Another country lad, Harry Wilson - who hails from Gunnedah - capped off a breakout year with a try, finishing off some magic from Jordan Petaia.

After putting on some fancy footwork to slice through the Brumbies defence from 30m out, the teenage sensation then found a supporting Wilson with a deft flick pass.

It brought the Reds back into the contest after the Brumbies had skipped out to a 15-3 lead.

James O'Connor closed the gap to two at half-time with a last minute penalty.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with the Brumbies kicking out to a 28-13 lead before the Reds' rallied.

Another O'Connor penalty and a contentious try to lock Angus Blyth in the 64th minute, after the TMO took an age to decide Reds halfback Tate McDermott hadn't knocked on in the lead-up, reduced the deficit to five points.

But despite an anxious final 15 minutes, the Brumbies hung on to grab the spoils and their first championship since 2004.

"It was a huge effort from the boys," said jubilant skipper Allan Alaalatoa.

"I've got to give credit to the Reds; they were always going to come back in the second half and they were going to make it hard for us.

"I'm really proud of the boys that we closed out the game there."

Queensland captain Liam Wright was gutted but gracious in defeat.

"Congratulations to the Brumbies, you've been a class outfit all year," he said.

"We shot ourselves in the foot. Our ill-discipline was very costly.

"But there was a lot of fight. We'll be back."

Australian Associated Press