The Sunshine Coast Falcons are out of the Intrust Super Cup finals race after falling to the CQ Capras 26-18.
Two tries from young Storm winger Junior Ratuva and another from Tom Eisenhuth were not enough to keep the Falcons' season alive.
A promising sign though was the performance of Sandor Earl
"Sandor was really good for us on the weekend, he led by example," Falcons coach Craig Ingebrigtsen said.
"I would think he would be in the frame to play NRL sometime late next year or early next year with the way he is playing for us.
"You can see he is a lot more free and is able to do stuff that you could see earlier in the year he wanted to do but wasn't capable of."
The Falcons will play their final game of the season against the Dolphins in Redcliffe on Saturday.
CQ CAPRAS 26 (Chanel Seigafo 2, Jack Madden, Blake Goodman, Jerry Key tries; Connor Broadhurst 3 goals) def SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 18 (Iliesa Ratuva 2, Jye Ballinger, Thomas Eisenhuth tries; Matt Soper-Lawler goal) at Marley Brown Oval, Gladstone.
