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Johnathan Thurston attempted three drop kicks in 30 seconds. Ryan Byrne/INPHO
Third Time Lucky

As dramatic game-winning drop goals go, this one takes the biscuit

After being blocked down twice, they eventually make it.

IF YOU CAN watch this without moving to the end of your seat, you may not have a soul.

In rugby, nothing really  beats the tension of waiting on a last second drop kick to win a game.

Building the phases, getting in position, looking at the clock, a few more phases, another look at the clock…

Time seems to slow down, while your heart speeds up, with both sets of fans on the verge of heart failure.

And they don’t come much more dramatic than this, as the North Queensland Cowboys snatched victory right at the death from the Canberra Raiders in the NRL today.

With 79 minutes played and the scores tied at 20, the Cowboys pull it back for a crack at the drop goal, but end up frantically running it after the defence shoots up.

After two more phases, Johnathan Thurston takes a drop, but it’s emphatically blocked down by Iosia Soliola, with the Raiders somehow recovering the bobbling ball.

Again they attacked. Again Thurston had a shot at goal. Again Soliola blocked it down. Again they recovered the ball. It was around here I paused the video to get up and walk around for a few seconds.

It was also around here than the commentators forgot to speak in sentences and just blurted out noises, completely understandable in the circumstances.

And finally after the longest minute imaginable, Thurston managed to lift his third drop kick over Soliola’s stretching arm, and spark wild celebrations.

My heart.

NZAUTV Rugby League / YouTube

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