But a lack of urgency from the back three to get to the ball, ultimately rolling back to within their own 10-metre line, cost the Broncos a chance to gain the early ascendancy.
It is not as though Penrith were faultless. By halftime, when they took a 14-0 lead into the sheds, they had only been tackled inside the enemy red zone twice more.
The difference was when those moments came, they capitalised for Paul Alamoti to cross for double.
On the other side of the coin, three mistakes coming out of trouble and a penalty gifted Brisbane the opportunity to strike, only for the hosts to come up with two knock ons of their own, as well as butchering a set which ended being dragged into touch.
First, there was a brilliant tackle from Izack Tago to force an error from Gehamat Shibasaki. Then, Deine Mariner was tackled into touch early in the set after failing to find the turf, while Xavier Willison’s spilled ball with the try line begging on a set play cost a certain
They were all chances they needed to take, with the Panthers running for nearly 400 more metres than the Broncos to put themselves in the box seat.
But there was more to the script
Another resurgence
Pundits would have been forgiven for believing they would witness another Panthers decider, when Mariner came up with a knock-on coming out of his own end early in the second half.
But the Broncos were up for the fight in defence, with Jordan Riki coming up with a clutch tackle on Nathan Cleary to keep them at bay.
They earn a penalty on the back of that, and after Reece Walsh put Shibasaki over the advantage line to garner a repeat set, all they needed was a bit of luck – Adam Reynolds’ ricocheted grubber scooped up by Kotoni Staggs to score.
Twice again the Broncos let the Panthers off the hook – a Blaize Talagi knock on at halfway unpunished by their attack, nor was the territory gained for a penalty against Liam Martin for escalating Cleary and Ezra Mam’s brief brouhaha.
But just as they have done in the second half of the campaign, Brisbane did not deviate from the script.
They continued to build pressure and field position, with the back five combining for 749 running metres, while Payne Haas (186 metres, 46 tackles) and Willison (151 metres) bounced off their back of that work.
Some dummy-half deception from Ben Hunt then forced a luckless knock-down out of Cleary – one Willison was happy to accept to score.
Reece Walsh of the Broncos breaks away from the defence.Credit: Getty Images
But there was a final twist to come – one of redemption for one man, and an unsurprising source who triggered it.
Reynolds’ demons buried
Trust Walsh to be the man to come up with the match-winning play. After Reynolds opted to run the ball on last play, a Talagi knock down gave them a last chance to sink the reigning premiers.
That was the opening for the marquee fullback to shine – his darting run ending with the most desperate of offloads for Mariner to level the scores with four minutes on the clock.
Adam Reynolds of the Broncos scores a conversion to give the Broncos the lead in the final minutes.Credit: Getty Images
But while the standout No.1 – who finished with 137 running metres and 12 tackle busts – had taken the goal kicking duties up to now, Reynolds was the man who took the decisive kick.
This conversion would be about more to the skipper than extinguishing the heartbreak of the 2023 grand final, but also the 2021 decider, when his shot to level the scores while playing for South Sydney hit the posts.
There would be no repeating those mistakes, Reynolds icing the shot and showing the rugby league world what they had been missing while he had been sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Once again, these Broncos showed they can win from anywhere. Now, attention turns to Melbourne.
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