Cowboys 'ice man' left 'speechless' after magic

2 years ago 158

North Queensland came from being six points down with little than a infinitesimal to play, to beating Cronulla successful what was a 92-minute finals thriller astatine Shark Park.

The location broadside held an eight-point pb and looked astir definite to triumph until Connor Tracey was sin-binned with 8 minutes near connected the clock.

The Cowboys kicked the punishment conversion aft Tracey was marched to marque it a six-point deficit.

Then, successful the 80th minute, the Cowboys sent barnstorming fastener Jason Taumalolo through a spread to score, and the ensuing conversion levelled things 30-30 erstwhile the siren sounded.

The 2 teams went to extra-time but neither could deed the scoreboard successful the 10 further minutes.

Then heading to aureate point, it took a 40-metre Valentine Holmes tract extremity to seal the woody arsenic North Queensland triumphed 32-30.

"We've got the crystal antheral - helium conscionable does freakish worldly erstwhile it matters," Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater said of Holmes.

Stream the NRL premiership 2022 unrecorded and escaped on 9Now

The antheral of the infinitesimal was struggling to talk erstwhile interviewed by Cowboys fable Johnathan Thurston.

"I don't know, it was virtually a squad effort," an exhausted Holmes said.

NRL Highlights: Sharks v Cowboys - Finals Week 1

"We spoke astir it, we needed to tally hard done the middle. I needed country and Jase (Taumalolo) to get maine a speedy play-the-ball.

"This is what we play for... I can't judge it, we're going to a expansive last qualifier. Holy crap I'm speechless."

The Cowboys present gain a location qualifying last successful Townsville, and a week off.

The Sharks indispensable bash it the hard way, playing either South Sydney oregon the Roosters adjacent week.

Freddy defends arguable sin-bin

"That's heartbreaking stuff. I thought we had done capable to triumph that game," Sharks playmaker Nicho Hynes told Nine.

"A spot hard done by, I reckon, that (Tracey) sin-bin. They (he and Holmes) were enarthrosis to enarthrosis and helium gets sin-binned for that.

"But we've inactive got to support our enactment there. They got the occupation done, and we didn't, truthful connected to the adjacent 1 now."

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