North Queensland Cowboys 26–20 Brisbane Broncos — Semi-Final, 2016 NRL Finals Series
16 Sep 2016 · 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville, QLD · Attendance: 23,804
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-Final, 2016 NRL finals series: North Queensland Cowboys 26–20 Brisbane Broncos, at 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville, QLD on 16 Sep 2016.
Sourcing caveat: Attendance shows a minor discrepancy between sources (23,804 vs 23,904) — likely a digit-transposition variant. Individual try/goal minute markers, aside from Morgan's extra-time try and Thurston's late equalising penalty, were not available in sources found. No official player-of-the-match award was found for this fixture.
Scorers
| North Queensland Cowboys | Tries: O'Neill; O'Neill; Hess; Morgan (golden point, ~84') Goals: Thurston (3/4 conversions); Thurston — 2 penalty goals |
| Brisbane Broncos | Tries: McCullough; Kahu; Oates Goals: Kahu (3/3 conversions); Kahu — penalty goal |
Team sheets
| North Queensland Cowboys | Brisbane Broncos | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lachlan Coote | Fullback | Darius Boyd | 1 |
| 2 | Kyle Feldt | Wing | Corey Oates | 2 |
| 3 | Justin O'Neill | Centre | Tom Opacic | 3 |
| 4 | Javid Bowen | Centre | Jordan Kahu | 5 |
| 18 | Kalyn Ponga | Wing | Jonus Pearson | 18 |
| 6 | Michael Morgan | Five-Eighth | Anthony Milford | 6 |
| 7 | Johnathan Thurston | Halfback | Ben Hunt | 7 |
| 8 | Matthew Scott | Prop | Josh McGuire | 8 |
| 9 | Jake Granville | Hooker | Andrew McCullough | 9 |
| 10 | James Tamou | Prop | Adam Blair | 10 |
| 11 | Gavin Cooper | Second-Row | Sam Thaiday | 11 |
| 15 | Coen Hess | Second-Row | Matt Gillett | 12 |
| 13 | Jason Taumalolo | Lock | Corey Parker (c) | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Rory Kostjasyn | Jarrod Wallace | 14 | |
| 16 | Scott Bolton | Tevita Pangai Junior | 15 | |
| 17 | Ben Hannant | Jai Arrow | 16 | |
| 20 | John Asiata | Alex Glenn | 17 | |
| Paul Green | Coach | Wayne Bennett | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Matt Cecchin |
Match report
North Queensland hosted Brisbane in the Finals Week 2 semi-final at 1300SMILES Stadium on 16 September 2016, with the winner advancing to a preliminary final. Brisbane led at halftime and looked to be cruising, but the Cowboys hit back through two Justin O'Neill tries either side of a Coen Hess score to draw level. Corey Oates then restored Brisbane's lead, with the Broncos seemingly set to close out the contest. With only around three minutes remaining, however, the Cowboys were awarded a penalty after a Broncos defender was penalised for tripping Johnathan Thurston, and Thurston slotted the match-levelling goal to send the semi-final to golden-point extra time locked at 20-20. In the extra period, Thurston again proved decisive, breaking the line and flicking an inside ball to halves partner Michael Morgan, who crossed for the match-winning try, sealing a 26-20 victory and sending North Queensland through to a preliminary final against Melbourne.