Hayley Maddick has provided a record-breaking five try assists as Brisbane steamrolled through intra-state NRLW rivals North Queensland 38-12 at Langlands Park.
On the same day Newcastle and the Sydney Roosters entrenched themselves in the top four with three games to play, it was Brisbane and Maddick who shone brightest.
The Broncos' 0-2 start to the season seems a distant memory after a win that consolidates their own top-four spot and leaves the Cowboys at the back of a logjam in the middle of the ladder.
North Queensland will finish the round in seventh spot, their for-and-against worse than any other side with a 3-3 record.
Fullback Maddick threw the last pass for three of Brisbane's four tries in an 18-12 first half, most memorably helping centre Mele Hufanga barge past Emma Manzelmann and Krystal Backwell to score on the stroke of halftime.
Maddick and the outside backs were key in holding the Cowboys out of the contest despite a glut of possession just after the break, the Broncos' scramble defence excelling in the heat.
A handful of players had recorded four try assists in the past, but Maddick entered rarefied air with a fifth assist in the 55th minute, double-pumping the ball and putting Hufanga over again.
The New Zealand international bulldozed past Jasmine Peters, with Romy Teitzel's conversion all but sealing the result at 32-12.
A runaway try of her own was fitting reward for Maddick, who backed up left winger Julia Robinson and ran 40 metres to score following an early shift.
Maddick finished with seven line-break assists and 187 run metres to go with her five try assists.
Earlier, the Knights put on a clinic to hand the Wests Tigers their 13th straight loss, in an unwanted streak that dates back to round three of last year.
Newcastle stripped the Tigers for numbers down the right attacking edge time and time again in the 34-6 flogging, with winger Sheridan Gallagher scoring twice and being denied thrice.
The match was summed up in the Knights' first try, which the Tigers gave away in calamitous circumstances.
After Tigers back Tess Staines let a bomb bounce, she took it in her in-goal, passed to no one and Hannah Southwell was there to pounce on the ball and score.
From there the procession started down the right edge, with the Knights gaining momentum in the middle and then spreading the ball wide with ease in their push for a third straight title.
In the day's late game, the Roosters overcame an early 10-0 deficit to beat Canberra 34-20.
After failing to take their chances early, the Tri-colours took charge of the game while Raiders Hollie-Mae Dodd was in the sin bin for a hip-drop tackle.
Mia Wood ran in two tries while Dodd was off the field and Eliza Lopamaua another, as the Roosters went from 10-6 behind to 22-10 up.
And while Mackenzie Wiki later struck back for the Raiders, any hope of a Canberra recovery was snuffed by an 80-metre Tarryn Aiken try.
The loss left the Raiders in ninth place, and they are set to be without captain Simaima Taufa for next week's clash with St George Illawarra after she suffered a first-half concussion.
