The Townsville Blackhawks defeated the Northern Pride in the Hastings Deerings Under 20 elimination final to earn a spot in next Sunday's decider against Norths Devils.
Townsville came from a 22-10 halftime deficit to win 26-22, thanks to a trio of unanswered tries to Enemarki Shibasaki, Michael Carroll and James Conroy from the 42nd minute to the 67th minute.
Blackhawks coach David Tangata-Toa said despite trailing, he felt confident going into the break that his side could finish over the top of the Pride if they could get their fair share of possession.
"The Pride started the game really strongly and we struggled to go with them at the start, we didn't have a whole lot of ball," Tangata-Toa said.
"I spoke to them at halftime and said to them if we can get our hands on the ball and defend a bit better than what we've been doing, we'd get the result that we wanted.
"We sort of knew after we scored our second try they'd only tackled us 16 times, so it showed that we didn't have a whole lot of ball in that first half and we could still put 10 points on them."
Momentum is all-important at the Under 20s level, and the Blackhawks worked hard to use it to their advantage.
"At the Under 20s level, you really need to take advantage of the momentum and the Pride did that in the first half and we could do it in the second half," he said.
"Credit to our boys they never stopped trying, they never stopped turning up and I think it's a really good reward for their effort all year."
The Blackhawks will take on Norths Devils next weekend, the side that beat them in the first round of the finals to earn a week off heading into the deciding game of the season.
It won't be an easy challenge by any means, but Tangata-Toa is confident his side can get themselves ready for the match.
"Norths are a really good team and they're playing with a lot of confidence at the moment, we'll enjoy the win tonight, but come Monday it's all hands on deck looking towards the grand final."
See the full scoring details and final team line-ups for this game at QRL Live
TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 26 (Michael Carroll 2, Sam Martin, Enemarki Shibasaki, James Conroy tries; Adam Cook 3 goals) def NORTHERN PRIDE 22 (Patrick Gallen 2, Quinlyn Cannon, Brandon Jackonia tries; Mark Rosendale 2, Patrick Gallen goals) at Jack Manski Oval.
