As it happened: Broncos lock up fourth spot as Storm lose Hughes

Captain Pat: Broncos skipper Pat Carrigan played 65 minutes and was huge with 114 metres from 13 runs and 36 tackles. He was ably supported in the tackling department by Cory Paix (36) and Jordan Riki (35).

Josiah on fire: Broncos winger Josiah Karapani is less than 20 games into his NRL career but looked right at home on the big stage with 210 metres and a try as well as some strong defensive plays. The Broncos' back five combined for 624 metres and 13 tackle breaks and had by far the better of their Storm counterparts.

Reece's ripper: After a crazy week off the field the Broncos' No.1 gun showed why he is rated one of the NRL's best talents with two tries, seven goals, 134 run metres, five tackle breaks, a try assist and a 40-20 kick. Walsh finished the night with 22 points and will head into the finals high on confidence after two stunning performances in the past fortnight.

Full-time: The Broncos' 30-14 win means they will finish fourth and travel to Canberra in week one of the finals to face the Raiders.

80 min: Billy Walters snaffles an intercept and passes the ball immediately to Josiah Karapani who races away to ice a memorable win that locks up a top-four finish for Brisbane. Reece Walsh steps up nails the conversion to take his personal tally to 22 points.

79 min: Josiah Karapani catches Ryan Papenhuyzen high and the Storm fullback leaves the field for a HIA.

77 min: Reece Walsh gets over for a try but Pat Carrigan is penalised for obstruction on Cameron Munster in the lead-up to create the space for Walsh to stroll through.

76 min: Ryan Papenhuyzen gets his feet in a tangle and the kick-off travels all of two metres so it's another penalty to the Broncos.

74 min: Eli Katoa is penalised for a strip right in front of the posts and Reece Walsh knocks over another two points. The Storm have now conceded nine penalties and made 13 errors. Broncos 24-14.

73 min: The Storm are ruled to have knocked on coming out of their own end. They throw in a captain's challenge. The bunker rules the replays are inconclusive and they support the referee's call of knock on.

72 min: Tyran Wishart breaks the line and sends a pass inside to Ryan Papenhuyzen who picks up Nick Meaney for a Storm try to keep them in the hunt. Broncos 22-14.

69 min: Reece Walsh lands his fifth kick of the night to take his personal tally to 18 points. Broncos 22-8.

68 min: The Storm don't even get the dropout away and are pinged for a shot clock violation.

67 min: Ben Hunt shows nice touch to grubber into the in goal and Will Warbrick is forced to knock it dead.

64 min: A penalty against Cameron Munster for a high shot on Kotoni Staggs hands Reece Walsh a shot at penalty goal and the fullback slams it through. Broncos 20-8.

60 min: The Storm shift right and Tyran Wishart finds Eli Katoa who sends Will Warbrick over in the corner. Nick Meaney fails to convert. Broncos 18-8.

59 min: Ben Hunt loses the ball in a Cameron Munster tackle to hand Melbourne another chance.

58 min: Cameron Munster goes to the air again and the ball comes down just short of the line but the Storm knock on and the Broncos continue to hang tough in defence.

52 min: Bronson Garlick goes short side on the last tackle and his pass puts Ryan Papenhuyzen under pressure and the ball is lost.

51 min: Broncos bench forward Ben Talty leaves the field for a HIA. He passed the assessment and is able to return.

48 min: Billy Walters attempts a one-on-one strip and pulls the ball loose but he knocks it on and the Storm get a scrum feed.

42 min: Reece Walsh comes up with a 40-20 and then gets rid of Cameron Munster and Grant Anderson to cruise over for his 12th try of the season. The gun fullback converts his own try. Broncos 18-4.

Discipline out the window: The Storm came up with eight errors and conceded five penalties while the Broncos had six penalties blown against them and lost Deine Mariner to the bin after repeated infringements in the same set.

Half-time: A devastating first half for the Storm with Jahrome Hughes suffering a suspected broken wrist and Nelson Asofa-Solomona in trouble again with another high tackle. The Broncos completed 21 of 22 sets at 95 per cent and Reece Walsh stood tall with a try and a try assist.

39 min: A huge play from Reece Walsh as he gets into dummy half and sends a sweet pass across to Brendan Piakura playing on the left wing. Nick Meaney comes in and gets nothing and leaves a lane for Piakura to dive into the corner. Walsh lands the conversion from touch. Broncos 12-4.

37 min: Nelson Asofa-Solomona is sent to the after making shoulder contact to the head of Ben Talty. Both sides now have a man on the bin.

36 min: The Storm's pet play with Cameron Munster kicking for Xavier Coates who takes the catch but Jesse Arthars and Kotoni Staggs put him into touch.

35 min: The Broncos concede three six-agains in the same set and Deine Mariner is sent to the sin bin.

33 min: Cameron Munster gets into dummy half on his own 40m line and produces a superb kick that rolls out a metre from the corner post to give him the fifth 40-20 of his career.

31 min: Reece Walsh explodes into space and is cut down by Xavier Coates before Ben Hunt comes up with a poor grubber at the end of the set and the Storm come away.

30 min: Cameron Munster's chip kick is chased hard by Eli Katoa who can't control the catch and knocks on in goal.

28 min: Reece Walsh comes up with a huge hit on Xavier Coates to drive the winger into touch.

26 min: The Storm hit back through Eli Katoa after Will Warbrick climbs high to contest a bomb and the ball spills to the back-rower who plants it down. Ryan Papenhuyzen misses the conversion. Broncos 6-4.

25 min: Jahrome Hughes leaves the field clutching his arm in a huge blow for the Storm.

24 min: Payne Haas is penalised for late contact on Cameron Munster after he had kicked the ball.

23 min: Storm forward Tui Kamikamica goes up the tunnel for treatment on an arm injury.

21 min: The Storm go inside the Red Zone but Nick Meaney puts the ball down cold for his side's fifth error of the night.

17 min: The Storm concede another penalty for slowing down the ruck and the Broncos march into enemy territory again.

15 min: On the back of a Ryan Papenhuyzen error coming out of his own end, Payne Haas goes to the line and slips an offload to Reece Walsh. The ball comes off Walsh's knee and rolls into the in goal where the Broncos No.1 outmuscles Papenhuyzen and gets to the ball to ground it for the game's opening try. Walsh fails to convert. Broncos 6-0.

13 min: The Storm go right and Will Warbrick gets close but Josiah Karapani turns him away.

12 min: Cameron Munster goes to the air and Kotoni Staggs obstructs Xavier Coates as he tries to get to the contest.

9 min: A high tackle penalty against Eli Katoa hands Reece Walsh a shot at penalty goal from close range and he bangs it over. Broncos 2-0.

7 min: Reece Walsh gets a neat kick into the in goal and the Broncos earn a repeat set from the dropout.

5 min: The Storm are penalised for being inside the 10m and the Broncos then get a pair of six-agains to go inside the Red Zone.

4 min: Billy Walters muscles up in defence to force an error from Trent Loiero as the Broncos turn the Storm away.

Late Mail

Broncos: The Broncos are 1-17 with no late changes. With Gehamat Shibasaki stood down for a breach of team standards, Jesse Arthars gets a recall on the wing and Deine Mariner pushes into the centres. Brendan Piakura has been named to start in the back row with Jaiyden Hunt on the bench. Delouise Hoeter is 18th man.

Storm: A late switch in the front row with Tui Kamikamica starting the game and Nelson Asofa-Solomona reverting to the bench. Halfback Jahrome Hughes returns from a shoulder injury while Xavier Coates, Eli Katoa, Nick Meaney and Josh King are all back after being rested in Round 26. Back-rower Shawn Blore has suffered a fractured larynx so Ativalu Lisati comes into the starting side. Marion Seve is 18th man.

Numbers Game

• The Broncos have won only one of their past 18 games against the Storm.
• The Storm have won 15 of their last 16 Thursday night games.
• Broncos centres Kotoni Staggs has scored seven tries in his last seven games at Suncorp Stadium.
• Storm prop Josh King will make his 100th appearance for the club.
• The Broncos have scored 122 points in their last three games.