North Queensland Cowboys 28–16 Newcastle Knights — Elimination Final, 2024 NRL Finals Series
14 Sep 2024 · Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville, QLD · Attendance: 24,861
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Elimination Final, 2024 NRL finals series: North Queensland Cowboys 28–16 Newcastle Knights, at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville, QLD on 14 Sep 2024.
Sourcing caveat: Exact minutes for Taulagi, McLean, Brailey, Sharpe, Lucas and Dearden's tries were not confirmable across sources, so are listed without minutes.
Scoring timeline
| 14′ | North Queensland Cowboys — try, Feldt |
| 73′ | North Queensland Cowboys — try, Cotter |
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: Feldt 14'; Taulagi; McLean; Cotter 73'; Dearden Goals: Holmes (4/5 conversions) |
| Newcastle Knights | Tries: Brailey; Lucas; Sharpe Goals: Ponga (2/3 conversions) Sin bin: Leo Thompson — high shot on Feldt (late) |
Team sheets
| North Queensland Cowboys | Newcastle Knights | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Drinkwater | Fullback | Kalyn Ponga | 1 |
| 2 | Kyle Feldt | Wing | Fletcher Sharpe | 2 |
| 3 | Valentine Holmes | Centre | Dane Gagai | 3 |
| 4 | Viliami Vailea | Centre | Dylan Lucas | 4 |
| 5 | Murray Taulagi | Wing | Greg Marzhew | 5 |
| 6 | Tom Dearden | Five-eighth | Jack Cogger | 6 |
| 7 | Jake Clifford | Halfback | Phoenix Crossland | 7 |
| 8 | Jordan McLean | Prop | Daniel Saifiti | 8 |
| 9 | Reece Robson | Hooker | Jayden Brailey | 9 |
| 10 | Jason Taumalolo | Prop | Leo Thompson | 10 |
| 11 | Heilum Luki | Second Row | Tyson Frizell | 11 |
| 12 | Jeremiah Nanai | Second Row | Kai Pearce-Paul | 12 |
| 13 | Reuben Cotter | Lock | Adam Elliott | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Sam McIntyre | Tyson Gamble | 14 | |
| 15 | Harrison Edwards | Mat Croker | 15 | |
| 16 | Kulikefu Finefeuiaki | Jack Hetherington | 16 | |
| 17 | Griffin Neame | Brodie Jones | 17 | |
| Todd Payten | Coach | Adam O'Brien | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Todd Smith |
Match report
North Queensland led early through Kyle Feldt's 14th-minute intercept try, but Newcastle hit back with tries to Jayden Brailey, Fletcher Sharpe and Dylan Lucas to take a 12-4 halftime lead behind Kalyn Ponga's playmaking. The Cowboys stormed back after the break through Murray Taulagi and Jordan McLean to level the contest. The match was decided in the 73rd minute by a bizarre sequence — a Jake Clifford bomb was knocked back by Feldt, deflected off Heilum Luki's knee, was knocked on by Daniel Saifiti, and Reuben Cotter regathered to score the match-winner. Tom Dearden added a late try to seal a 28-16 win, sending North Queensland through to face Cronulla the following week.