Brisbane Broncos 16–12 North Queensland Cowboys — Qualifying Final, 2015 NRL Finals Series
12 Sep 2015 · Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD · Attendance: 50,388
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2015 NRL finals series: Brisbane Broncos 16–12 North Queensland Cowboys, at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD on 12 Sep 2015.
Sourcing caveat: Winterstein's try minute and the exact conversion-vs-penalty-goal split for Parker's and Thurston's kicking (RLP lists only combined goal totals) could not be independently confirmed, though the halftime/full-time scoreline is consistent with the totals given. No official player-of-the-match award could be confirmed for this fixture.
Scoring timeline
| 27′ | Brisbane Broncos — try, Hunt |
| 65′ | Brisbane Broncos — try, Milford |
Tries with a sourced minute, in order scored, with the conversion kicked/missed alongside each one where source data lets us match a kicker to that specific try. Tries whose exact minute isn't recorded in available sources appear in the Scorers table below but not here; goal tallies we can't attribute to one specific try are shown as descriptive text in Scorers rather than guessed into this timeline.
Scorers
| Brisbane Broncos | Tries: Hunt 27'; Milford 65' Goals: Parker (4/4 goals — conversions and penalty goals combined) |
| North Queensland Cowboys | Tries: Winterstein (2nd half); Thurston ~72' Goals: Thurston (2/3 goals — conversions and penalty goals combined) |
Team sheets
| Brisbane Broncos | North Queensland Cowboys | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darius Boyd | Fullback | Lachlan Coote | 1 |
| 2 | Corey Oates | Wing | Kyle Feldt | 2 |
| 3 | Jack Reed | Centre | Justin O'Neill | 3 |
| 4 | Justin Hodges (c) | Centre | Kane Linnett | 4 |
| 5 | Jordan Kahu | Wing | Antonio Winterstein | 5 |
| 6 | Anthony Milford | Five-Eighth | Michael Morgan | 6 |
| 7 | Ben Hunt | Halfback | Johnathan Thurston (c) | 7 |
| 8 | Sam Thaiday | Prop | Matthew Scott | 8 |
| 9 | Andrew McCullough | Hooker | Jake Granville | 9 |
| 10 | Adam Blair | Prop | James Tamou | 10 |
| 11 | Alex Glenn | Second-Row | Gavin Cooper | 11 |
| 12 | Matt Gillett | Second-Row | Ethan Lowe | 12 |
| 13 | Corey Parker | Lock | Jason Taumalolo | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Jarrod Wallace | John Asiata | 15 | |
| 15 | Mitchell Dodds | Scott Bolton | 16 | |
| 16 | Joe Ofahengaue | Ben Hannant | 17 | |
| 17 | Kodi Nikorima | Ray Thompson | 23 | |
| Wayne Bennett | Coach | Paul Green | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Gavin Badger and Gerard Sutton (two-referee system) |
Match report
The first of the 2015 Qualifying Finals was an all-Queensland derby at a sold-out Suncorp Stadium. Ben Hunt broke the deadlock in the 27th minute with a 40-metre individual try, and Corey Parker's boot helped Brisbane to an 8-2 half-time lead. North Queensland hit back after the break through Antonio Winterstein, before Anthony Milford restored Brisbane's buffer off a bench utility bust from Kodi Nikorima. Johnathan Thurston kept the Cowboys alive with a try roughly eight minutes from time, but a rare missed conversion denied North Queensland a grandstand finish, and Brisbane held on 16-12. The win was Wayne Bennett's first finals victory at Lang Park after eight consecutive finals losses, and Brisbane's first finals win since 2011 — both sides would meet again five weeks later in the Grand Final.