Even North Queensland coach Paul Green could see the funny side after Scott Bolton bombed what looked certain to be the match-winning try by running into the goal post as Brisbane held on for a 24-20 NRL win.

Bolton ran off Johnathan Thurston with 90 seconds left and appeared try-bound before contact from standout Brisbane prop Tevita Pangai was enough to send Bolton straight into the right upright and the ball flying.

"I hope the post is alright," Green laughed.

"He didn't get whiplash but I think the post got whiplash.

"It was a typical Broncos-Cowboys game, it had everything."

Pangai joked that the post was Brisbane's 14th man.

"Give the credit to the goal post - man of the match," he laughed.

Heart-stopping finishes are nothing new for Queensland NRL derbies.

Four of the last six have gone into extra-time.

And the last two at Suncorp Stadium have finished with the same scoreline in golden point - 21-20.

But Green admitted he had never seen a finish quite like what the unfortunate Bolton produced in front of more than 46,000 Suncorp Stadium fans on Friday night.

"When Boltsy gets through like that, generally they score those," Green said.

"But you can't blame him for the loss.

"If we had defended a bit better (in first half) we wouldn't have been in that position to start with."

Thurston clearly thought he had set up the match-winning play and was seen throwing his arms in the air in exasperation after Bolton hit the post.

"Like everyone I thought he was going to score," Thurston said.

"We can talk about that all we like but the game got away from us in the first half.

"When the tide turned we weren't good enough."

North Queensland led 8-0 after as many minutes before five-eighth Anthony Milford and Pangai inspired a Broncos comeback.

Brisbane led 18-8 at halftime before Thurston laid on two tries in 10 minutes to set up a thrilling finish.

The bizarre finale marked a change in fortune for Brisbane.

Hammered in the press after their 34-12 opening loss to St George Illawarra, Brisbane's luck didn't look like changing on Friday night when centre Jordan Kahu broke his jaw as the Cowboys got the early jump.

"We needed a bit of luck," Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett said of Bolton's bombed try.

Australian Associated Press