The Broncos are two wins away from their first grand final victory in 17 years after a 26-0 shutout of a Storm side left devastated by a serious ankle injury to Ryan Papenhuyzen.
Trailing 20-0 with seven minutes remaining at Suncorp Stadium, the Storm had Papenhuyzen taken from the field on a medicab after he came reeling out of a tackle in agony.
With Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan providing the muscle and Reece Walsh the magic, the Broncos snapped a 14-game losing run against the Storm to earn themselves a week off.
Early mistakes by Nick Meaney and Eli Katoa put the Storm under serious heat and the Broncos capitalised through Kotoni Staggs, who left four defenders in his wake on a powerful charge to the tryline.
A perfectly weighted kick by Cameron Munster earned the Storm a repeat set but Adam Reynolds returned serve with a 50-metre line dropout that found the touchline and the Broncos had a scrum feed.
Kotoni Staggs Try
With rain falling the ball handling became tougher and the Storm wasted an attacking opportunity when Tui Kamikamkica coughed the ball up five metres out from the Broncos line.
A strong hit over the top by Kamikamica on Kurt Capewell forced a Broncos error and the Storm marched downfield and looked to have opened their account through Xavier Coates but replays showed the winger had lost the ball on his way to the ground.
The Storm then gifted the home side two points in the 38th minute when Papenhuyzen put a short dropout out on the full and Reynolds knocked the penalty goal over for 8-0.
Bellamy provides update on Papenhuyzen
Reynolds then launched an audacious two-point field goal attempt from 47 metres out with seconds remaining on the clock but the kick fell just short.
The Storm had an early chance to post points in the second half but a poor grubber by Harry Grant close to the line let Brisbane off the hook.
Broncos fullback Walsh then stamped his class on the match when he showed some fancy footwork to evade Young Tonumaipea and carried Munster over the line for his ninth try of the season as the score blew out to 14-0.
A penalty against Katoa for late contact on Walsh after a clearing kick invited the Broncos into the red zone again and Walsh put Jordan Riki into a hole for a try that stretched the home side's lead to 20-0.
With 14 minutes to go the Storm had another chance to finally post points but Nelson Asofa-Solomona dropped the ball cold to bring the Broncos faithful to their feet in celebration.
More drama for the Storm with 10 minutes remaining when Coates limped from field with an ankle injury before Marion Seve and Trent Loiero clashed heads and both left the field for head injury assessments.
Papenhuyzen then suffered his injury and left the field on a medicab before Cobbo crossed wide out and Reynolds converted to make it 26-0.
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Match Snapshot
- The Broncos lost their captain's challenge in the 17th minute when Reece Walsh was ruled to have played the ball incorrectly and couldn't get the decision overturned by the video referee.
- Storm centre Young Tonumaipea left the field for a HIA in the 23rd minute bringing Ryan Papenhuyzen into the action. Tonumaipea passed his HIA.
- Broncos prop Payne Haas set the tone with 10 runs for 103 metres in his opening 30-minute stint. He finished the night with 180 metres.
- Storm forward Tom Eisenhuth left the field in the 35th minute for a HIA which he passed.
- Broncos bench forwards Keenan Palasia and Kobe Hetherington had 33 runs and 293 metres between them.
The Broncos deny Coates
- Pat Carrigan returned from a foot injury in style for the Broncos, making 193 metres from 21 hit-ups and breaking three tackles.
- A crowd of 50,197 was on hand at Suncorp Stadium.
- Broncos prop Pat Carrigan left the field in the 60th minute for a HIA.
- The Storm lost their captain's challenge in the 63rd minute when they unsuccessfully challenged a Will Warbrick knock on.
- The Broncos defeated the Storm at Suncorp Stadium for the first time since 2009.
- Storm pair Trent Loiero and Marion Seve both left the field for HIAs inside the final 10 minutes after clashing heads as they attempted a tackle.
- The Broncos kept a team scoreless in a final for the first time in club history.
- Tyson Smoothy produced a 40-20 for the Broncos in the final minute.
An audacious field goal attempt
Plays of the Game
Reece Walsh took the game by the scruff of the neck early in the second half when he sliced through some feeble Storm defence for a try of his own before laying one on for Jordan Riki just three minutes later as the score blew out to 20-0. The gun No.1 now has 22 try assists for the season.
Reece Walsh Try
What They Said
"Our defence is something we have worked hard on since way back in November last year. That’s our first nil scoreline this year so to do that here was very good. That was most pleasing thing. Few things we need to fix up with our attack but our defence was really good." - Broncos coach Kevin Walters
Broncos: Finals Week 1
"I can't remember the last time we attacked as poorly as we did tonight. We looked like 17 players who'd only just met each other in the dressing room before the game. We just looked like 17 players who had been thrown together and 'good luck'. They are the first guys of our attack (the halves). They were out of sync. They didn’t have any connection tonight at all … that was the disappointing thing." - Storm coach Craig Bellamy
Storm: Finals Week 1
What's Next
The Broncos are now just one win from the grand final and will enjoy a week off ahead of a home preliminary final. The Storm must regroup to face the winner of Saturday's Sharks-Roosters clash in a sudden-death semi-final.