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Six talking points from North Queensland Cowboys vs Brisbane Broncos NRL semi-final

17th September, 2016
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JT delivers the Cowboys a premiership. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
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17th September, 2016
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The North Queensland Cowboys defeated the Brisbane Broncos by six points in an absolutely thrilling first NRL semi-final.

The win sends the Cowboys into the preliminary finals, keeping their dream of back-to-back premierships alive.

The Broncos are out at the hands of Johnathan Thurston’s Cowboys for the second year in a row after losing last year’s grand final in extra time.

The Cowboys will now take on the Cronulla Sharks next weekend.

Here are The Roar‘s talking points from the first NRL semi-final.

Is this the NRL’s best matchup?
Do these teams ever produce a bad match? This was another nailbiter after games were decided by low scores earlier this season and of course, last year’s grand final went to Golden Point.

The pace of their matches is fast and furious, and they never seem to have a break. Simply put, it’s brilliant end-to-end stuff and neither team takes a backward seat when playing their Queensland rivals.

If you could watch these sides go at it every other week, no one would be complaining.

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The Cowboys won’t beat the Sharks
While the loser was eliminated tonight, the winner doesn’t have it easy.

While the Cronulla Sharks sat at home with their feet up, the Cowboys battled it out in incredibly humid conditions, playing the game at breakneck speed.

You could almost hear the cheer that went up around the Shire from Townsville when the game went to extra time, with another ten punishing minutes awaiting the players.

The Cowboys fitness and support staff are going to be working overtime to get this team ready for next week, but on the back of a performance like that it’s hard to see how they are going to have anything left in seven days if another 80 (or 90) minutes at pace was to proceed.

Jason Taumalolo has no comparison
The human wrecking ball. Can anyone really deny that after yet another performance that announced himself as the premier lock in the game?

He had over 150 metres at the halftime break and didn’t look back, finishing with well over 230. It’s not just the amount of metres though – he takes numbers to tackle every time he gets the ball and always makes it look like something is about to happen.

It’s not really a wonder that the big Cowboys lock finished second in The Roar‘s NRL MVP series this season and he must give opposition teams nightmares about trying to tackle him.

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Cometh the hour, cometh the man
Is there anyone better in rugby league right now than Johnathan Thurston?

It was a long way from being the best game he has ever played, but the way he stepped up in extra time to deliver the try for Michael Morgan, breaking the line and just doing it all at the crucial time shows why he is the best, and there is no comparison.

He was involved in all the Cowboys lead up plays, and helped spark their recovery effort during the second half as they came back to win the match after being behind during the early going of the second half.

His goal kicking under pressure was also fantastic to tie the game.

There is no arguing it. Johnathan Thurston is simply the best.

Where to now for the Broncos?
The Broncos had a strong season. Still, the way they came out of the Origin period and never really recovered has to be concerning.

Under Wayne Bennett, with the squad they have, they should have been able to re-capture their form at some point and make a really strong effort to finish in the top couple of sides. They should have a double chance in the finals.

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Anything less than a grand final appearance was a failed season for Brisbane this year.

A true superstar is needed, and maybe most of all in the forwards.

Corey Parker is going to be incredibly hard to replace moving forward with his running and offloading game, while Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt’s form for the last three months has been very poor.

One way or another, they have to get things working and it all comes down to Milford and Hunt who must find a way to get their combination, and that with Darius Boyd, clicking from Round 1 next year.

How good is the extra time model?
There are so many positives to take out of this incredible match, but maybe none more so than the benefit of playing extra time than golden point.

Instead of the teams lining up for as long as it takes to finally nail a field goal, both teams looked to throw it around and put points on board.

Neither even looking at the option of a field goal until the Cowboys were six points up with three minutes to go.

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The try that won the game mightn’t have been flamboyant, but the extra time period allows teams to play footy, and aim to score tries rather than turn it into field goal shootout.

That is The Roar‘s talking points from an incredible game of Rugby League. What did you think of the match Roarers? Drop a comment below and let us know!

Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde

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