CRONULLA SHARKS 26 NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS 16
TOM SMITH, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Saturday

TWO-TRY hero Sione Katoa brought up his century of NRL tries as the Sharks ended the Cowboys’ season.

Cronulla dominated the first half as Katoa notched his 100th NRL try, but only had a six-point advantage to show for it at the break. 

North Queensland trailed by just four points at the hour mark, before Will Kennedy and Nicho Hynes went bang-bang to keep their club’s season alive. 

The Sharks now await the loser of Sunday’s Panthers-Roosters clash, while the Cowboys can look forward to 2027. 

Forced to host the Cowboys at the unfamiliar 45,500-seat Allianz Stadium rather than their usual 12,500-capacity home ground, the Sharks hoarded possession and territory as their opponents coughed up a massive 18 errors. 

North Queensland won their only other meeting 46-34 back in round 8, but Cronulla had lost just two of their 16 prior dates – and this result continued that trend. 

These sides are familiar September foes, meeting in seven play-offs since 2013, although neither brought red-hot form into the finals. 

North Queensland lost three of their last five, including a record-breaking 82-12 capitulation to the Roosters and an inexplicable 50-30 defeat to the Raiders in Townsville last week. 

Todd Payten did strengthen his line-up with Zac Laybutt (concussion), Griffin Neame (toe) and Jeremiah Nanai (knee), while Reuben Cotter beat a judiciary charge to play. 

Cronulla fans were similarly frustrated late in the home-and-away campaign, as their team dropped four of the last five to tumble out of top-four calculations. 

Craig Fitzgibbon rested Hynes, Blayke Brailey, KL Iro and Teig Wilton for the final-round loss to the Storm, and also regained Braydon Trindall (shoulder) and Thomas Hazelton (suspension) here. 

They’ll be sweating on Trindall’s fitness next week, after the stand-off struggled with his shoulder all night. 

An offside penalty handed Hynes the opening two points inside five minutes. 

Iro and Addin Fonua-Blake both came within a whisker of the first try, which eventually fell to Siosifa Talakai. 

The wrecking ball came off the bench while Katoa underwent a head-injury assessment, and steamed onto a Briton Nikora pass to loosely ground the ball on the whitewash. 

But the Cowboys struck back through Brandon Burns, celebrating his 100th NRL appearance. 

Scott Drinkwater fired a cut-put down the blindside from dummy-half and the right winger crossed without a hand laid on him. 

North Queensland lost Coen Hess to a head-injury assessment, but Katoa passed his – and the Cronulla flanker latched onto a Kennedy offload to find the right corner and reach his century. 

Iro appeared to score from a Hynes kick shortly before half-time but the Bunker ruled him offside, leaving it 12-6 at the break. 

Nine minutes after the restart, Katoa intercepted a Drinkwater pass to race 65 metres for try number 101. 

Tom Dearden lobbed a 20-metre, two-man cut-out to the unmarked Laybutt to keep the visitors in touch. 

But Kennedy escaped the clutches of Tom Chester to restore Cronulla’s buffer. 

Hynes was spraying his conversion attempts but impacted the scoreboard with a try, feigning a kick to step through under the sticks. 

Jaxon Purdue scrambled over late but it was mere consolation.

GAMESTAR: Halfback Nicho Hynes steered the Sharks’ ship, guiding Cronulla into the second week of the finals for the fourth time in five years under Craig Fitzgibbon.

GAMEBREAKER: With 15 minutes remaining, Hynes’ footwork unlocked the Cowboys’ defence for the match-sealing score.

MATCHFACTS

SHARKS
1 Will Kennedy
2 Sione Katoa
3 Riley Jones
4 KL Iro
5 Ronaldo Mulitalo
6 Braydon Trindall
7 Nicho Hynes
8 Addin Fonua-Blake
9 Blayke Brailey
10 Jesse Colquhoun
11 Briton Nikora
12 Teig Wilton
13 Cameron McInnes
Subs
14 Siosifa Talakai
15 Billy Burns
16 Oregon Kaufusi
17 Thomas Hazelton
19 Toby Rudolf (not used)
20 Niwhai Puru (not used)

Tries: Talakai (20), Katoa (32, 49), Kennedy (61), Hynes (65)
Goals: Hynes 3/6

COWBOYS
1 Scott Drinkwater
2 Braidon Burns
3 Jaxon Purdue
4 Tom Chester
5 Zac Laybutt
6 Jake Clifford
7 Tom Dearden
8 Griffin Neame
9 Reed Mahoney
10 Jason Taumalolo
11 Heilum Luki
15 John Bateman
13 Reuben Cotter
Subs
12 Jeremiah Nanai
14 Soni Luke
17 Coen Hess
18 Kaiden Lahrs (not used)
19 Ethan King (not used)
21 Sam McIntyre

Tries: Burns (27), Laybutt (57), Purdue (72)
Goals: Drinkwater 2/3

SCORING SEQUENCE: 2-0, 8-0, 8-6, 12-6; 16-6, 16-12, 20-12, 26-12, 26-16

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Sharks: Nicho Hynes; Cowboys: Scott Drinkwater

Penalty count: 6-9
Half-time: 12-6
Referee: Grant Atkins
Attendance: 17,429