As a weakened national team welcomed the Prime Minister's XIII on Saturday, the nation's Q-Cup side were gearing up for this historic clash at Suncorp Stadium, and the Hunters will now travel to ANZ Stadium next week to take on the Penrith Panthers as a curtain-raiser to the NRL grand final.

A crowd of 11,260 were on hand to witness the stunning finish to the game, as the Falcons led 10-6 with just over a minute to play - until Willie Minoga got a hand on captain Ase Boas's grubber kick to put his side ahead in the 79th minute.

Boas then kicked the conversion as the crowd erupted.

The Hunters trailed 10-0 at half-time after Sunshine Coast's Matthew Soper-Lawler and Joe Stimson took advantage of some nervous defence to cross inside the first seven minutes.

Hunters halfback Watson Boas pegged it back to a four-point margin immediately after the break following a messy sequence that resulted in the on-field decision being overturned on review and deemed a try.

There was no close finish on the other side of the Tweed, with the Penrith Panthers cruising to a 20-12 victory over the Wyong Roos at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday night.

Brock Gray opened the scoring for the Roos and they looked as though they would take a 6-0 lead into the sheds, but as the siren sounded, Maika Sivo scored under the posts and it was level at the interval.

In all, the Panthers racked up 20 unanswered points to have a lead of 14 with 10 minutes to go, before staving off a comeback bid to reach the NRL State Championship for the second time - in 2014, they played in the inaugural edition of this game, losing 32-28 to the Northern Pride.

After winning the minor premiership, the weight of a nation was on the Hunters' shoulders - with Papua New Guinea being the only country in the world where rugby league is the national sport.

Fans packed into venues in Port Moresby to watch the decider, and there was a strong presence inside the stadium as well - and that will surely be the case next weekend as well.

With AAP