Melbourne Storm feeder club the Brisbane Tigers have booked their spot in the HostPlus Cup Grand Final, securing a hard-fought 14-6 Preliminary Final win over the CQ Capras on Sunday afternoon.
Playing at home in front of the Tigers faithful at Totally Workwear Stadium, the Tigers showed plenty of resilience to overcome a spirited Capras outfit that challenged the home side for the entire 80-minutes.
After a tense opening few minutes, a fortuitous charge down saw the Capras hit the scoreboard first, Kurt Donoghoe racing away to put the visitors in front in the 8th minute.
Some slick finishing from Storm winger George Jennings saw the Tigers respond in the best possible fashion in the 19th minute, Jennings diving over in the corner to make it 13 tries from 14 games for the Brisbane-based outfit this season.
In a match where points were at a premium, a Solomona Faataape try in the 33rd minute saw the home side hold a narrow two-point lead heading into the break.
A second half arm wrestle ensued, neither side able to land a decisive as the game ticked into the final 10 minutes of play.
With the game in the balance and a spot in the Grand Final on the line, it was Storm affiliated centre Kane Bradley that broke the game wide open, scoring in the 71st minute to give Tigers an eight-point lead in the dying stages.
The Capras were unable to breach the Tigers defence despite some late desperation with ball in hand, Tigers holding on for the gritty win to set up a highly anticipated Grand Final clash with the Burleigh Bears next Sunday.
