The North Queensland Cowboys host their Sunshine State cousins, the Brisbane Broncos, at 1300SMILES Stadium this Saturday in an all-Queensland 2014 NRL finals encounter.
The Cowboys will be hoping for a repeat of the first week of the 2012 finals, where the men from Townsville ran out 33-16 victors over their Brisbane-based opponents thanks to a Michael Morgan hat-trick and some tidy kicking from Johnathan Thurston.
The Cowboys current halves pairing of Johnathan Thurston and Robert Lui are looking equally impressive, combining wonderfully to see off Manly (and their minor premiership aspirations) on Saturday in Townsville in front of 22,000 fans. Lui’s sparkling form and Thurston’s tactical nous were at the fore in the 30-16 victory, and we can expect a similar number of passionate Cowboys fans to get to the game this Saturday.
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The Auckland Nines Man of the Tournament Kyle Feldt nabbed a handy double, and with tries from Lui, Antonio Winterstein and Kane Linnet also, the Cowboys were too strong for a Manly side bereft of the Stewart brothers through injury, as well as Matt Ballin (broken leg) and Jamie Buhrer (ACL).
Brisbane, on the other hand, limped into the finals after a lacklustre performance at AAMI Park against the Storm, losing 22-12. Fortunately for them, the Warriors and the Eels also lost, meaning their eighth spot was safe.
The Broncos’ wins seem to be drying up late in the season, which could be attributed to their ageing squad rather than any list of injured superstars.
The Storm were too strong at home for the Broncos last week, with defensive workhorses Andrew McCullough, who has tallied over 1000 tackles this season, and Ben Hannant unable to contain a Melbourne side with experienced heads in all the necessary positions. Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith ran the show, but it was 21-year-old centre Mahe Fonua who stole the plaudits with a two-try effort.
Brisbane’s injury list is smaller than most at this stage of the season, with David Stagg and Jack Reed set to sit out this weekend’s game with season-ending injuries. Five-eighth/fullback Josh Hoffman has been adjudged unfit again after sustaining an ankle injury in Round 23, meaning Justin Hodges will start from fullback and Bens Barba and Hunt to partner in the halves.
The Cowboys are without three of their roster for their first finals encounter, with Brent Tate, Cameron King and Lachlan Coote all with season-ending ACL injuries.
| Winner | Score | Venue | Round | Season |
| North Queensland | 27-14 | 1300SMILES Stadium | Round 9 | 2014 |
| Brisbane | 16-12 | Suncorp Stadium | Round 2 | 2014 |
| Brisbane | 18-16 | 1300SMILES Stadium | Round 20 | 2013 |
| Brisbane | 12/10/2014 | Suncorp Stadium | Round 6 | 2013 |
| North Queensland | 33-16 | 1300SMILES Stadium | Finals Week 1 | 2012 |
History favours the big brother Broncos in the overall head-to-head, with Brisbane winning 27 of the 38 games the two clubs have played against each other, including 15 wins at 1300 Smiles Stadium.
However, with Brisbane looking less impressive each game this season, and the irresistable form of Thurston, Lui and Feldt, it would be hard to tip against the Cowboys at home.
Players to watch
| Kyle Feldt (NQL) | Robert Lui (NQL) | Johnathan Thurston (NQL) | Dale Copley (BRI) | Ben Hunt (BRI) | Andrew McCullough (BRI) | |
| Position | Wing | Halfback | Five-Eighth | Centre | Halfback | Hooker |
| Games | 8 | 23 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 22 |
| Tries | 7 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 13 | 3 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 82 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| Field Goals | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Points | 28 | 16 | 208 | 64 | 94 | 13 |
| Tackles | 37 | 364 | 324 | 119 | 444 | 1060 |
| Running Metres | 878 | 956 | 1403 | 2149 | 1400 | 1237 |
| Hit ups | 19 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 0 |
Cowboys team list:
1 Michael Morgan
2 Kyle Feldt
3 Tautau Moga
4 Kane Linnett
5 Antonio Winterstein
6 Robert Lui
7 Johnathan Thurston (c)
8 Matt Scott (c)
9 Rory Kostjasyn
10 Ashton Sims
11 Gavin Cooper
12 Tariq Sims
13 Jason Taumalolo
Interchange
14 Ray Thompson
15 Scott Bolton
16 Glenn Hall
17 James Tamou
Broncos team list:
1 Justin Hodges (c)
2 Daniel Vidot
3 Corey Oates
4 Dale Copley
5 Lachlan Maranta
6 Ben Barba
7 Ben Hunt
8 Josh McGuire
9 Andrew McCullough
10 Corey Parker (c)
11 Alex Glenn
12 Matt Gillett
13 Sam Thaiday
Interchange
14 Jarrod Wallace
15 Martin Kennedy
16 Ben Hannant
17 Todd Lowrie
18 David Hala
Join The Roar from 7:45pm AEST on Saturday evening for all the action from the first Elimination final between the Broncos and the Cowboys.
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