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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Sam Perry

Cowboys beat Sharks in NRL elimination final – as it happened

Jason Taumalolo of the Cowboys celebrates victory during the NRL Elimination Final match between the Cronulla Sharks and the North Queensland Cowboys
Jason Taumalolo of the Cowboys celebrates victory during the NRL Elimination Final match between the Cronulla Sharks and the North Queensland Cowboys Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Cronulla Sharks 14-15 North Queensland Cowboys

A thrilling, draining game of finals football at the SFS sees North Queensland survive and Cronulla exit. It’s still surprising to think that Cronulla are going home after dominating the majority of the match, but North Queensland clung on through a lack of Cronulla ruthlessness, some luck, and some inspiration from their talismans, Taumololo and Morgan.

It was all Cronulla, particularly in the first half, as they controlled the ball and played with precision and incision, regularly opening up North Queensland in attack and trapping them deep in defence. But taking only a six point lead into the break and losing James Maloney halted their momentum.

The Cowboys still looked errant after the break but were finally able to capitalise on their extra man when Feldt crossed in the corner. From their the Sharks still looked the stronger, but every time they crossed the Cowboys were able to reply. In particular, Taumololo’s surging run to level the scores close to full time was an epic one - certainly one to remember in his ever-growing, impressive body of work.

After both sides exchanged penalty goals, the extra time period will sadly, but not inaccurately, be remembered for harrowing mistakes from the polarising duo: Gallen and Fifita. First, Gallen dropped the ball with a field goal in sight - instead plumping for a milked penalty unsuccessfully, and then Fifita - deep into the second period - coughed the ball up, thus ending the Sharks’ hopes for the match and season.

The Cowboys’ resilience has to be commended, the Sharks’ wastefulness scorned. That’s the story from a pulsating match that, while not huge on quality, was big on drama. That’s the NRL, in the main. From my desk and laptop, thanks for joining me wherever you are. Rugby League has once again delivered something that makes you need to lay down for a little while, so that’s what I’m off to do. I need to return to my equilibrium.

Updated

Fulltime: North Queensland 15 - Cronulla 14

A boilover here at the SFS! North Queensland emerge victors in extra time after largely trailing all match, and the Sharks season is over! Some thoughts to follow.

NRL: 2nd half extra time 0:34 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 15

Field goal range after Maloney makes a half break. They’re about 30 metres out trying to set it up. The noise rising from the crowd. The ball goes to Fifita and he comes up with the error! He coughed the ball up, he lost it. And that will just about do it for North Queensland!

NRL: 2nd half extra time 1:23 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 15

Morgan goes for touch again. Gould says ‘no’ x8 times. Clock stops. The Sharks - just over a minute to go, they’ve got 70 metres to go. They go wide early. Tackled.

NRL: 2nd half extra time 2:02 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 15

Solid from the Cowboys. Morgan drills it into the corner. They need to make something happen, Cronulla. They’re 38 out and Lewis goes for the corner - no field goal attempt? Two minutes to go.

NRL: 2nd half extra time 3:40 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 15

Can Cronulla make their way out? Gallen makes a good run. So does Lewis. Good kick from Maloney. Cowboys have it 15 from their own line.

NRL: 2nd half extra time 4:54 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 15

First time they’ve had the lead, North Queensland. They kick off. Draining stuff, this.

Field Goal! North Queensland 15 - Cronulla 14

Last play before 1st half of extra time and Morgan lands the field goal! He was 10 metres out, nails it, and that will be extra time. Five to go.

NRL: 1st half extra time 2:03 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 14

More good defence from the Sharks. Morgan bombs from 35 metres out, Holmes takes it and is away! He steps off the right foot, loses his balance, and Holmes loses the ball! Replays show Coote got a hand in. Cowboys 40 metres out, six tackles.

NRL: 1st half extra time 3:01 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 14

But Lewis loses the ball. He wasn’t expecting it, there was a bobble, and North Queensland come up with it. Scrum feed and they’ve got 80 metres to go.

NRL: 1st half extra time 4:32 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 14

Sharks on top defensively. Was that a forward pass from Morgan? No. But then Te Maire Martin throws a forward pass. Sharks have a play the ball 45 metres out. Good range. Try or field goal? We’ll see.

A reminder...

Five minutes of extra time each way, and if it’s even, then we go to golden point.

Extra time: Cronulla 14 - North Queensland 14

They clawed their way back in, North Queensland. Cronulla had a chance to win it at the end but Gallen, playing for the penalty(?), squandered it.

Will be a Sharks kick-off, Cowboys first use.

NRL: 2nd half 1:54 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 14

Good defensive set from Cronulla. Holmes takes it on the full and sprints to his forty. Might be in range for a shot at field goal here. Still getting closer. Here it comes. Maloney’s charged down! They get six more. Gallen charges and goes close. He reaches out, he’s not close enough, then he loses the ball! They were one metre out, and he’s lost it! Cowboys ball.

Now a Cowboys penalty for missing the scrum shot clock! The bell sounds! Extra time! Dear oh dear.

In the event of scores level at full time...

There’ll be five minutes of extra time each way before golden point. Let’s see.

Penalty converted: Cronulla 14 - North Queensland 14

Lowe converts. It’s all square here.

Penalty Cowboys

Right in front of the posts. Strip was the call. Replays show he just lost it cold. The Cowboys will take the two.

NRL: 2nd half 4:30 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 12

More drama! The Cowboys, on the last, grubber low for the posts. Fifita tries to intercept it but succeeds only in knocking it on! Six more for the Cowboys. They’re coming hard here.

NRL: 2nd half 6:36 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 12

High tackle Luke Lewis. Penalty Cowboys.

Jack Bird of the Sharks grabs the ball to score a try
Jack Bird of the Sharks grabs the ball to score a try Photograph: Matt King/Getty Images

NRL: 2nd half 6:52 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 12

Coote drops the ball after a sweeping backline move saw him with a 3-on-2. He goes one-handed and spills it. Leutele could have scooted away but dropped in himself. The Sharks are in midfield (to use union parlance), on the halfway line, and they stab it into touch. Curious move. Cowboys with the ball 10 out from their own line. Cronulla ahead by two. Just over seven minutes left.

NRL: 2nd half 9:34 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 12

No dice for the Cowboys; their last tackle kick was a poor grubber easily taken by Cronulla in the field of play. Townsend gets a long kick away after a good defensive set from North Queensland, and it all feels very even.

NRL: 2nd half 11:45 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 12

Massive tackle from Granville sees Bird spill the ball and North Queensland have six tackles, 35 metres out from Cronulla’s line.

This was Taumololo’s try earlier

NRL: 2nd half 13:37 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 12

Line break. The Cowboys had Cronulla pinned in their own area again before a Gallen offload gave Graham some space and he was clean through. Showed great pace for a second rower too. He kept it alive before it was shovelled to Bird who, unbalance and mid-losing the ball, put a grubber through that rolled dead. Breathtaking stuff.

NRL: 2nd half 14:56 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 12

The Cowboys make 70 metres their bomb is taken by Feki.

Kick converted: Cronulla 14 - North Queensland 12

Game on!

Try! Cronulla 14 - North Queensland 10

What a try from Taumololo, inspirational stuff. We looked at replays of tattooed arms and legs but we saw the point of the ball on the ground. Reminiscent of Fifita in the GF last year. Kick to come, should be an easy one.

Going to the screen! Possible North Queensland try!

BARNSTORMING run from Taumololo sees him carry about five Sharks players over the line. The referee calls try and we’re having a look. It looks good!

NRL: 2nd half 20:01 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 6

Fortunate for North Queensland. Te Maire Martin takes the ball to the line and pops a ball blind to no one in particular. Bird looks for an intercept but knocks it on. It means another set for North Queensland.

NRL: 2nd half 21:23 remaining Cronulla 14 – North Queensland 6

Do the Sharks fans have an official trumpeter? I can hear one through the TV. Seems incongruous with everything League is about. Anyway, a classic controlled set from the Sharks after their fortunate try. Townsend kicks for the corner and finds touch. The Cowboys look fractionally deflated.

A look at Bird’s try

Try converted: Cronulla 14 - North Queensland 6

Great kick from Maloney on the right touchline, swings back beautifully.

Try! Cronulla 12 - North Queensland 6

Chad Townsend put through the grubber, and it puts even further scrutiny on the Leuteli incident earlier. Replays show a Cowboys player kneeing the ball in the tackle so there was a little interference, but as Tim Rogers once sung, How Much Is Enough?

Kick to come.

To the screen! Possible Sharks try

Looks it, too. The Sharks surge down field, put a grubber through about twenty out and Bird flies on to the ball and grounds it. This will be a try.

NRL: 2nd half 28:43 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 6

Maloney returns to an far more even contest now. The Sharks try to slither through some space on the left touchline but Feki can’t beat Feldt and he’s flung over the sideline. Bit more of a spring in their step,the Cowboys. Some huge defence sees the Sharks battling desperately to get out of their own 20. And on the last they concede a penalty! Leuteli makes a decent charge and looks to milk one by dropping it. Referee calls ‘strip’ and the Sharks are on the attack. Wow, small margins.

And Lowe’s miss

A look at the Cowboys’ try

Lowe misses

Tough kick - right footer on the right touchline, and he hooks it badly - missing to the left. Second rowers kicking is still very fun though.

Try Cowboys! Cronulla 8 - North Queensland 6 (kick to come)

They make the most of the advantage! A long, looping ball from Morgan leaves Feldt with enough space to finish in the corner. Feki made an effort to bundle him out but Feldt’s too big, too strong. Double cut-out from Morgan; good option. Can Lowe even it up?

NRL: 2nd half 33:12 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 2

Holmes breaks the line 40 metres out but Coote hauls him down. The Cowboys survive after a grubber makes its way in goal but is rushed out. Maloney’s nearly back but the Cowboys are on the charge.

NRL: 2nd half 35:00 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 2

Cronulla solid again as Graham grubbers into the corner on the last. As the Cowboys go forward, it’s Morgan who nearly sends Coote through in the centre of the park with a jinking run and hand off before a highish shot from Holmes brings Coote down. Graham hammered Morgan high too, replays show.

NRL: 2nd half 38:10 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 2

They drop it. Second man play and the ball ends up with Winsterstein who took a hard straight line and it bounces off his chest. Demoralising stuff. The Sharks work it out now. A little hush around the ground.

NRL: 2nd half 39:02 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 2

‘The Sharks have only scored four tries in their last five games in the second half’, says Phil Gould. Can the Cowboys reverse the momentum of the match and make a fast start? They’ll need to be far better than they were in the first half. And some luck! A good set followed by a bomb sees Wade Graham knock the ball on. Attacking set, full backline, 15 metres out.

James Maloney in the sin-bin

Apologies for the omission earlier- James Maloney will spend the first 9 and a half minutes of the second half in the sin-bin after a professional foul on Ethan Lowe. The Cowboys winger was deemed to be impeded by Maloney when going for the ball with a try scoring opportunity beckoning, so Maloney will have a twenty minute half time break.

Half Time: Cronulla 8 - North Queensland 2

North Queensland will be absolute rapt to head to the sheds a try down. They were sloppy and wasteful next to Cronulla’s power and control. A big half time for Paul Green. I’m off for a coffee and will be back for the second half shortly.

Penalty Goal - Cronulla 8 - North Queensland 2

The Cowboys opt for the shot and Ethan Lowe makes no mistake.

NRL: 1st half 5:10 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 0

Relative stability here sees a few completed sets from both teams, have North Queensland finally settled? They’ve been better these last ten minutes, even if they’re still lacking penetration. Gould comments that the Sharks have them in a ‘vice-like grip’.

In the meantime, I’m on grub alert

NRL: 1st half 8:34 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 0

Knock on 10m from their own line gives Cronulla a chance to extend their lead. The Cowboys feel ready for the taking but then Leutele coughs it up! Decent defence from North Queensland but the errors stacking up now.

NRL: 1st half 10:08 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 0

And every time Cronulla get it they just roll forward at will.

Suspect a few people down south would enjoy this tune:

NRL: 1st half 13:53 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 0

Cronulla looking like they belong in week 2 of the finals, the Cowboys anything but. They seem to have no direction, no method for opening up Cronulla, and they’re making a number of low-percentage plays - the latest of which sees the ball go through the hands on the last, and results in the winger Feldt kicking the ball out on the full. They get a penalty soon after though, because that’s what happens.

NRL: 1st half 17:32 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 0

Another penalty to North Queensland! Offside against Gallen. Standard. But fast-arriving defence results in the ball coughed up on the first tackle, and the Sharks will work their way out. Phil Gould opines that ‘you can’t keep throwing long passes if the defence is rushing up!’ The accompanying replays show the Cowboys making short passes.

NRL: 1st half 18:45 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 0

Prior laying all over the play the ball gives North Queensland another set close to the line. They take the tap...

NRL: 1st half 21:08 remaining Cronulla 8 – North Queensland 0

And another penalty for Cronulla to get them away from their red zone and they’re on the attack. Cross field bomb and the Cowboys survive. They need something to change the run of play here. Penalties normally do the trick, but they don’t get one. They do however get an error from Valentine Holmes! Morgan kicks on the fifth and Holmes is done by a leg-breaking bounce. The Cowboys get a chance.

Penalty converted. Cronulla 8 - North Queensland 0

Easy for Maloney.

NRL: 1st half 24:12 remaining Cronulla 6 – North Queensland 0

Scott Bolton has the ball stripped by Jayden Brailey of the Sharks - huge play - and Brailey subsequently earns a penalty! All Sharks here. They’ll take the shot for two and Maloney should make no mistake.

NRL: 1st half 25:42 remaining Cronulla 6 – North Queensland 0

Percentage stuff from the Sharks. Good set, kick to corner. They look controlled. The Cows by comparison seem far more error-prone. They seem patternless and rudderless.

NRL: 1st half 27:43 remaining Cronulla 6 – North Queensland 0

Cursory penalty to North Queensland now as they work their way out of their half. It’s Fifita who concedes it. His tattoos stretch all the way down the outside of his left leg. Maybe they go up the entire left hand side of his body. Anyway, the Cowboys squander their advantage via a huge forward pass from Glanville early in the set. The Sharks march forward.

NRL: 1st half 30:15 remaining Cronulla 6 – North Queensland 0

Further pressure from North Queensland, attacking the Sharks’ left edge close to the goal line. Morgan tries a second man play but huge defence stops them crashing over. Coote tries to grubber through but he jams the ball into the ground and it comes to nought.

NRL: 1st half 34:15 remaining Cronulla 6 – North Queensland 0

Good return set from the Cowboys after early Cronulla dominance. They leave the Sharks deep in the corner of their own defensive end but...penalty. Lying on the play the ball. The Sharks get a piggy back out of there.

A look at the first try here

Try Cronulla! Cronulla 6 North Queensland 0

Chad Townsend with the four pointer. Converted by Maloney 15 metres in from touch.

Going to the screen! Possible try to Cronulla

Townsend puts up the bomb, Winterstein takes it well inside the field of play but is rushed back in goal by Lewis and Bird. In attempting to ground the ball inside the field of play (why?) he loses possession of the ball. Question is whether he grounded it in his own in-goal, and it looks like he doesn’t. The Sharks will draw first blood!

NRL: 1st half 38:00 remaining Cronulla 0 – North Queensland 0

The Cowboys kick off and they’ll run toward the SCG, the Sharks to Paddington. One of these teams might end up at the Paddington RSL after this, actually. Sharks get the early territorial advantage after a few completed sets.

The players are out there.

8th vs 5th, Cowboys to kick off. Someone’s season ends in two hours. Looks to be around 18,000 in attendance. Obviously that will end up being around 27,000.

Shame we won’t be able to see this guy today

Looks like we’ll have one of those (lower-tier) packed houses.

The SFS is sunny

Here’s a run of pics from around the ground.

Hello all

Good morning, afternoon and evening all, and welcome to a special, Rugby League-laden edition of the Guardian’s Sportwatch.

Today we bring you coverage from the last of this weekend’s Finals fixtures, as the reigning premiers of 2016, Cronulla, take on the 2015 winners, North Queensland, in a sudden death battle. (In a weak protest at the now-accepted description of teams by the mascots and not their locales, I will continue to refer to both as ‘Cronulla’ and ‘North Queensland’. Sorry NRL)

‘Busted’ is the popular Rugby League superlative to describe both outfits, and their respective 2017 iterations have seen them slip fractionally down the pecking order. The Sharks enter the fixture as firm-enough favourites though, and it could be easily said that the team affectionately known as the Cows were lucky to be here at all, after St George Illawarra capitulated late to miss out on the finals dance (it’s always a dance).

Compounding matters for the Cowboys is the absence of Johnathan Thurston.

If felt that sentence needed to stand alone, given the enormity of his influence to Paul Green’s team. Without him, they’ll be looking to James Taumololo up front and Michael Morgan in the halves to steer them around the park, and cause a minor upset at the sunshine-bathed Sydney Football Stadium today.

The dry track should suit the Sharks, who’s squad on paper is as competitive as anyone’s. You’d be foolish to rule them out of a deeper run into the finals series, and they should be able to get the job today today. They’re boosted by the return of Wade Graham and Jack Bird from injury, and they’re playing a Cowboys side who’ve lost seven straight at the SFS.

As ever, post me your thoughts criticisms, thinly veiled threats and love letters via the Twitter machine @sjjperry or via email – sam.perry.freelance@guardian.com. Because I’ve spruiked the Sharkies here, North Queensland should be a good shout.

Sharks by 10.

Sam will be here shortly. Here’s Matt Cleary on the finals lineup, in case you missed it:

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