Scenes of elation are flowing in from the Gold Coast, as the Crusade performed a minor miracle to overcome the red-hot Perth Taipans in front of a huge Perth crowd.

A late change to the Crusade lineup saw Laurie Daley in lock with McKenna trialled in lock. Daley was facing up against his former club for the third time, but was not marking his replacement, Stephen Larkhim. The Taipans also pulled a few selection surprises, with Lowrie and Lyon returning to the side in a bench capacity.

The Crusade made the ideal start when Andrew Johns put them ahead 2-0 after only twenty seven seconds. Lockyer evened the scoreline in the 7th after a fight between Raelke and Webcke broke out- driving the crowd wild, and evidencing just how much both sides wanted the premiership.

The opening try came off some sloppy Perth defence. Andrew Johns, sensing the overlap out wide, put in a brilliant grubber which found the arms of Brian Carney, who grabbed his 14th try of the season to put his side up 6-2. The conversion had it at 8-2.

The Crusade's resilience was pushed to the limit by the twentieth, with Carney and McKenna leaving the field injured. Mullins shifted to the wing, Peters into the centres, Daley back to 5/8th and Pongia in lock. It was a messy situation, and the pressure of the reshuffle would show before half time.

In the 37th McLinden ducked behind the line to score the Taipans' opening try, the conversion was missed, but from the kick-off Perth were in again. Larkhim picked up the ball from the kick-off, threw aside Bai, and raced seventy metres to score untouched! The conversion had it at 12-8, and thankfully for the Crusade, the halftime siren went.

Lockyer extended the lead to six in the 53rd care of a penalty for what appeared to be a legitimate one on one rake.

In the 61st, Carney returned to the field, and the veteran winger's presence boosted the Crusade. On the back of a promising passing play, the Crusade looked to have scored in the corner. However, the referee found that Carney had stepped into touch, and the try was disallowed.

It took the efforts of the world's best player to lift Gold Coast, on the back of his own 40-20, Johns bust the line from the scrum-win to score a brilliant try. The conversion made it 14 all, and that's the way it stayed for the remainder of the match.

It had come down to sudden death football, the first team to score would win the game. Both sides were dead on their feet, but it was a time when players such as Lockyer, Larkhim and Johns rose to their best. Busts from Carney, Lockyer and Johns ended without a try being scored, and when the Taipans got a penalty deep on attack- it looked over. However, Lockyer's penalty struck the upright and returned to the hands of Larkhim. The Taipans' 5/8th took a shot at field goal, but the attempt was charged down by Larie Daley. The Crusade 5/8th found himself with possession and an 80 metre run to the sideline. He broke free, with Lockyer and Faafili in pursuit. Faafili's attempted ankle tap fell short, and Lockyer dragged the 5/8th down. Daley offload to Perry, who returned the pass to put Daley in under the sticks! The Crusade had won their first premiership against enormous odds.

The Taipans' players were in shock, as the Crusade players swamped Daley as the hero. The 5/8th had won them a Grand Final in his last game for the Crusade. He would now join Manly.

FULL TIME
Gold Coast Crusade 20:
Brian Carney
Andrew Johns
Laurie Daley (e/t)
Andrew Johns 4/4
def.
Perth Taipans 14:
Stephen Larkhim
Mark McLinden
Darren Lockyer 3/4

Player of the Match Points
Laurie Daley 3
Brian Carney 2
Stephen Larkhim 1