The Burleigh Bears have fallen short to hand the Brisbane Tigers their first Queensland Cup premiership in 32 years.
The drought-breaking 22-18 win for the Tigers comes after nine straight grand-final losses.
While for the Bears, it’s their second straight loss in a decider after finishing the regular season as minor premiers.
Tristan Powell opened the scoring for the Tigers, crossing for a try in the 12th minute.
Back-to-back tries to the Bears’ Tony Francis saw Burleigh take a narrow lead, but it was short-lived with Kane Bradley scoring for the Tigers a few minutes later to give them a 12-8 lead at halftime.
The Tigers extended their lead shortly after the break with a penalty goal before a Max Lehman try in the 52nd minute.
The Bears got themselves back in the game with tries in the 59th and 64th minute, but it wasn’t enough, with the Tigers hanging on 22-18.
“Full credit to the Tigers,” Burleigh coach Luke Burt said.
“They made the ruck ugly and that’s the way they were going to win… they executed their game plan to perfection and we didn’t.
“We needed to earn the field position. I thought we were a bit impatient. If we earned the field position and played our shape, I thought we were going to be good enough. But to the Tigers’ credit, they hardly made an error and made us come off our try line.
“No one goes out there to lose this match… they were all strong. The year the boys have had, I just can’t fault anyone.”
