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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 2728812, member: 1899"] GRAND FINAL BRISBANE 28;ST GEORGE 8 A Brisbane victory on grand final day always seemed likely, despite the fact the Broncos led just 6-4 at halftime. The class, strength and teamwork of Wayne Bennett’s men always looked like overcoming St George’s brave challenge, and that’s just how the match panned out. After being forced to tackle for long periods of the first half, St George ultimately ran out of steam, allowing the Broncos to cut loose. Saints competed well for the first 40 minutes, throwing their conservative semi-final approach out the window in an attempt to match Brisbane’s attacking brilliance. They caused the Broncos some anxious moments, but Brisbane always seemed to have Saints’ measure. The Broncos dominated possession which meant St George were forced to expend more energy on defence than they would have liked. Brisbane opened the scoring with a superb effort from Allan Langer, who threw an inside pass to prop Gavin Allen on the sixth tackle, and was on hand to collect Allen’s pass, which bounced off Mick Potter’s head. But Saints responded quickly when second-rower Scott Gourley offloaded magnificently for Michael Beattie. Beattie found Peter Coyne in support for the looping pass sent Ricky Walford over in the corner. St George tested Brisbane fullback Julian O’Neil under the high ball and found him out on a couple of occasions. Saints delaying tactics slowed Brisbane’s attack effectively in the first half and the teams went to the break with just two points between them. Brisbane poured the pressure on from the outset of the second half. Ian Herron saved a dangerous situation after Potter failed to cover a rolling ball and minutes later Potter was forced into touch by Kevin Walters and Willie Carne from his own in-goal. Two plays after the scrum, Langer darted from dummy-half and scored a critical Brisbane try. He cleverly used the referee as a foil and carried a defender over the line with him. Four minutes later Brisbane were in again, Trevor Gillmeister sending second row partner Alan Cann away for the try that effectively wrapped the match up for the Broncos. But at 18-4, Brisbane were hungry for more. Langer sent centre Steve Renouf away on a 98-metre dash to the tryline in the 61[SUP]st[/SUP] minute and Cann stepped past Saints’ prop Neil Tienery to score his second try just five minutes later. To Saints credit, they didn’t throw in the towel and Gourley was rewarded for a superb display in a losing side by crashing over for a try in the final minute. Langer was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal and became the first player to claim the Rothmans-Churchill Medal double. Kerrod Walters, Gillmeister, Renouf, Cann, Terry Matterson and Glenn Lazarus played significant roles in Brisbane’s victory, and during the match Matterson kicked his way to a club record 156 points for the season, beating the mark he set in 1988 of 150. Gourley and Noel Goldthorpe were Saints’ finest performers. Brisbane Broncos 28 (Langer 2, Cann 2, Renouf tries; Matterson 4/5 goals) defeated St George 8 (Gourley, Walford tries; Herron 0/2 goals) Brisbane Julian O’Neil, Michael Hancock, Steve Renouf, Chris Johns, Willie Carne Kevin Walters, Allan Langer Glenn Lazarus, Kerrod Walters, Gavin Allen, Trevor Gillmeister, Alan Cann, Terry Matterson. Interchange: Tony Currie, Mark Hohn, John Plath, Andrew Gee St George Michael Potter, Ricky Walford, Mark Coyne, Michael Beattie, Ian Herron Peter Coyne, Noel Goldthorpe Tony Priddle, Wayne Collins, Neil Tierney, David Barnhill, Scott Gourley, Jeff Hardy Interchange: Brad Mackay, Tony Smith, Rex Terp, Matthew Elliott [/QUOTE]

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