For the fifth time in just on 12 months these two NRL heavyweight teams have provided us with an epic encounter.

Their first semi-final last year was an outstanding game. I said at the time, it restored my faith in our game. Their grand final showdown three weeks later, will go down as one of the greatest deciders in history. After thrilling us with these tremendous displays of skills, courage, heroics and nail-biting finishes, I figured we'd never see the likes of it again.

They clashed in club matches earlier this year and, if anything, the intensity was even greater. They won one match apiece, with both results decided by a point.

Their sudden-death semi-final on Friday in Townsville left me lost for words to describe the sheer quality of this match on so many levels.

Whether you support either team, you are simply a rugby league fan, or perhaps even just a casual observer of our sport on Friday night, you had to stand and applaud the efforts of both these teams and the courage displayed by all the players.

Rugby league is such a wonderful game when played in the manner we witnessed on Friday.

Not only do both these teams deserve our congratulations but also our sincere thanks for reminding us yet again of all the values and lessons this great game can teach us.

For me, the one quality in this match that stands above all else is the absolute courage and selflessness of the players who took part. They started this game with a speed, intensity and ferocity unlike anything other teams in the NRL can hope to generate. The courage of the players to keep pushing themselves to extraordinary limits for the entire 90 minutes of this contest is a credit to all who took part. The disciplines and sacrifices they undertake and the years of training they endure to prepare their bodies and minds for such a performance is a credit to themselves.

I saw no losers on the ground at full-time on Friday night. There are so many things we could talk about. In no particular order, these were the talking points for me.

JOHNATHAN THURSTON

Cometh the hour, cometh the champion. I've written, commentated and commented on this young man for more than a decade. Like all of you I've run out of superlatives to describe the things he does on the field.

We all know of his talents and skills. His unique footballing abilities have been there for all to see. His greatest qualities for mine have always been his tremendous courage and his unrivalled competitiveness. I have never seen a footballer push himself as hard as what Thurston is prepared to do. I've never seen a footballer so competitive on every play, every minute, for the full 80 minutes, every week, every year. For him to produce these performances so consistently means he must be pushing himself so hard in training away from the public eye to prepare himself for these battles.

More than anything else though, Thurston has become a great leader. He inspires those around him through his actions. He inspires his teammates through the love and trust he constantly shows towards them. That's hard for a leader to do sometimes, to inspire someone by trusting them and believing in their ability to do their job. I'm sure anyone who played with Thurston would feel as though they never want to let this man down.

Thurston has that special quality that can influence the behaviour of others, to help them be the best version of themselves. And on those occasions where the best version of his teammates is not quite enough to get it done, Thurston rises to the challenge to produce the winning play. His effort to set up the winning try in the 85th minute after everything he had put his body through during the course of the match was nothing short of extraordinary.

MATT SCOTT

At this time of year, a large percentage of players are carrying injuries.

I have no doubt Scott is one of those players.

Lap of honour: Matt Scott celebrates the victory with fans. Photo: Bradley Kanaris

In fact, I think his injuries are probably worse than most. However, you wouldn't know it by the way he continually lifts himself to serve his team. I watched him closely on Friday night and on several occasions I felt maybe the fuel gauge was on empty and he was about to check out. As soon as I got that impression he would defy his wounded body language, charge onto the ball, legs pumping, driving the defenders backwards with his powerful surging runs. Some of his defensive heroics had to be seen to be believed. He is a mighty footballer.

JASON TAUMOLOLO

OMG!! Have you ever seen anything like this young man? Commentators will rave over statistics that show how many metres he made. He is unrivalled in this regard.

More importantly though, let's take a measure on how many metres he makes after first contact with the defensive line. Not how many metres he makes before collision, but how many afterwards. I don't think I've ever seen a player that consistently makes more metres after he has been hit by defenders.

He has speed, size, footwork and power. But he has something else. They call it the "It" factor. He just got "It". No one can put into words what "It" is, but whatever "It" is, Jason Taumololo has "It" in bucket-loads.

DARIUS BOYD

On a beaten side, he was easily one of the standout players. There were times when the Broncos were really struggling and looked to be completely out of gas.

Wholehearted: Darius Boyd. Photo: Bradley Kanaris

This fella would come into the game and get them going again. I thought he was superb.

WHY ARE COWBOYS V BRONCOS GAMES SO GOOD?

These teams certainly bring out the best in each other, but they also display the best things about our game. The players deliver with such intensity and conviction.

They play for the skills involved. The big men hit the ball up as hard as they can. The creative players get their hands on the ball and pass it around. The fast men on the outside use their footwork and speed to take advantage of the space created. It's a simple game and these two teams do it very well. Both teams love the battle. They enjoy the physicality of the contest. They give nothing away and ask for nothing in return. You don't see players feigning injury, playing for penalties or looking for cheap shots.

There is no wrestle in these games. They hit hard in defence, they secure the ball, they knock the man to the ground as quickly as they can, they reset their defence and they get up and go again. It's how our game is supposed to be played.

EXTRA-TIME PERIOD WAS A WINNER

I absolutely loved the whole feeling of the extra-time period on Friday night. It was so much better than the frantic, unregulated and poorly executed scramble for field goals that the golden-point period has now become.

This five minutes each way of extra time should now spell the end of golden point forever. We don't need golden-point extra time in club matches any more. Declare it a draw and give the teams a point each.

A legend departs: Broncos lock Corey Parker leaves the field after playing his last NRL match. Photo: Bradley Kanaris

In finals football, extra time should always be a defined period with a starting whistle and a final siren. We should keep playing extra-time periods until we can find a winner. Forget golden point. It's become an un-refereed lottery and a very poor look for our game.

Everything about Friday night looked right to me.

IT'LL BE HARD FOR COWBOYS TO PLAY AS WELL NEXT WEEK

When I previewed this Cowboys-Broncos match in my column during the week, I wrote: "The problem for those two teams though is that the match could also be the 'gut-buster' that potentially ends both their seasons. I've seen this happen before with September football. We know the loser of this match will be gone for the season. I also think there is a real danger this game will also take so much out of the winner, that they will be extremely vulnerable when they back up a week later against Cronulla.

The Sharks should be sitting at home with their feet up this weekend giggling to themselves as they watch the Broncos and Cowboys hammer each other in a fight for survival."

I don't think the Sharks could have hoped for anything more out of Friday's game. It's ironic that this epic encounter may well have ended the season for the Cowboys and the Broncos. It's a shame, but at least we'll have this brilliant match to remember.

Again, congratulations and thank you to all involved.

Twitter: @Gus10Gould