James Maloney looked to have had it in the bag for the Roosters in the dying moments of regulation time, but his drop-goal attempt struck the crossbar as a leaping Lachlan Maranta also managed to get a touch on the ball.
Led by a strong performance from veteran Sam Thaiday, the Broncos had all the territory in the first half but went into the sheds behind 12-10, with the clinical Roosters making the most of their forward surges.
Just before the hour mark, Maloney strode through the Broncos' line and scored before adding his own extras to give his side an 18-12 advantage.
Kodi Nikorima looked to have pegged one back for Brisbane soon afterwards, fooling everyone to go over from dummy-half - but the video referee found he had lost control in his attempts to ground the ball.
But Brisbane's charge kept rolling along, and they finally broke through with 10 minutes to go after Alex Glenn wove past two Roosters to score on the left and set up a grandstand finish.
Earlier, the hosts made the worst possible start when the Roosters slipped under their defences after just three minutes.
A fend and a flick from Tuivasa-Scheck unleashed Shaun Kenny-Dowell to cross for a try next to the posts and open the scoring.
But the fired-up Broncos hit back almost immediately, with Hunt boldly taking on the line and splitting three Roosters' defenders to get over.
Corey Parker converted, and then added a further two penalties to give the home side a 10-6 lead.
The first penalty came after an off-the-ball shoulder charge on Glenn from Roosters prop Sam Moa, who was put on report and likely to face the wrath of the NRL judiciary after making contact with his head.
- AAP
