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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Bigj
Guest
Yeah just like the Titans were last week, karma"s a pain ain't it!!!
Bigj
Guest
He wouldn't happen to a ex Brendan's player would he?? If so, there is no such thing as a good Yeppoon lad!! GO NORTH ROCKY!!!
The Barry
Roar Guru
You don't know what you're talking about - again. 1. I was mucking about with my comment, hence the smiley face. 2. Thurston played three seasons with the Bulldogs 2002 - 2004. 3. In 2005 he played for Queensland, played in a grand final and won the Dally M. It didn't take several seasons at all for him to become a great player. 4. The Bulldogs signed him and gave him a chance when no one else - including the Cowboys - would. I come on here to have intelligent discussion and debate with intelligent people who love rugby league. You are an annoying cretin. Your grammar and spelling are pathetic, your thought processes lag behind a six year old child, you don't know what you're talking about, you can't express ideas coherently, you're bigoted, you make polarising statements without a single shred of evidence, you come up with absurd random theories and you're generally too slow on the uptake to realise when you're being insulted. In short you are everything that's wrong with the Internet and social media and I have no intention of engaging with you further. This is not banter. This is not me pulling the leg of old bigj. Life is too short to waste time engaging with someone who I wouldn't give the time of day to in any other aspect of my life. Enjoy your time on the roar.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Proper extra time for finals is the way to go, now drop GP for competition matches and leave the result as a draw. On thrGillett trip, why was he not sent off. It was deliberate
Bigj
Guest
Barry, you just could not help yourself could you? JT what a legend ex bulldog great?? He was never a great at the Bulldogs, he lasted one season, left for the Cowboys then took several seasons to become who he is today. Don't think for one season that the Bulldogs had anything to do with him turning into a great player, you can thank the Cowboys, graham Murray, Neil Henry, big mal and Paul green for that. The dogs did nothing for him, and that's that
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Despite Parker not veing at his best him and Wallace are huge losses and I dont know if the broncos have replacements lined up.
Joel R
Guest
A lot of you guys have already written off the force from the Far North next week? is it nerves, fear not wanting to see hem in another Grand Final ...
Dan
Guest
I think you're partly right though possibly coming at it from a different angle. The defensive technique of the Broncos, particularly the first contact, is different to Melbourne and even the Cowboys, and has been largely ineffective at the Broncos defenders making great first contact and controlling the tackle. So in general, teams playing against the Broncos will get a quicker play the ball because of deficiencies in their defensive technique. And the Cowboys were a bit off their game last night and allowed the Broncos to dominate the ruck in attack, meaning the Broncos were able to get quicker play the balls. The week before, the Cowboys showed they could match it with the Storm in terms of executing their defensive techniques effectively. The referees will generally allow a longer time period for the defensive team in the ruck when it is dominant tackle. And the reason why Melbourne seem to be allowed more team, is simply because their technique is so good and effective, they end up dominating most of the tackles throughout a game, giving themselves greater opportunity to execute their groundwork.
Dan
Guest
Kind of. They are there to make sure the ball carrier is put to the ground, which is why third man in wraps up the legs. As soon as the ball carrier hits the deck, they can clear the ruck and quickly move back into the A defender role in the line, leaving the other two defenders to work their way to marker. The second tackler will get up first and take their place at second marker while the first tackler continues the ground work before getting. Obviously the more defending bodies in the tackle, the slower the tackle is.
Howard
Guest
So the Broncos are gone for 2016. Great! What will I miss about them? --Their continual offside especially on the goal line --Parkers arguing with the ref over every decision --Blair's leg twisting of opponents --Parkers 'sneaky' cheap shots --Allan Langers coaching and directing from behind the play ( he spends more time on the field than any interchange. --McGuires grubbiness --Their dominance of Friday night football --Lewis and Lockyer biased reporting There is more but it's great their gone this season- that's two Qld teams out in two weeks maybe, third time lucky next week when NQ goes.
Hodgo
Guest
Went to the game. Must have seen a different game, judging by the majority of comments here. The Broncos were walking back into position within the first ten minutes. Their play-the- ball was oh so slow for most of the game. The Cowboys had them going backwards all night and really should have won convincingly within regulation time; most of the action taking place at the Broncos end of the field. Broncos only ever got inside the Cowboys 20 a couple of times each half. Where the match was lost for Brisbane, was in dropping the ball on the Cowboys line within two or three tackles after the Cowboys fullback had made a meal of gathering in a kick. This was not long after the Oates scored. If Brisbane scored they would have lead by 12 and it would have been a whole different ball game.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Interesting you say the Storm have a big pack, I've always thought of them as being around the average size -- they've certainly got a few big units (Asofa-Solomona and McLean), besides Bromwich who is a bit above the average the others fall around the normal or even a bit small range for their position (and style they play it) but have compensating factors that balance them out nicely.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Definitely need bigger forwards. Storm learned that lesson over the last few seasons and now have a big pack as a result. Bromwich, Maclean, Glasby and Nelson Asofa are all big bodies. Proctor and Harris are big boys too. Finucane probably is the smallest but he can hit and has a big engine. Broncos are losing Wallace who looks to be a good prospect. Pangai also has some size. The guy who had the beef with Mcguire at training also was a big boy. Just time for Bennett to let go the small forward game plan.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Yes he was definitely playing injured. He was hooked after the first O'Neil try.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Yep. Poor O'Neil got completely ignored in the celebration by teammates when he was the main defender. Not to mention his two tries that got them back in the game where he clearly beats his opponent one on one.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Sterlo is sorely overrated, his contribution is generally to clarify the game state and almost everything else is opinions (sometimes well supported, sometimes not) rather than analysis of the play.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
I called it like i lived it..
AD
Guest
Well done to the two teams on a fantastic game. Footy was the focus and a lot of mutual respect between the two teams. great to see so much input from the younger guys in the cowboys like taumololo and Hess. Amazing how fast O'Neill looked when he scored that second try. I hope he can continue that form for next week. Cronulla will try and rough up Ponga next week with a few high balls, Ennis face massages etc. the usual NSW niggle tactics.
Pomski
Guest
Wtf! O'Niel was basically the one that stopped the try from getting scored. Even with JT coming in, O'Niel would have taken him out regardless. But good effort from JT to make it there.
Mike from tari
Guest
McGuire has always been a grub, along with Parker & Blair.