When Brent Tate darted up the middle, grubbered ahead, regathered and scored in the 7th minute of golden point time, it not only gave the Broncos a rare victory over the Sharks at Toyota Park, but it also ensured the game would not go down as one of the most boring in the Telstra Premiership for 2004.

Both sides would be ashamed of their performance on a chilly night in Sydney, making a combined total of more than 40 errors. So poor was the handling that on several occasions, the possession changed twice in the space of a few seconds.

Brisbane led 12-0 after 9 minutes, but as they have done on several occasions this season they eased off the accelerator and invited the Sharks back into the contest. Cronulla drew level 23 minutes into the second half when skipper Danny Nutley crashed over after the Broncos' 7th line drop out of the match.

It was against Manly in round 20 at Suncorp Stadium last season without skipper Gorden Tallis that the Broncos began their 8-game losing streak. There was to be no repeat this year, with Brisbane running out winners 26-12 in front of a healthy Saturday night crowd of 23726.

Brisbane led 14-6 at half time before back to back tries to Michael Ryan and Darren Mapp gave them control of the game 24-6 early in the second half.

However, Manly dug deep and a try to winger Nick Bradley-Qalilawa put them back within two converted tries with 25 minutes remaining.

The match degenerated in the final 20 minutes with both sides guilty of some elementary handling errors. An intercept to Steve Menzies, who was denied a try early in the second half, looked likely to reignite the contest with eight minutes remaining, however he lost the ball as he tried to set himself for an 80 metre dash to the line.

Darren Lockyer has manufactured the Brisbane Broncos' first win in Newcastle since 1998 with a 16-12 result at EnergyAustralia Stadium. Lockyer had a hand in all three of Brisbane's tries during a match played in a gale force southerly.

The Broncos trailed 6-4 at half time after running into the wind in the first stanza, but came out firing early in the second with tries to Karmichael Hunt and Brent Tate.

Hunt finished off a magical 85-metre movement which went through seven sets of hands with Lockyer handling three times.

Lockyer then put Tate over with a neat pass with the Test centre storming through a gap to score behind the uprights for a 16-6 lead.

Another fantastic weekend of Queensland Cup football awaits as the seven top teams fight it out for positions in the top 5.

Only six rounds remain in the regular season, with many top of the table clashes to be fought out between now and the end of August.

Both Wynnum and North Queensland are sitting three competition points outside of the top 5 and will be desperate to taste victory this weekend, but face tough assignments against Norths and Easts respectively.

The ABC televised match between Toowoomba and Redcliffe at Dolphin Oval is by far the match of the round, with the top spot on the ladder well and truly up for grabs.

The Brisbane Broncos have answered suggestions from Roosters coach Ricky Stuart that St George-Illawarra should be competition favourites with a commanding 28-14 win over the Dragons at WIN Stadium.

Just two days after the anticlimactic State of Origin decider, 10 players backed up - five for each side - in wet and slippery conditions in Wollongong. Brisbane led 14-6 at half time and went on with the job in the first 25 minutes of the second half to lead 26-6 before the Dragons scored two late consolation tries.

Queensland and Australian prop, Shane Webcke, put the Broncos in front midway through the first half with his first try since round 26 last season. The world's best front rower put the disappointment of the interstate loss two nights earlier by bouncing off Blues hero Shaun Timmins before charging through three defenders to score.

Queensland have suffered their second worst Origin defeat at Telstra Stadium as they surrendered the 2004 series with a 36-14 capitulation to New South Wales. Brad Fittler, playing his 31st and final Origin game scored the last Blues try after a chargedown on opposite number Darren Lockyer to complete the fairytale.

The Maroons led 8-6 going into half time but a terrible blunder by rookie centre Willie Tonga put the Blues on the attack and shortly after man of the match Trent Barrett sliced through to put New South Wales back in front.

Shaun Timmins then sent Mark Gasnier over for his second try with a neat cut out pass after Shane Webcke was penalised for a flop shortly after the kick off to give New South Wales an 18-8 half time lead.

The Brisbane Broncos have secured outright third spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder after a 48-28 win over South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium featuring four tries to 17-year-old fullback, Karmichael Hunt.

Hunt, in just his 15th first grade game, took his overall tryscoring tally to 12, leading the Broncos' tryscoring list by four from Craig Frawley and Michael De Vere. He joins an illustrious list with former internationals Steve Renouf and Wendell Sailor in scoring four tries in a game for the club.

The Broncos led 22-10 at half time before going on with the job in the second, passing 40 for the first time in 47 games, the last time being their 48-20 win over Melbourne in 2002.

That performance in itself is remarkable given the Broncos were without their six State of Origin representatives, and having Tonie Carroll suspended, halfback Brett Seymour and first choice hooker Barry Berrigan on the sideline for the season with injuries.

The season is well and truly heating up in the run towards the finals series, with eight teams still very much in the running to score a spot in the top 5.

The congestion at the top of the table is still evident, with Easts, Toowoomba and Burleigh still locked at twenty competition points each.

Some stellar matches await us in round 15, with none bigger or more important than the Easts Tigers vs. Burleigh Bears clash at Pizzey Park on Sunday afternoon.

On another exciting note, BroncoNet welcomes the third member of our Queensland Cup tipping panel!

"Russo", a valued member of the BroncosHQ forum who has a fountain of knowledge and expertise on the Queensland cup Competition, will join myself and Chris Cox in predicting the victors and margins in each game.

Broncos lock, Tonie Carroll, has suffered a double blow after being left out of Queensland's State of Origin side for the deciding game at Telstra Stadium on July 7 and being cited for two counts of striking following Brisbane's 21-14 loss to Canberra on Sunday.

Carroll was cited with striking grade 1 for his 67th minute tackle on Raiders halfback Mark McLinden, and also a striking grade 2 charge for his 72nd minute tackle on the same player.

Early guilty pleas for both charges will sideline Carroll for three matches.

St George-Illawarra star Trent Barrett will be the third halfback used by New South Wales in the State of Origin series decider at Telstra Stadium on July 7. Barrett is one of six changes made to the side which was beaten 22-18 at Suncorp Stadium two weeks ago.

Brad Fittler retains his position at five-eighth, while Barrett's Dragons teammates Matt Cooper, Mark Gasnier, Shaun Timmins and Jason Ryles have all been added to the side.

Brisbane's Michael De Vere has again been omitted despite New South Wales naming an entirely new centre pairing.