I reckon a nose-first impact could well shove all those levers forward no matter where they were set.... I also reckon that as it started to depart the reaction of anyone in the front row would have been to shove them forward if they weren't already there.
Can you unpack your comment about fine pitch, max power, and VMCA? I am not clear on what you are getting at there.
I would agree that from what I have seen if you have Takeoff configuration, one power lever at high power and one power lever at flight idle (not recommended and not representative of an engine failure in a Conk) you will not climb and you reach full rudder travel at about 130-140 knots. Depending on all the usual variables I would guess you are about 3-5 seconds from completely losing directional control (no I have not gone there).
I agree the 40 seconds level segment is odd.... but I take it with a grain of salt given it's OzRunways data not a radar.