Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett has hailed an inspirational performance from his players after a determined 30-20 NRL victory over Canberra.
The Raiders' third straight-loss leaves them languishing outside the top eight while the Broncos shored up their spot in the top four by improving their record to 10-5.
Brisbane's victory at GIO Stadium sets up a mouth-watering clash with competition leaders Melbourne in Brisbane on Friday night.
"We had a lot of inspirational players out there tonight," Bennett said.
"Defence probably won us the game tonight, as silly as it sounds."
Benji Marshall wound back the clock with a brilliant display, outfoxing the Raiders' defence to have a hand in three of the Broncos' five tries.
And Ben Hunt came off the bench and put in a strong performance partnering with Marshall.
Queensland Origin star Matt Gillett had no trouble backing up from a brutal game two, scoring two tries and putting the game beyond doubt in the final minute, while Josh McGuire was also solid after playing in the Maroons' win.
"I couldn't be more proud of those two guys," Bennett said.
After a see-sawing first half, Canberra went to the break leading 16-14.
Broncos winger Corey Oates did his chances of returning to the Queensland team for the State of Origin decider no harm by scoring the opening try of the match after four minutes.
Jack Wighton hit back for the Raiders, before skipper Jarrod Croker made it a one-two punch, scoring the third try of the opening 10 minutes.
Marshall set up Alex Glenn who put the Broncos back in front before the Raiders' teenage winger Nick Cotric responded with a spectacular try.
Gillett's first try took the lead back for the Broncos 10 minutes after the break before Joe Ofahengaue extended the lead before the hour mark.
Joey Leilua hit back for the home side but the Raiders just couldn't find another way through Brisbane's defence.
While the Raiders' season appears to be slipping away, coach Ricky Stuart insists his sole focus is next week's match against North Queensland.
"We just need to stay committed to the work we're doing, keep believing in each other and hang tough as a group," Stuart said.
"In tough times you've got to hang tough as a group and not look for easy solutions or easy outs.
"As soon as you look for an easy solution or you look for an easy out, you become weak and then it makes it very hard."
