Brisbane advance to NRL grand final

“Nah, not anxious mate”, Hodges told Channel Nine.

I was caught up in the magic of Riverfire on Saturday night, so didn’t get to witness the epic game the Cowboys battled out against the Melbourne Storm first-hand.

I’ve always believed the biggest risk in footy is to not take one.

“I think last time we played them he cut us up a few times there so we better make sure we’re on our game because he does do a lot for them”.

Brisbane won it, 16-12, at Suncorp and the respective teams for the grand final will be pretty close to the same as the ones from that occasion – unless Hodges misses out.

But it remains to be seen if Hodges can keep alive a fairytale farewell to his 16th season.

Hodges is at risk of missing the decider after being offered a grade one unsafe throw in the preliminary final.

Hodges will need to fight it if pinged by the MRC on Monday, as he has committed a previous offence which carries a 20 per loading.

But last night, Hodges was the prince of Suncorp Stadium with most of the 51,826-strong crowd wishing him a fond farewell to his home ground. They were able to overcome the loss of Anthony Minichiello and Sonny Bill Williams heading into this year but the side will again face a drastic turnover with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and James Maloney moving on.

I don’t know what Kenny-Dowall was thinking to be honest. The incident has caused plenty of controversy, with even the man on the end of the tackle, Rooster Aidan Guerra, admitting it would be a harsh punishment for his Origin teammate.

Hodges sent a scare through the Broncos in the first half when he left the field with a back complaint, only to return 10 minutes later.

Shearer said his son would be playing in the Noosa seven’s competition on Sunday, so he might be watching the grand final from the sideline.

There will be calls in the national media for the grand final to be held in Brisbane, but the NewsMail is chasing something else. It has the potential to be one of the great Grand Finals.

What’s next: The Broncos have eight days of rest before they’ll meet either Melbourne or North Queensland at the big dance in Sydney.