- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Cronulla Sharks are through to their first NRL Grand Final in almost two decades after they defeated the North Queensland Cowboys in a dominating display at Allianz Stadium by 12 points.
Cronulla came flying out of the gates, and the Cowboys never got into the match being dominated in the forwards and not able to control the Sharks creative weapons.
After playing a 90-minute epic last week, the Cowboys were fatigued from the get-go and were at only 41 per cent possession through the first half, being held scoreless to the break and making a lot of errors, making themselves their own worst enemy.
Lachlan Coote set the tone in the first set of the match dropping a simple kick and while their defence held the Sharks out for the first quarter of the game it was never going to be enough.
Matt Prior and Andrew Fifita led things early with some brilliant work from Wade Graham and Paul Gallen that allowed Cronulla to dominate up the middle, leaving the Cowboys with no chance of answering.
Graham’s combination with Maloney on the left edge was fantastic all game long, and they looked incredibly dangerous. With the kicking game from the halves being pin-point accurate and Ennis playing somewhere near his best the Sharks would have dominated the Cowboys on a good day.
The scoring opened in the 17th minute as James Maloney was forced to slot over a penalty goal. Given the Sharks had all the ball up until that point, it seemed like a moral victory for North Queensland.
The Sharks would score their first try just five minutes later though on the back of an error and scrum, with Fifita offloading to set up a try for Siosaia Feki in the corner.
Maloney then slotted another penalty goal to extend the lead to eight, before Chad Townsend struck right on the stroke of halftime with a long-range effort and a final pass that had a few questions over it from Maloney.
It was clear heading into the second half that the Cowboys would need an excellent start and that’s exactly what they got as they scored in the second minute through Lachlan Coote, who got a freakish bounce on a grubber from Johnathan Thurston.
It wouldn’t make up for his plethora of mistakes in the first half though as it only temporarily eased the pain for the Cowboys who were back on the rack shortly afterwards.
The Sharks would score ten minutes later through Luke Lewis after Michael Ennis went from dummy half, linking with Jason Bukuya who then threw a short ball to Lewis who crashed over.
Three minutes later, Cronulla were over again after they went the length of the field on the back of a penalty, with Maloney going himself and scoring through the defence.
The lead continued to grow with Maloney slotting over another penalty goal before he finished it off himself with a long range effort from an intercept.
Kyle Feldt would score a pair of consolation tries for the Cowboys before Coen Hess also scored in the last two minutes as the Cowboys put on a late rampage, but in the end, it was all too little, too late.
The Sharks then, through to their first grand final since the super league war and will finally hope to clinch their first premiership against either the Canberra Raiders or Cronulla Sharks.
Final score
Cronulla Sharks 32
North Queensland Cowboys 22
Match Statistics
Tries: Sharks (5), Cowboys (4)
Conversions: Sharks (3/5), Cowboys (2/4)
Possession: Sharks (54%), Cowboys (46%)
Completions: Sharks (32/38), Cowboys (24/31)
All Runs: Sharks (170), Cowboys (124)
All run metres: Sharks (1576), Cowboys (1028)
Line breaks: Sharks (5), Cowboys (2)
Offloads: Sharks (13), Cowboys (6)
Missed tackles: Sharks (15), Cowboys (53)
Penalties: Sharks (6), Cowboys (8)
Errors: Sharks (7), Cowboys (11)
The Roar’s NRL Finals MVP
3 – James Maloney
2 – Chad Townsend
1 – Wade Graham
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde