Brisbane Broncos 29–28 Canberra Raiders — Qualifying Final, 2025 NRL Finals Series
14 Sep 2025 · GIO Stadium, Canberra, ACT · Attendance: 25,523
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2025 NRL finals series: Brisbane Broncos 29–28 Canberra Raiders, at GIO Stadium, Canberra, ACT on 14 Sep 2025.
Scoring timeline
| 3′ | Brisbane Broncos — try, Staggs |
| 12′ | Canberra Raiders — try, Young |
| 22′ | Canberra Raiders — try, Kris |
| 26′ | Brisbane Broncos — try, Mariner |
| 34′ | Canberra Raiders — try, Weekes |
| 53′ | Brisbane Broncos — Reece Walsh — sin-binned 53' for retaliating with a headbutt on Hudson Young |
| 53′ | Canberra Raiders — Hudson Young — sin-binned 53' for instigating a headbutt confrontation with Reece Walsh |
| 56′ | Canberra Raiders — try, Strange |
| 66′ | Brisbane Broncos — try, Walsh |
| 70′ | Brisbane Broncos — try, Karapani |
| 73′ | Brisbane Broncos — try, Shibasaki |
Tries with a sourced minute, in order scored, with the conversion kicked/missed alongside each one where source data lets us match a kicker to that specific try. Tries whose exact minute isn't recorded in available sources appear in the Scorers table below but not here; goal tallies we can't attribute to one specific try are shown as descriptive text in Scorers rather than guessed into this timeline.
Scorers
| Brisbane Broncos | Tries: Staggs 3'; Mariner 26'; Walsh 66'; Karapani 70'; Shibasaki 73' Goals: Walsh (3/5 conversions); Walsh (1/1) 80' pen Drop goals: Hunt 94' (golden-point field goal, match-winner) Sin bin: Reece Walsh — sin-binned 53' for retaliating with a headbutt on Hudson Young |
| Canberra Raiders | Tries: Young 12'; Kris 22'; Weekes (2) 34'; Strange 56' Goals: Fogarty (4/5 conversions) Sin bin: Hudson Young — sin-binned 53' for instigating a headbutt confrontation with Reece Walsh |
Team sheets
| Brisbane Broncos | Canberra Raiders | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reece Walsh | Fullback | Kaeo Weekes | 1 |
| 2 | Josiah Karapani | Wing | Savelio Tamale | 2 |
| 3 | Kotoni Staggs | Centre | Matthew Timoko | 3 |
| 4 | Gehamat Shibasaki | Centre | Sebastian Kris | 4 |
| 5 | Deine Mariner | Wing | Jed Stuart | 5 |
| 6 | Billy Walters | Five-eighth | Ethan Strange | 6 |
| 7 | Ben Hunt | Halfback | Jamal Fogarty | 7 |
| 8 | Corey Jensen | Prop | Josh Papalii | 8 |
| 9 | Cory Paix | Hooker | Tom Starling | 9 |
| 10 | Payne Haas | Prop | Joseph Tapine | 10 |
| 11 | Brendan Piakura | Second Row | Hudson Young | 11 |
| 12 | Jordan Riki | Second Row | Zac Hosking | 12 |
| 13 | Patrick Carrigan | Lock | Corey Horsburgh | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Tyson Smoothy | Owen Pattie | 14 | |
| 15 | Kobe Hetherington | Simi Sasagi | 15 | |
| 16 | Ben Talty | Morgan Smithies | 16 | |
| 17 | Jaiyden Hunt | Ata Mariota | 17 | |
| Michael Maguire | Coach | Ricky Stuart | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Ashley Klein |
Match report
Canberra dominated the first half territorially, racing to an 18-12 half-time lead through tries to Hudson Young, Sebastian Kris and Kaeo Weekes (who added a second try later in the match). The game exploded into controversy in the 53rd minute when Young and Reece Walsh were both sin-binned following a headbutt incident, with Brisbane's Pat Carrigan also sin-binned three minutes later for a high tackle on Morgan Smithies. The Raiders extended their lead to 28-12 during Brisbane's numerical disadvantage, but Walsh inspired an extraordinary comeback on his return — scoring himself and setting up tries for Josiah Karapani and Gehamat Shibasaki, then kicking an 80th-minute penalty goal to force scores level at 28-28 and send the match to Golden Point. After a Jamal Fogarty try was disallowed by the bunker for a knock-on, Ben Hunt slotted the winning field goal in the 94th minute in one of the most dramatic finals in recent NRL history.