”

Morgan is feeding the ball.

Thurston is to the right. Coote, a left-footer, is standing to the left.

They are set-up for a field goal now.

The nerves again.

81:37 — As the ball comes out the back of the scrum, it ricochets off a Cowboy forward’s foot. Granville has to step to pick it up and then step again to clear the scrumbase before passing.

It takes too much time.

The Broncos swarm Thurston. He steps. He fends. He’s tackled.

Denied.

Again.

81:49 — Another surging Taumololo run. Granville at dummy half. Passes to Thurston.

Thurston reverses the play to Coote. Coote sets to drop-goal, then hesitates as the Broncos rush up on him again.

Coote steps and darts towards the sideline, popping an inside ball for Linnett, who is brought down easily.

82:12 — Tamou takes a settling run, playing the ball directly in front of the posts.

Granville whips the ball from dummy-half back to Thurston.

82:16 — Thurston drop goal.

Over.

Good.

Game.

Victory.

Immortality, perhaps.

Sterlo: “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The Broncos distraught.

Rabs Warren: “Most dramatic Grand Final I’ve ever seen.”

The coaching box, exploding.

Joy and despair.

The despair.

Thurston shaking and speechless.

“I can’t believe what we’ve just done.”

He hugs his wife and daughter.

He is a champion.

The Cowboys are champions.

North Queensland erupts.

They can’t believe what they’ve just done.

To the victor, the spoils.

But so much happened in that Grand Final.

So many wild swings in those short, final few minutes.

Linnett drops the ball twice, and almost again for a third time.

Hunt is penalised for a spear tackle, loses the ball because of a loose carry, and drops the kick-off.

Three mistakes in three minutes. If he doesn’t lift in that tackle, if he holds the ball into his chest like he always does, if he holds the kick-off, the Broncos win.

Thurston makes four mistakes in a row, and the Cowboys go meekly into the fifth tackle on four consecutive sets.

The Cowboys complete 100% of their sets for thirty straight minutes, but don’t score until the very last.

Another year of experience, Oates doesn’t bite on Morgan’s line-break, Feldt doesn’t go over in the corner.

But we didn’t have it simple. We didn’t get it easy.

We couldn’t have Thurston’s kick sail over, into history, and the national consciousness.

Instead we took more twists, more denials, more misfires, until finally, righteously, the drop goal is over and through and the North Queensland Cowboys win a Grand Final for the first time in history.

A legend of the game.

Immortality, most definitely.