With the season on the line, Brisbane's biggest star stepped aside

[ad_1] 4 years in the past, the Penrith Panthers had been on 14 as Adam Reynolds lined up a sideline conversion with lower than 5 minutes left at Lang Park.

He shanked it and South Sydney misplaced the grand ultimate 14-12 as Reynolds's Rabbitohs profession resulted in depressing heartbreak.

On Sunday evening, Penrith sat on 14 factors with simply over three minutes left at Lang Park.

This time, Deine Mariner had simply scored the game-tying attempt for the Broncos.

Reynolds barely acknowledged his demons as he walked previous them to take the kicking tee from Brisbane's glamour participant.

Penrith's NRL stranglehold ends as Broncos win thriller Adam Reynolds nails a sideline conversion with three minutes left to ship the Broncos into the NRL grand ultimate and finish Penrith's dynasty with a 16-14 win at Lang Park.

Reece Walsh had performed a starring function in Brisbane's comeback from 14-0 down at half-time and had been kicking them sweetly whereas Reynolds iced his hamstring for seven weeks.

However Walsh's first shot in opposition to Penrith simply snuck inside the precise submit and his second, from equally shut vary, hammered into the left upright after Xavier Willison's Seventieth-minute attempt took Brisbane inside 4 factors.

Maybe it was a very good factor for Brisbane as a result of, slightly than attempting to get into place for the elusive two-point subject objective they could not discover in week one of many finals, they stored enjoying footy seeking a attempt.

No matter gods Reece Walsh believes in, he worships on the altar of Adam Reynolds.

And it got here off as a ragged right-side shift ended with Walsh seemingly trapped after working into no fewer than 5 Panthers.

He burst by way of Luke Garner and Blaize Talagi, crashed into Casey McLean, ignored Brad Schneider's blindside rush, by some means obtained his arms free, and popped a ball over a leaping Brian To'o.

Mariner latched onto the bouncing ball and powered by way of Lindsay Smith, To'o and Dylan Edwards for the tying attempt.

Then got here Reynolds's shot at redemption.

After lacking six video games with a severe hamstring damage, Reynolds fortunately let Walsh kick the early ones and admitted his 35-year-old legs felt a bit of tight.

However with the sport on the road, there was little question he wished that second.

"I informed him to take it," Walsh informed ABC Sport.

"That is his second. He is bloody born for that; these little legs. I really like him a lot." Reynolds mentioned Walsh's "legs obtained a bit drained", which led to him taking the tee in a second that would have appeared extremely silly had it not come off. That is for the 'what if' crowd.

"I knew if I obtained a chance, I wasn't gonna miss," Reynolds mentioned.

Proper-side kicks are historically robust for right-footed kickers because the pure hook tightens the angle, slightly than widens it.

However Reynolds's first shot in a sport since August 7 by no means appeared like lacking.

Candy off the boot, a slight curl left, then the well timed straightening to sail by way of and over.

He turned to the packed crowd within the metropolis that has adopted him as Redfern did, delivered a subdued salute earlier than scooping up his tee and letting out an almighty cry into the stands.