​Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson said as much as it would hurt he would watch his conquerors the Brisbane Broncos through the NRL finals series for the good of his own team.
Brisbane skipper Corey Parker would get his fond farewell at Suncorp Stadium as his Broncos marched into September but Wayne Bennett would want a far sharper edge on his Broncos after an unconvincing 24-14 victory over Robinson's Roosters.
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Brisbane fight back against Roosters
Brisbane have fought back from 14-nil down against the Roosters, eyeing a top-four finish in the last round of the NRL season with a 24-14 win.
For Robinson though, the wounds of a disappointing season and a loss were still fresh.
"I'll watch them. It hurts. It's important to watch them," he said of the NRL finals. "If we want to get there again, the best footy this year will be in the next four weeks. I'll be there.
"We don't deserve to be there. We have to make sure we take our lessons. We're not unlucky If you brush them aside and don't use them."
Thursday night footy has rarely seen a crowd like it as 37,566 fans turned out on a school night to bid the official goodbye to retiring lock Parker, although he will likely get a home final as the Broncos crept into the top four pending forthcoming results.
They did it the hard way, though, trailing 14-0 in the first half before spinning the match on its head with two tries in three minutes late in the first half as the Roosters slumped to defeat number 18 for the season.
Their night was compounded by another concussion to centre Dale Copley, his second in three weeks. He sat out the second half and given the frequency of his head knocks, must have some consideration given to his future welfare.
Brisbane's sluggish start won't exactly have thrilled Bennett although a win is a win at this time of year and they appeared to escape free of injury. Now they get to sit back and watch the rest of the finals field sort out their order.
Copley's start to the night was a good one before he left the park, scoring under the posts after seven minutes when he pounced on an uncontested bomb.Â
After 25 minutes the Roosters were enjoying some 65 per cent of the ball, edging ahead through a Blake Ferguson penalty to make it 8-0.Â
James Roberts almost put Brisbane on the board but referees rightly detected a knock-on as he chased his own grubber kick. Connor Watson had no such trouble at the other end, though, with the Roosters five-eighth carting a short-ball through the gap to make it 14-0.
Staring down a possession chart that now read 68 per cent to the Roosters, Brisbane needed something to go their way, or someone to fire a shot. Enter Corey Oates, who shred a series of tackles in his own half to cart to be on his way, only to be ankle-tapped 20m short.
Anthony Milford dashed over on the next play to open Brisbane's account and three minutes later, they were at it again.
Daniel Tupou's monumental error cleaning up a kick gifted a try to Roberts to make it 14-12 and Brisbane could have gone ahead if Roberts had passed, not kicked, on a raid just moments later.
Copley would suffer the nasty head-knock just before the break as he put his head in all sorts of wrong places trying to square up Jordan Kahu.Â
He would have company in the casualty room as Jared Waerea-Hargreaves went off early in the second half for a concussion check and Latrell Mitchell iced up an injured hip. For the time being, Trent Robinson was left with one reserve to plug the gaps.
It was always going to be an uphill battle from there and a Kahu double (56th, 74th) would put the result beyond doubt.
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