The Warriors fairytale is over.
Outmuscled, outplayed and completely pulled apart by Brisbane, they were comprehensively beaten 42-12 in the preliminary final at Suncorp Stadium.
Warriors fans may be left fuming over a blatant Reece Walsh forward pass for Selwyn Cobbo in the second half that killed off any chance of a comeback.
It was the kind of play that will again prompt questions over technology, after the ball clearly travelled forward before Jordan Riki scored in the same play to make it 30-12 after 53 minutes.
But in reality, the contest was largely over by that point.
When the Auckland-based club last went deep into the finals they were the offload kings of the NRL.
Under Andrew Webster this year, the Warriors went away from that approach, with structure and discipline the new drivers of their success.
The issue on Saturday night was that the New Zealand side could not stem the flow of offloads against them.
Brisbane were able to throw 23, breaking the Warriors apart and giving a glimpse into how they will challenge Penrith in next Sunday's grand final.
It was the equal most the Warriors had conceded all season, with the second-phase play ultimately breaking them.
All four of the Broncos' first-half tries came after offloads in the lead up.
Nowhere was that more obvious than the two tries that broke the game wide open.
The first came with the score at 12-8 in the Broncos' favour, when Pat Carrigan and Walsh both offloaded in the same play to help Payne Haas bust down field before Jesse Arthars crossed.
Five minutes later it was Walsh who sprinted onto a ball after a Tom Flegler offload, allowing Billy Walters to score. Suddenly it was 24-8.
The Warriors began to do what they haven't done all season.
Usually clinical in their play and calm when behind, Webster's men briefly went away from that when it mattered most on Saturday.
While Marcelo Montoya managed to get the score back to 24-12 in the 29th minute, the Warriors failed to complete four of their last six sets before halftime to cruel any chance of a momentum shift.
This was no longer the composed Warriors that had taken the whole of New Zealand with them on a fairytale ride to the NRL's top four.
Adam Pompey put a ball down on the first carry from an attacking scrum. Jackson Ford followed suit early in the tackle count.
And when Jazz Tevaga threw a poor offload that went to ground, it was evident the Warriors were wobbling.
The Aucklanders have been the undoubted feel-good story of this season, after three years stuck in Australia due to border closures through the COVID-19 pandemic.
But now the dream is over, and Webster's next challenge is to close the gap between his Warriors and the NRL's elite.
