When a bullet-like pass from Jonathan Thurston hit him on the chest with the try-line beckoning, Linnett couldn’t believe it when it bounced out of his grasp.

With the Cowboys trailing 16-12 and time ticking away it had the potential to be a match-turning moment.

In the end it was another dropped ball from Broncos halfback Ben Hunt that opened the door for Thurston’s premiership-winning field-goal and a massive sigh of relief from Linnett.

‘‘It was going through my head,’’ Linnett said.

‘‘I thought we were definitely coming over the top of them in that second half.

‘‘I had the opportunity there to score a try and the ball just went behind me and I fumbled it.

‘‘It would have been to score that try but we’ve proved all year that we’re awesome at coming back from behind.

‘‘There’s definitely a lot of spirit in this team and something special to be a part of.’’

Linnett certainly made amends for the error, carrying the ball out of his own end to finish the match with a game high 21 carries for 171 metres.

‘‘I was blowing but I just did whatever I could for the team to get us out of our end,’’ Linnett said.

‘‘Both teams wanted it so much and it was such a battle out there.

“It just went backwards and forwards and it was such a grinding effort. 

“I’m just so grateful we came away with the win. I’m on top of the world.”

The rollercoaster grand final ride typified 26-year-old’s career that has had as many ebbs and flows as Sunday’s grand final epic.

The Windang Pelicans product came through the Dragons junior ranks before ironically being told he was surplus to requirements by then Dragons coach Wayne Bennett in 2009.

Linnett’s first chance to come back and haunt the mastercoach with the Roosters in the 2010 grand final fell short before sporadic top-grade appearances prompted him to shift 2000 kilometres away from home the tropical north.

He’s since notched 102 games for North Queensland and will forever own a piece of Cowboy history in his newly minted premiership ring.

‘‘I went up to Townsville for an opportunity,’’ Linnett said.

‘‘I’m a long way from home but I love it up there in North Queensland. It really feels like a second home to me. 

‘‘I’ve also had  a lot of support from home.

“I played all my junior footy there at Windang and Port Kembla and all the family and friends came up and supported me [on Sunday].

“I was very emotional after the game with them there and I’m just on cloud nine at the moment.’’