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Walsh magic seals epic 95-minute thriller as Broncos advance to prelim
Sam Kosack • September 14th, 2025 8:43 pm
Reece Walsh has produced the best 15 minutes of any player this season to snatch an incredible 95-minute victory in proof of rugby league at it’s very best.
The Brisbane Broncos will advance to a preliminary final at Suncorp in two weeks time after a resounding 32-28 victory in a 95 minute epic with more twists and drama than a Shakespearean great.
The Raiders seemed on their way to a preliminary final with fifteen minutes remaining in the game, up 18 points having scored twice while Walsh, Pat Carrigan, and Hudson Young were in the sin bin.
But cometh the 62nd minute, and cometh Reece Walsh.
In the space of seven minutes after he returned from the sin-bin, Walsh had two try assists and a 40/20 to reduce the margin to two.
With no time left on the clock, Walsh attempted a two-point field goal but contact to the leg from Zac Hosking gave Walsh a penalty from right in front and he made no mistake.
The two sides continued to duke it out in the first 10 minutes of extra time, with Hudson Young keeping the Raiders alive with an incredible charge down, in what was the most likely chance from the passage.
Moving into golden point, Jamal Fogarty in the 92nd minute seemed to have sealed the contest with an incredible try off a Jed Stuart tap back.
However, upon deeper review, it was ruled Stuart knocked the ball on into Josiah Karapani, overturning the decision.
It presented Ben Hunt with the opportunity to seal it at the other end, and the 352-game veteran made no mistake, clipping the upright as the ball crossed.
In one of the most gruelling displays you’ll see, both teams were walking wounded by the end with players cramping and hobbling everywhere you look.
The Broncos will be sweating on the availability of Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan for the prelim final after Pat Carrigan was placed on report and sent to the sin bin in the 55th minute for high contact on Morgan Smithies.
The incident drew blood around the mouth of Smithies and immediately placed Carrigan in danger of a Grade 2 charge, which would see him cop a one match suspension and miss the Broncos’ sudden death semi-final against the Cronulla Sharks.
A Carrigan suspension would be devastating to the Broncos, after Payne Haas played most of the game on one leg after suffering an ankle injury.
Haas looked in considerable pain for the majority of the game, before he came from the field with 15 minutes to go, before returning and persevering through the extra time passage.
The Raiders will now take on the Cronulla Sharks in Canberra again on Sunday, hoping to brush off the loss and bounce back.
