The victory, in which the Reds made 204 tackles to the try-less Rebels' 66, shot them from fourth to second spot on the ladder with three rounds to play.

The Rebels peppered the Reds' line for almost 30 minutes to begin the second half for no reward, bending the line but never breaking it as Queensland made 108 tackles to four.

Hulking Rebels forward Cabous Eloff was left exposing bright pink underwear to the Suncorp Stadium crowd when his shorts were ripped in another thwarted advance.

And somehow the Reds managed the first points of the half with Hamish Stewart barging 35 metres in traffic to seal the result with five minutes to play.

"It was Origin-esque, like a Test match, they just kept fronting up," Thorn, a former All Black and veteran of 11 State of Origins for Queensland, said.

"Queenslander, that's what it was. If you summarise Queensland, that's what it's about.

"You can't describe it."

Stewart's try was just reward for his solid defensive efforts and earned the Reds a bonus point to jump ahead of the NSW Waratahs.

The Reds' stoicism came after leaking six tries last weekend against the Waratahs in a loss that briefly out of the finals picture.

The Rebels could have left Brisbane on Saturday as competition leaders but instead dropped to fourth, two points behind the Reds and one behind NSW.

Reds back-rowers Liam Wright and Fraser McReight repelled the Rebels' best efforts while plucky halfback Tate McDermott made two try-saving tackles to set the tone.

Jock Campbell was electric at fullback, his probing kick return setting up Paenga-Amosa after winger Jordan Petaia had scored the Reds' first try.

Petaia was embraced after his dart over the line, the 20-year-old back in the fray after his father's death last week.

The Reds didn't exit unscathed though, centre Hunter Paisami left the field in the first half with another knee injury.

Rebels playmaker Matt Toomua was replaced early in the second half after a head clash, the Wallabies regular due to have scans on a potential neck injury.

The Rebels have a bye next week, while the Reds will play the winless Western Force on the Gold Coast on Friday.

"I don't think we played well in general ... our attack was very lateral, a lot of unforced errors," Rebels coach Dave Wessels said.

"We're confident where we are as a team; a bad performance today doesn't make us a bad team."

Australian Associated Press