It began badly and didn’t get much better.

Sydney Roosters winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall’s first minute brain explosion gifted Brisbane a try inside a minute of Friday’s NRL preliminary final.

Kenny-Dowall threw a long pass from the touchline towards fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck but, to his horror, it was Broncos fullback Darius Boyd who snared an intercept to send Suncorp Stadium into raptures.

The New Zealand winger’s blunder was the catalyst for a fast start by the home team, who raced to a 16-0 lead inside 20 minutes.

The Roosters recovered to trail by eight at halftime and then came Kenny-Dowall’s moment for redemption.

Tuivasa-Sheck’s spill on a bomb in the first set of the second half fell to Kenny-Dowall, who dived over and began celebrating a try.

But the video referee overturned the decision when replays showed Tuivasa-Sheck had knocked on into Bronco Jack Reed’s face.

It was as close as Kenny-Dowall would get to making up for his opening minute howler as the Broncos surged away to the grand final with a 31-12 victory.