Brisbane almost certainly secured a place in the NRL finals but their lacklustre 19-12 win over Penrith was hardly convincing enough to put any fear into their rivals.

Second-rower Alex Glenn’s 75th minute try made sure Broncos warrior Petero Civoniceva was given a winning Suncorp Stadium farewell in front of 35,178 fans, who were kept on edge by a gritty Panthers.

Brisbane are set to play either North Queensland, Cronulla or Manly in their first finals knockout match next weekend.

The only way Brisbane can miss the finals is if Wests Tigers beat Melbourne by a cricket score on Saturday.

Brisbane played like a batsman in the “nervous 90s” in the first half with Penrith taking a slender 6-0 lead into the break after a late try to winger Josh Mansour, who had earlier suffered a cut to his mouth after a heavy collision with rival Justin Hodges.

Brisbane had enough ball in the opening 20 minutes to have a handsome lead but Penrith managed to hold them out before fullback Michael Gordon’s break in the 30th minute set up Mansour’s try.

Things could have been even worse had utility Matt Gillett not held up Panther Mitch Achurch with 30 seconds left in the half.

The Broncos didn’t start the second half any better with interchange prop Josh McGuire dropping the ball from the kick off.

Man-of-the-match Peter Wallace hauled Brisbane back into the game putting Hodges into the clear and backing up on the inside to scramble over for a try in the 45th minute.

Wallace lost his footing two metres short of the line but had time to get up and reach over the try line.

Ben Te’o scored his 10th try of the season in the 52nd minute to give Brisbane a 12-6 lead before the acrobatic Lachlan Coote plucked a Luke Walsh kick out of the air to level the score in the 69th minute.

With time running out, hooker Andrew McCullough, playing his 100th NRL game, linked with Corey Norman whose quick hands put Glenn into the clear for the match winner.

Wallace made sure there was no last-minute comeback by Penrith with a field goal in the 79th minute.

“We were trying too hard and trying to find the points too quickly,” said Wallace, who answered critics with a great display in attack and defence.

“Hook (coach Anthony Griffin) told us to slow down and stop trying too hard and build a bit of pressure and the tries would come.

“We did that and we got the win.”

Wallace said for a second he thought he was going to drop the ball after he fell over short of the line.

“Thankfully I held onto it and got the try,” he said.