by Dion Kombeng – EM TV Sports, Port Moresby
In a nail biting finish that went all the way into golden point extra time, the North Queensland Cowboys have been crowned 2015 NRL champions, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 17-16 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
The Cowboys have created history in winning their first ever premiership, and skipper Jonathan Thurston deservingly was named the Clive Churchill medalist following his starring role.
The first half saw both teams evenly matched. They went into halftime with the Broncos ahead by just two points. And in the early stages of the second half they extended their lead to four with a penalty conversion.
The Broncos held on to the four point lead for most of the half with the Cowboys looking dangerous and testing the Broncos defence for the entirety of the match. Brisbane held on to their slim lead until in the dying minutes of the match, the Cowboys produced a miracle try which saw Michael Morgan give a flick pass to Kyle Feldt who ran in to level the scores at 16-all.
With the conversion to come, the match was in the hands of Cowboys Captain, Jonathan Thurston, whose kick hit the upright, sending the match into golden point extra time.
From the kick off, Broncos half back Ben Hunt fumbled the ball giving the Cowboys the perfect opportunity to seal victory.
Thurston sealed the match from close range with a field goal, which gave the Cowboys the one point victory and their first ever NRL Premiership.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JL9p1Lf-Gsw%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
