Cronulla-Sutherland 36–10 Canberra Raiders — Qualifying Final, 2008 NRL Finals Series
13 Sep 2008 · Toyota Park, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 18,252
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2008 NRL finals series: Cronulla-Sutherland 36–10 Canberra Raiders, at Toyota Park, Sydney, NSW on 13 Sep 2008.
Sourcing caveat: No try/goal minute timestamps were found for this fixture. Canberra's bench included Brett Kelly wearing #5 (duplicating starting winger Marshall Chalk's #5) — confirmed genuine flexible squad numbering for this era, not an extraction error.
Scorers
| Cronulla-Sutherland | Tries: Taulapapa; Taulapapa; Taulapapa; Covell; Kearney; Pomeroy; Seymour Goals: Covell (3/7 conversions); Kimmorley (1/1 conversion) |
| Canberra Raiders | Tries: Best; Chalk Goals: Campese (1/2 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Cronulla-Sutherland | Canberra Raiders | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brett Kearney | Fullback | David Milne | 1 |
| 2 | Misi Taulapapa | Wing | Adrian Purtell | 2 |
| 3 | Ben Pomeroy | Centre | Colin Best | 3 |
| 4 | David Simmons | Centre | Joel Monaghan | 4 |
| 5 | Luke Covell | Wing | Marshall Chalk | 5 |
| 6 | Brett Seymour | Five-Eighth | Terry Campese | 6 |
| 7 | Brett Kimmorley | Halfback | Glen Buttriss | 7 |
| 8 | Ben Ross | Prop | Scott Logan | 8 |
| 9 | Isaac De Gois | Hooker | Ryan Hinchcliffe | 9 |
| 10 | Adam Peek | Prop | Dane Tilse | 10 |
| 11 | Luke Douglas | Second Row | Nigel Plum | 11 |
| 12 | Fraser Anderson | Second Row | Joe Picker | 12 |
| 13 | Paul Gallen (c) | Lock | Alan Tongue (c) | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Danny Nutley | Brett Kelly | 5 | |
| 15 | Bryan Norrie | Josh Miller | 14 | |
| 16 | Kade Snowden | Neville Costigan | 16 | |
| 19 | Blake Green | Trevor Thurling | 17 | |
| Ricky Stuart | Coach | Neil Henry | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Jared Maxwell |
Match report
Cronulla, hosting their first home final since 2001, ran riot early with a 14-0 lead at the break and never looked back. Misi Taulapapa's hat-trick on the wing was the standout individual performance, while Canberra's response — tries to Colin Best and Marshall Chalk — was too little too late.