A sensational final Saturday in the Intrust Super Cup regular season has left PNG hanging by a thread, seen Easts and Northern Pride clinch finals spots and handed Redcliffe the minor premiership after five games were played simultaneously across the state.
The remaining piece of the puzzle occurs Sunday at 3pm when Norths hosts Ipswich at Bishop Park, with the Jets needing a win by any margin to qualify for the post-season.
If they do so, it will be at the expense of reigning premier PNG, who was gazumped 38-22 by second-last Central Queensland.
One team's pain is another's pleasure and Easts will live to fight another day after a 48-18 belting by Burleigh left them nervously awaiting the PNG result.
Before the four 6pm games kicked off, Townsville and Wynnum Manly had already begun locking horns in their 5pm clash, with the interesting factor being that both Daniel Ogden and Jaelen Feeney scored tries early.
Townsville, destined to finish third regardless of the result, led 10-4 initially, but trailed 14-10 by the time the other matches started.
By halftime Wynnum's Ogden had moved to 18 tries for the season to draw level with previous competition leader Michael Purcell of Ipswich, while Blackhawk Feeney loomed up from behind with his 15th.
Northern Pride and Mackay jumped to 4-0 leads almost simultaneously when their games began, with Enari Tuala and Kurt Wilshire scoring respectively.
Across at Browne Park, the CQ Capras leapt ahead of PNG by a similar margin with a try to Maipele Morseau, converted by Connor Broadhurst.
Tweed Heads dotted down back at Barlow Park via Kiah Cooper to keep things interesting against the Pride, while the Cutters scored a second try via Yamba Bowie to edge ahead of the Magpies 8-0.
At Dolphin Stadium, Redcliffe went up 4-0 after eight minutes via a Jeremy Hawkins try.
Then a big cheer was elicited from across the Torres Strait when Wartovo Puara notched PNG's first try of the evening.
Redcliffe's grip on first place strengthened when Trai Fuller crossed in the 12th minute against the Falcons, while Townsville came back to lead 16-14 against Wynnum, then extended to 20-14.
Things became more desperate for PNG when Capra Chanel Seigafo recorded his eighth and ninth tries of the season in rapid succession and CQ edged further ahead at 16-4.
Redcliffe was challenged before halftime when Sandor Earl scored for the Sunshine Coast, but responded in kind when they grabbed a third try via Kotoni Staggs.
At the major break, the scores across the grounds were CQ leading PNG 28-10, the Pride narrowly ahead of Tweed 6-4, Redcliffe up 21-6 against Sunshine Coast, and Souths Logan ahead of Mackay 10-8.
Townsville ensured they entered the semis in winning form by finishing off Wynnum Manly 26-22, with late tries to Kalolo Saitaua and Ogden making the score more respectable for the home side.
Odgen's second means the Intrust Super Cup's all-time leading try-scorer will lead the league in his swansong campaign if Purcell does not score tomorrow for Ipswich.
Seven minutes into the second half, Thompson Teteh gave renewed hopes to Hunters fans when he crossed for a converted try to ease the margin to 28-16 in favour of the Capras.
However, bustling Billy Cullen earnt his second four-pointed of the evening for CQ and it was back out to 34-16.
Redcliffe's ascendancy grew to 27-6 when half Cameron Cullen scored his team's first try of the second stanza.
But all eyes remained on Browne Park in Rockhampton, with Watson Boas next to score for PNG and making it 34-22 versus CQ in a free-flowing match with enormous implications.
In Cairns, Northern Pride was given absolutely no quarter by a Tweed Heads side out of finals contention, grafting ahead of a side that contained Bryce Cartwright and Leilani Latu 10-4.
But then Lamar Manuel-Liolevave crossed right on fulltime and Rex Johnson converted, meaning a 10-all draw in a heart-stopping moment.
The result means Northern Pride will likely host Easts next Saturday at 3pm at Stan Williams Park in one semi-final, although a 33-point win by Ipswich tomorrow could see them jetting to Cairns.
The Pride's usual home ground of Barlow Park is already booked for another event.
That means Saturday's televised semi-final will be 1.10pm Saturday at Jack Manski Oval between the Blackhawks and either PNG, Ipswich or Easts, pending the final fixture game.
Losers from both semis next week will be eliminated.
In the wash-up to all games played on Saturday, Souths Logan finished the season on a high with a 22-14 win in Mackay, Kotoni Staggs almost caught Guy Hamilton as leading point-scorer with a four-try, 24-point haul in Redcliffe's 45-16 result, while PNG couldn't close the gap and ended up behind by 16 in Capricornia.
Redcliffe and Burleigh will both have next weekend off after finishing in the top two.
If Ipswich lose or draw tomorrow, PNG advances. If the Jets win by any margin, the Hunters are done in their premiership defence.
Full scoring details and finalised team lists available for Round 24 games at QRL Live.
CENTRAL QUEENSLAND CAPRAS 38 (Bill Cullen 2, Chanel Seigafo 2, Maipele Morseau, Jack Madden tries; Connor Broadhurst 7 goals) def PNG HUNTERS 22 (Wartovo Puara, Ase Boas, Thompson Teteh, Watson Boas tries; Watson Boas 3 goals) at Borwne Park.
NORTHERN PRIDE 10 (Enari Tuala try; Jack Campagnolo 3 goals) drew TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 10 (Kiah Cooper, Lamar Manuel-Liolevave tries; Rex Johnson goal) at Barlow Park.
REDCLIFFE 45 (Kotoni Staggs 4, Trai Fuller 2, Jeremy Hawkins, Aaron Whitchurch, Cameron Cullen tries; Kotoni Staggs 4 goals; Bryce Donovan field goal) def SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 16 (Matt Soper-Lawler 2, Sandor Earl tries; Matt Soper-Lawler 2 goals) at Dolphin Stadium.
SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 22 (Corey Allan, Daniel Tamou, Sam Scarlett, Guy Hamilton tries; Guy Hamilton 3 goals) def MACKAY CUTTERS 14 (Kurt Wilshere, Yamba Bowie, John O'Brien tries; Nicho Hynes goal) at BB Print Stadium, Mackay.
TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 26 (Kalifa Faifai-Loa 2, Jaelen Feeney, Rod Griffin, Bacho Salam tries; Levid Dodd 3 goals) def WYNNUM MANLY 22 (Daniel Ogden 2, Kalolo Saitaua 2, Edward Burns tries; Shaun Nona goal) at BMD Kougari Oval.
BURLEIGH BEARS 48 (Sami Sauiluma 2, Kurtis Rowe 2, Joshua Berkers 2, Jamal Fogarty, Luke Page tries; Jamal Fogarty 8 goals) def EASTS TIGERS 18 (Kea Pere 2, Kelma Tuilagi, Shane Neumann tries; Brayden Torpy goal) at Suzuki Stadium, Langlands Park.
