NRL Preliminary Finals line-up finalised as Roosters and Doggies advance
The NRL Preliminary Finals line-up has now been decided following two classic elimination matches this weekend.
Next weekend the South Sydney Rabbitohs will go up against defending champions Sydney Roosters and Penrith Panthers take on the Canterbury Bulldogs with the winners going on to contest the NRL Grand Final on Sunday, October 5 at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
Both elimination semi-finals were sensational and had a dramatic ending with all four teams deserving credit to serve up that kind of footy.
On Friday, the Sydney Roosters managed to sneak home 31-30 over the North Queensland Cowboys in a game that had everything including a finish that left the Cowboys fuming.
The Roosters stormed into a 30-0 lead after just 32 minutes but an amazing comeback saw the Cowboys level it up at 30-30 with 23 minutes left on the clock as prop forward Matthew Scott barged over from close range.
The game was looking like going into golden point extra-time but Roosters five-eighth James Maloney kept his nerve to slot over a field goal in the 75th minute but that was not the end of the drama.
The Cowboys thought they had pinched it in the dying seconds when superstar Jonathan Thurston went over for what he though was the match-winning try, but the decision went to the video referee and the try was chalked off for a knock on in back play and being honest I thought they got the call wrong.
Everyone thought we could not have another game like that again in this season’s play-offs – but boy were we wrong.
Twenty four hours later and the Doggies booked their place in the Preliminary Finals thanks to Trent Hodkinson’s field goal in golden point extra-time to go through 18-17.
The Doggies looked in full control as they led 16-0 at one stage but Manly refused to die and they fought back to make it 16-16.
Hodkinson and Daly Cherry-Evans traded drop goals in the final 10 minutes to send the game to extra-time and it was the NSW half-back that had ice in his veins as he slotted over the winning goal.
