Revenge was sweet for Brisbane who all but sealed a top-eight finish by pipping Parramatta 17-16 in an NRL golden point thriller at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
After a bust by the inspirational David Fifita, Jamayne Isaako iced the match-winning field goal in the opening minute of extra time to bring the 33,020-strong crowd to their feet.
Isaako almost claimed victory with 39 seconds left in regular time, only for his monster 45m field goal attempt to hit the post.
Still smarting from a 38-10 round 14 thrashing from the Eels, the Broncos moved provisionally to seventh spot while also denting Parramatta’s top-four hopes.
Brisbane overcame the 47th minute sinbinning of hooker Andrew McCullough for a professional foul to clinch the victory, ensuring they will lock in a finals berth if they overcome Canterbury in the last round.
But sixth-placed Parramatta’s top four hopes are all but gone with their second straight loss.
Fullback Anthony Milford was inspirational for Brisbane but his 76th minute knock-on proved a turning point.
A few plays later Eels prop Kane Evans crashed over in the 77th minute to lock up the scores 16-16.
Under fire captain Darius Boyd answered his critics with a much improved display at pivot, scoring in the 43rd minute off an Anthony Milford grubber kick to blow their lead out to 16-6.
Boyd has been under pressure to walk away from his reported $800,000-a-year contract two seasons early after what some experts feel has been an ill-fated shift from fullback to five-eighth.
But Boyd didn’t look out of place on Friday night, also making a first-half bust before David Fifita bulldozed over to score in the 30th minute and give the hosts an 8-6 buffer.
The match appeared to be turned on its head when McCullough was sin-binned for a professional foul on the ever-threatening Maika Sivo.
But Brisbane’s defensive line didn’t break until the 67th minute – and it took some Blake Ferguson magic to do it.
The NSW flyer, back from a six-game layoff with a knee infection, somehow got the ball down as his body flew into touch after running off a Junior Paulo cut-out pass to reduce the deficit to 16-10 and set up a thrilling finish.
Brisbane held a 10-6 halftime lead thanks to Fifita’s 30th minute try, carrying over three defenders.
Brisbane hit back after Sivo gave the visitors a 6-2 buffer when he latched on to a Clint Gutherson cut-out pass to score in the 24th minute.
Brisbane lost No.13 Joe Ofahengaue (calf) before kick-off.