Talk about superheroes. On a night where teams were draped in the colours of Marvel characters, Andrew McCullough produced an effort the Hulk would be proud of, as the Brisbane hooker helped carry his side to a thrilling victory over Canberra.
At a sodden Suncorp Stadium, Jordan Kahu delivered the killer blow to give the Broncos a 13-12 win, but it was 200-gamer McCullough that used his powers for good, making 61 tackles and scoring a try to star for the home side.
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Broncos win one-point thriller over Raiders
A late drop goal saw the Brisbane Broncos claim a one-point win over the Canberra Raiders, 13-12.
Often overlooked in a Brisbane roster that includes regular headline makers Darius Boyd and Anthony Milford, it was McCullough's time to shine in his milestone game. He stood tall in a torrid battle around the middle third and struck the telling blow to get his side off and running.
The Raiders hit back hard late in the game and had six minutes to return fire with a field goal of their own. But they couldn't find the right shape and when they did, Blake Austin's kick went wide of the mark.
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Brisbane have had a bit of practice in close games of late and looked more poised than they did when they needed a one-pointer against the Cowboys. Kahu was the surprise contributor and his NRL field goal record now reads one from one.
"It was nice to win a close game," said Wayne Bennett after the game. "It just took us a while to work out he was the best kicker we had."
And on McCullough: "He's been one of our best players every game this season. He's been a wonderful player for the club... everyone knows he gives his best every time. He's the youngest forward in NRL history to play 200 games. That's some achievement."
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart bemoaned the 15 errors and felt his team would present a clear danger in the competition once they improved the dreaded completion rate.
"There's a lot of lessons there. The effort was enormous, to turn it over the way we did so cheaply in the second half and still be two tries apiece. It's very simple. We know what we have to fix," Stuart said.
"It's nice to know what it is... it's just fixing it."
It was Kahu that kicked Brisbane ahead after just five minutes but that would be the extent of their scoring in a first half notable mainly for the amount of near misses.
It wasn't through lack of trying from either outfit but the slippery conditions and shifting surface made it a difficult night to string together passes. If Adele can be blamed for chopping up the nearby Gabba, Justin Bieber should be fielding the invoice for Lang Park.
The Raiders almost opened their account in the 16th minute when the highly impressive Nick Cotric was let loose down the left wing by Jarrod Croker. James Roberts cut him down from nowhere to save the day, although the original pass would be called forward.
Ben Hunt was ominous and continued his sparkling form over recent rounds, challenging the Canberra defence with his swift feet and dropping little kicks behind their line to keep Brisbane on the offensive.
Milford, on the other hand, was being given the five-star treatment by the Raiders, who were whacking him with big bodies on every occasion. All that apparent work in the gym was paying off as he rode out the storm.
Brisbane almost broke through as Matt Gillett produced a sensational back-handed pass but Cotric plucked it out of thing air to save the day. With both lines seemingly unbreakable, Croker settled for a penalty to send it to the break at 2-2.
With 17 missed tackles on the books to Canberra's six, it looked as if the tide was turning against Brisbane. But it was the Raiders who blinked first, allowing McCullough to dummy over under the posts just three minutes into the second half.
Boyd muscled his way over in the 51st minute to take Brisbane out to a 12-2 lead, which was worth even more in these sort of conditions. Sam Thaiday almost scored 10 minutes later and the matter looked largely settled.
But Brisbane aren't the kind of team to send their fans home without a decent show. First Jordan Rapana scored in the corner to edge them closer, before Austin coasted over nine minutes from full-time to level scores at 12-12.
Deprived of victory in a series of tight games already this year, the Broncos weren't about to let this one slip. It was Kahu, not Hunt of Milford, who stepped up to the plate and the winger didn't miss, guiding it through to give the Broncos a deserved victory.
Originally published on The Sydney Morning Herald as Superman Andrew McCullough stars as Brisbane take nailbiter over Canberra.
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