This was his moment. Offload: Antonio Winterstein passes the ball in a tackle by Justin Hodges. Credit:Renee McKay A coat of paint denied him a sideline conversion after the siren to win a premiership. But just when it looked the footy Gods would cruel the Cowboys yet again, Ben Hunt dropped the ball from the kick-off of golden point to allow Thurston the chance to steal the show. This was for all the heartache. This was for the Kieran Foran hand of God. This was for the Cronulla seven-tackle set. This was for the NSW conspiracy theory.

This was for the greatest player on the planet - adding the jewel in the crown to lead North Queensland to its maiden premiership triumph. He had done it all - but a premiership with the Cowboys had eluded him. It was almost 10 years to the day the Cowboys last ventured into Sydney on the first Sunday in October, departing in heartache as Benji Marshall ran riot to lead the Wests Tigers to their first title. Thurston, in his first season with the Cowboys at the time, would have to wait another 3655 days for a shot at redemption - for a chance to etch his name alongside Andrew Johns as arguably the greatest player the game has produced. The title with Canterbury as a teenage bench player in 2004 was a cameo, but more than a decade later he returned in the lead role to a grand final with an equally intriguing subplot.

For the sentimental, it was hard to split whether to barrack for the fairytale that was Bennett's homecoming or Thurston's pursuit of happiness. The wiley Broncos coach came in with seven wins from seven deciders and, regardless of how this one ended, had already proved that he still had the midas touch after a less than impressive stint at the Newcastle Knights left him with more doubters than believers. Eight in a row - It's an all too familiar expression north of the border that one of Queensland's proudest sons was chasing as he led beloved Broncos to yet another grand final. At the same ground the all-conquering Maroons made it a record eight in a row in 2013, Bennett went in search of magic No.8 of his own. However Bennett's perfect streak on grand final day would come to an end at the hands of the team he once knocked back an offer to take over.

The first half of the grand final week build-up was hijacked by the dark cloud hovering over Justin Hodges' final game. By Wednesday it was all about the Thurston show, finishing the week as the deserved hero of this phenomenal story. A 41-metre penalty goal gave the Broncos an early lead, but it also paved the way for a length of the field try from the following set, with an Adam Blair offload allowing Corey Oates to run the distance for an eight point lead in as many minutes. But a knock on from Matt Gillett from the ensuing set negated the brilliance of his teammates as Jake Granville found space from a scrum to put Justin O'Neill over for the Cowboys' first points. Granville continued to wreak havoc through the middle of the field, supplying a sublime flat-pass to put James Tamou over from close range to give the Cowboys a 12-8 lead.

However the lead was shortlived as the Broncos pounced on a Thurston error, breaking through some feeble Cowboys defence to take a 14-12 advantage into the sheds at half time. The second half began in identical fashion to the first with the Broncos slotting another penalty between the sticks. The Cowboys squandered two opportunities to regain the lead with Kane Linnett dropping a face-ball from Thurston and Lachlan Coote penalised for a double movement before Kyle Feldt sent the game into golden point after a magical flick pass from Michael Morgan in the dying seconds.