The agony and the esctasy: The Storm players celebrate while their Brisbane counterparts are heartbroken [GALLO/GETTY]

This year's finals series has already been marked by drama but the final three games of the season will need to produce something special to eclipse the sight of Inglis diving over in the corner of Suncorp Stadium with less than 45 seconds left on the clock.

Brisbane who had their noses in front since Darius Boyd scored the opening try after just five minutes into the match looked to have twice done enough to give Melbourne the unwanted distinction of becoming the first minor premiers since 1993 to be eliminated after two finals matches.

First Broncos prop forward Ben Hannant crashed over in the dying minutes but video replays confirmed a remarkable tackle by Melbourne fullback Billy Slater had prevented Hannant from grounding the ball.

Many thought that action may have given the Storm one more chance to get themselves out of trouble, but when Slater knocked on as he attempted to get a pass away in good attacking position it looked like the game was up.

Sims sins

However with a completed set of six likely to run down the clock  Brisbane forward Ashton Sims committed the sort of error which haunts players for a long time when he split the ball on just the second tackle to hand the Storm one final chance.

Tempers fray [GALLO/GETTY]

After settling the play the competition favourites then sent the ball wide where the Broncos exhausted defence was looking threadbare and Inglis crossed untouched.

The Brisbane players immediately dropped to the ground in utter desolation and captain Darren Lockyer later said it was the most gut wrenching defeat of his career.

For so long it had looked like the perfect way to farewell coach Wayne Bennett who is leaving after 21 years at the helm.

Boyd, who had been at the centre of a sexual assault investigation, showed no ill effects from the intense off field speculation when he scored.

Mistake riddled

After that try both sides then struggled to complete their sets of six and were guilty of handing over plenty of possession.

The Storm's task got even harder when the Broncos doubled their lead as Denan Kemp burst through after the ball had gone through seven sets of hands to give the home side a 12-0 lead at half-time.

Queensland backrower Michael Crocker halved the deficit after the break when he scored, but their recovery looked to received a major setback when Storm prop Jeff Lima was sin binned as punishment for his side's constant indiscipline.

The Broncos' Corey Parker then stepped up to kick a penalty goal to increase the lead to eight as the Storm's chances looked terminal.

A try to Slater then pushed the door to the finals ever so slightly ajar before Inglis kicked it down in dramatic fashion at the death.

Melbourne will now play the Cronulla Sharks on Friday night in Sydney with winner qualifying for the Grand Final on October 5.