Cronulla-Sutherland 26–18 North Queensland Cowboys — Semi-Final, 2024 NRL Finals Series
20 Sep 2024 · Allianz Stadium, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 19,124
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-Final, 2024 NRL finals series: Cronulla-Sutherland 26–18 North Queensland Cowboys, at Allianz Stadium, Sydney, NSW on 20 Sep 2024.
Sourcing caveat: Mulitalo's two try minutes were not confirmable, and NRL.com's report lists a differing scorer sequence to rugbyleagueproject.org (which was followed here as the primary source) — flagged rather than silently resolved.
Scoring timeline
| 14′ | Cronulla-Sutherland — try, Penalty try |
| 16′ | Cronulla-Sutherland — try, McInnes |
| 42′ | North Queensland Cowboys — try, Holmes |
| 55′ | North Queensland Cowboys — try, Cotter |
| 70′ | North Queensland Cowboys — try, Holmes |
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
| Cronulla-Sutherland | Tries: Penalty try 14'; McInnes 16'; Mulitalo (2) Goals: Hynes (5/5 conversions) |
| North Queensland Cowboys | Tries: Holmes (2) 42', 70'; Cotter 55' Goals: Holmes (2/2 conversions); Drinkwater (1/1 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Cronulla-Sutherland | North Queensland Cowboys | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Kennedy | Fullback | Scott Drinkwater | 1 |
| 2 | Sione Katoa | Wing | Kyle Feldt | 2 |
| 3 | KL Iro | Centre | Valentine Holmes | 3 |
| 4 | Jesse Ramien | Centre | Viliami Vailea | 4 |
| 5 | Ronaldo Mulitalo | Wing | Murray Taulagi | 5 |
| 6 | Braydon Trindall | Five-eighth | Tom Dearden | 6 |
| 7 | Nicho Hynes | Halfback | Jake Clifford | 7 |
| 8 | Toby Rudolf | Prop | Jordan McLean | 8 |
| 9 | Blayke Brailey | Hooker | Reece Robson | 9 |
| 10 | Oregon Kaufusi | Prop | Jason Taumalolo | 10 |
| 11 | Briton Nikora | Second Row | Heilum Luki | 11 |
| 12 | Teig Wilton | Second Row | Jeremiah Nanai | 12 |
| 13 | Cameron McInnes | Lock | Reuben Cotter | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Siosifa Talakai | Sam McIntyre | 14 | |
| 15 | Jack Williams | Harrison Edwards | 15 | |
| 16 | Royce Hunt | Kulikefu Finefeuiaki | 16 | |
| 17 | Thomas Hazelton | Griffin Neame | 17 | |
| Craig Fitzgibbon | Coach | Todd Payten | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Ashley Klein |
Match report
Cronulla raced to a 24-0 halftime lead in front of 19,124 at Allianz Stadium, built on a 14th-minute penalty try (Reuben Cotter penalised for taking out Braydon Trindall), a Cameron McInnes try and two from Ronaldo Mulitalo, with Nicho Hynes converting all five Sharks tries. Trindall controlled the match with his kicking game, forcing multiple goal-line dropouts. North Queensland fought back after the break through two Valentine Holmes tries either side of a Reuben Cotter try, but the deficit proved too large. The 26-18 win ended Cronulla's seven-match NRL finals losing streak.