The Brisbane Broncos take on the mighty Melbourne Storm in the first NRL grand final qualifier.

And they’re going to be fighting hard to upset the raging premiership favourites.

Annie Pullar reports.

TRANSCRIPT

They’re just 80 minutes away from a grand final showdown.

But first the Broncos have to overcome title favourites, the Melbourne Storm.

Benji Marshall, Broncos Player: “There’s no next week if we don’t turn up this week and that’s what drives everyone to knock off those teams and you saw with the cowboys on the weekend that can happen.”

Brisbane overcame a long injury list to bury the Panthers 13-6 at Suncorp Stadium.

But Broncos forwards know they’re in for an even tougher match against the Storm.

Matt Gillett, Broncos Player: “The key thing will be energy and if we can do the same sort of stuff we did Friday night which is showing up for each other and creating that trust, which we did pretty well, so looking forward to it just have to do the same role again.”

Injured skipper Darius Boyd was nowhere to be seen at training, but Benji Marshall isn’t worried.

Benji Marshall, Broncos Player: “When Darius is running the ball back 100 miles an hour and doing those curries we know he can do it lifts the team and we’ll be looking for him to do the same things.”

Winger Corey Oates and forwards Jai Arrow and Sam Thaiday all suffered head knocks in the win over the Panthers.

But side by side, Oates and Arrow appeared in good spirits, putting on a show for fans.

With the Broncos and Cowboys still in contention for a grand final berth and majority of Melbourne’s star players all hailing from Queensland, it’s clear the sunshine state is dominating the race to premiership glory.

A replay of 2015’s all-Queensland grand final is every fans dream.

Jamayne Isaako, Broncos Player: “It’s pretty impressive to see what they have done this year and I know it would be pretty awesome to see them again in the grandfinal.”

Fans: “Go the Broncos!”

Annie Pullar, QUT News.