KEY POINTS:
UNDER-20S
Broncos 28 Warriors 26
The junior Warriors came within 30 seconds of qualifying for next weekend's Toyota Cup grand final but suffered a heartbreaking defeat to a Brisbane side that refused to surrender.
Tony Iro's side looked as if they had done enough to make the curtain raiser to next weekend's Big Show but conceded two tries in the final three minutes to see their season end in tears.
The players lay strewn on the ground in despair as the Broncos celebrated a victory that seemed unlikely for most of the match. They meet minor premiers the Canberra Raiders in next weekend's final.
On the final play of the match, the Broncos looked like they would struggle to find a way through before Michael Spence tried a speculative grubber kick that rebounded into his arms before he offloaded to Tom Butterfield to score the matchwinner.
"The players aren't good," Warriors coach Tony Iro said, "but they should be proud of what they have done this year.
"It's hard because we set ourselves what many thought was a lofty goal of winning this competition. We thought we had the side to do it and it hurts that we're not going to fulfil that. I sat with Bluey McClennan in 2006 when Australia pinched the Tri Nations final off us. It's deja vu."
The stakes were just as high for the Junior Warriors. Few players get to play in grand final, whatever the level, and this was a good opportunity for Iro's side.
They went into the match on the back of 12 wins and a draw in their last 16 matches, to be one of the form teams of the competition. They always expected to have a good back end of the season, once they worked out the intricacies of the competition and considered the travel, training and intensity.
They always looked the more likely winners, despite giving Brisbane a 12-point start in as many minutes.
Brisbane winger Mitch Rivett powered over in the corner from 10m while fellow winger Jharal Yow Yeh raced 80m after intercepting a pass from Warriors hooker Arron Pawley that was so telegraphed people in Brisbane saw it coming.
But a feature of Toyota Cup is high-scoring matches. It doesn't seem to matter that seasons are on the line.
They play with the freedom of youth and are less scared of making the sort of mistakes that give NRL players nightmares. Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails miserably but it's always entertaining.
It's an admirable policy because there's plenty of time for players to turn into mistake-free metronomes that NRL coaches lust after.
The Warriors stuck to their power game through Sonny Fai, Steve Rapira, brother of Sam, and promising prop Russell Packer, who gained ground and often found three or four tacklers trying to wrestle him to the ground. It was a matter of when, not if the Warriors would score.
Patrick Ah Van was the first beneficiary, crossing untouched in the 19th minute, before fellow centre Rusty Bristow followed on the other flank.
The Warriors went in for their halftime oranges trailing 12-10 but, after weathering sustained Brisbane attacks, they seemed to lift as the partisan crowd started up the occasional 'Warriors' chant. It almost seemed like they were playing at Mt Smart Stadium. Almost.
Rapira thundered over from close range in the 54th minute and he was followed by flying fullback Locke, who fielded a chip on his 10m line and weaved his way to the other end to register his 15th try of the season.
Just when it seemed like they had wrestled control of the match, however, the Broncos hit back through centre Brendon Gibb to reduce the gap to 22-18.
Isaac John looked to have secured the match when he crossed seven minutes from time from a run-around with Fai but Yow Yeh grabbed his second before Butterfield crossed for the winner.
Broncos 28 (J. Yow Yeh 2, M. Rivett, B. Gibb, T. Butterfield tries, B. Hunt 4 gls) Warriors 26 (P. Ah Van, R. Briston, S. Rapira, K. Locke, I. John tries, Locke 3 gls). HT: 12-10.
