North Queensland Cowboys 32–20 Brisbane Broncos — Elimination Final, 2014 NRL Finals Series
13 Sep 2014 · 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville, QLD · Attendance: 25,120
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Elimination Final, 2014 NRL finals series: North Queensland Cowboys 32–20 Brisbane Broncos, at 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville, QLD on 13 Sep 2014.
Sourcing caveat: rugbyleagueproject.org's own database labels this fixture 'Qualifying Final' rather than 'Elimination Final' despite the 5th-v-8th seeding — this site follows the structural/media convention instead. Try-scoring minutes come from a secondary match report and are indicative rather than certain. No official player-of-the-match award could be confirmed for this fixture.
Scorers
| North Queensland Cowboys | Tries: Cooper (2 tries); Linnett; Lui; Morgan Goals: Thurston (6/6 conversions) |
| Brisbane Broncos | Tries: Kahu (2 tries); Barba; Vidot Goals: Parker (2/4 conversions) |
Team sheets
| North Queensland Cowboys | Brisbane Broncos | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Morgan | Fullback | Justin Hodges | 1 |
| 2 | Kyle Feldt | Wing | Daniel Vidot | 2 |
| 3 | Tautau Moga | Centre | Jordan Kahu | 3 |
| 4 | Kane Linnett | Centre | Dale Copley | 4 |
| 5 | Antonio Winterstein | Wing | Lachlan Maranta | 5 |
| 6 | Robert Lui | Five-Eighth | Ben Barba | 6 |
| 7 | Johnathan Thurston (c) | Halfback | Ben Hunt | 7 |
| 8 | Matthew Scott (c) | Prop | Josh McGuire | 8 |
| 9 | Rory Kostjasyn | Hooker | Andrew McCullough | 9 |
| 10 | Ashton Sims | Prop | Corey Parker (c) | 10 |
| 11 | Gavin Cooper | Second-Row | Alex Glenn | 11 |
| 12 | Tariq Sims | Second-Row | Matt Gillett | 12 |
| 13 | Jason Taumalolo | Lock | Sam Thaiday | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Ray Thompson | Jarrod Wallace | 14 | |
| 15 | Scott Bolton | Martin Kennedy | 15 | |
| 16 | Glenn Hall | Ben Hannant | 16 | |
| 17 | James Tamou | Corey Oates | 17 | |
| Paul Green | Coach | Anthony Griffin | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Gerard Sutton and Ben Cummins (two-referee system) |
Match report
North Queensland were ruthless in the opening 40 minutes at 1300SMILES Stadium, racing to a 24-0 half-time lead built on tries to Gavin Cooper (two), Kane Linnett and Robert Lui, with Johnathan Thurston immaculate off the tee. Brisbane, unsettled after a difficult season under coach Anthony Griffin, rallied after the break through tries to Ben Barba, Jordan Kahu (two) and Daniel Vidot to pull the score to a respectable 32-20, but the deficit proved unassailable. The result sent the Cowboys through to a semi-final against Sydney Roosters and ended Brisbane's season, effectively closing out Griffin's tenure as head coach ahead of Wayne Bennett's return for 2015. It marked the Cowboys' third straight finals win over the Broncos in Townsville.