North Queensland Cowboys 32–30 Cronulla-Sutherland — Qualifying Final, 2022 NRL Finals Series
10 Sep 2022 · PointsBet Stadium, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 12,447
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2022 NRL finals series: North Queensland Cowboys 32–30 Cronulla-Sutherland, at PointsBet Stadium, Sydney, NSW on 10 Sep 2022.
Sourcing caveat: Attendance and referee could only be sourced to rugbyleagueproject.org and were not independently corroborated elsewhere. No official player-of-the-match award was found for this fixture. Holmes's golden-point winner is worth 2 points under the NRL's 2021-introduced rule for field goals kicked from outside the 40m line (his was struck from 45m) — an earlier version of this entry recorded it as a standard 1-point field goal, which left the score 1 point short of reconciling (5 tries + 5 conversions + 1 = 31, not the actual 32).
Scoring timeline
| 3′ | Cronulla-Sutherland — try, Rudolf |
| 8′ | North Queensland Cowboys — try, Gilbert |
| 25′ | Cronulla-Sutherland — try, Talakai |
| 29′ | North Queensland Cowboys — try, Dearden |
| 32′ | North Queensland Cowboys — try, Hiku |
| 33′ | Cronulla-Sutherland — try, Kennedy |
| 48′ | Cronulla-Sutherland — try, McInnes |
| 53′ | North Queensland Cowboys — try, Taulagi |
| 67′ | Cronulla-Sutherland — try, Kennedy |
| 79′ | North Queensland Cowboys — try, Taumalolo |
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
| North Queensland Cowboys | Tries: Gilbert 8'; Dearden 29'; Hiku 32'; Taulagi 53'; Taumalolo 79' Goals: Holmes (5/6 conversions) Drop goals: Holmes — 2-point field goal (45m, outside the 40m line, golden point, 93') |
| Cronulla-Sutherland | Tries: Rudolf 3'; Talakai 25'; Kennedy 33'; McInnes 48'; Kennedy 67' Goals: Hynes (5/5 conversions) |
Team sheets
| North Queensland Cowboys | Cronulla-Sutherland | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Drinkwater | Fullback | William Kennedy | 1 |
| 2 | Kyle Feldt | Wing | Connor Tracey | 2 |
| 3 | Valentine Holmes | Centre | Jesse Ramien | 3 |
| 4 | Peta Hiku | Centre | Siosifa Talakai | 4 |
| 5 | Murray Taulagi | Wing | Ronaldo Mulitalo | 5 |
| 6 | Tom Dearden | Five-eighth | Matt Moylan | 6 |
| 7 | Chad Townsend | Halfback | Nicho Hynes | 7 |
| 8 | Jordan McLean | Prop | Toby Rudolf | 8 |
| 9 | Reece Robson | Hooker | Blayke Brailey | 9 |
| 10 | Reuben Cotter | Prop | Royce Hunt | 10 |
| 15 | Tom Gilbert | Second Row | Briton Nikora | 11 |
| 12 | Jeremiah Nanai | Second Row | Wade Graham | 12 |
| 13 | Jason Taumalolo | Lock | Dale Finucane | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 11 | Luciano Leilua | Teig Wilton | 14 | |
| 14 | Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow | Cameron McInnes | 15 | |
| 16 | Coen Hess | Braden Hamlin-Uele | 16 | |
| 17 | Griffin Neame | Andrew Fifita | 17 | |
| Todd Payten | Coach | Craig Fitzgibbon | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Adam Gee |
Match report
Cronulla flew out of the blocks, Toby Rudolf crashing over inside three minutes, but North Queensland hit back through Tom Gilbert before Siosifa Talakai and William Kennedy restored the Sharks' buffer. Tom Dearden and Peta Hiku tries either side of half-time had the Cowboys within touching distance, and Murray Taulagi's second-half four-pointer kept them level, only for Cameron McInnes and a second Kennedy try to push Cronulla clear. Jason Taumalolo barged over in the 79th minute to lock the scores at 30-30 and send the qualifying final to golden point. The first five-minute period yielded nothing; in the second, Nicho Hynes had a long-range field-goal attempt charged down. Then Cowboys forwards Jason Taumalolo and Reuben Cotter drove hard down the middle to shift field position, and Valentine Holmes — a former Shark himself — stepped up and slotted a 45-metre field goal to seal a 32-30 win, sending North Queensland into their first preliminary final since 2017.