Match Centre

That's full time and the Sharks fall short on the revenge mission. A competitive game which the Cowboys manage to claim victory for at home. Maybe if Gallen is on the field in the final 10 minutes it may have been different. Stay tuned for a match report.

North Queensland Cowboys 20-14

PENALTY Sharks. Hands in the ruck, now from 40m out and 40 seconds left what can the Sharks do?

North Queensland Cowboys 20-14

Just one pass and run from dummy half at this point for the Cowboys, they're protecting the lead now. They give the ball back to the Sharks from within 15m of their line.

North Queensland Cowboys 20-14

Only 35m from the Sharks in that set, they're missing Gallen. Feldt returns the ball up to the 30m line.

North Queensland Cowboys 20-14

On the first set after points Morgan goes for an attacking kick on fourth from half way. It pins Barba down in the right corner and is the best result for the Cowboys, that's experience.

North Queensland Cowboys 20-14

Quick metres for the Cowboys and JT wants a field goal attempt. From 20m out Michael Ennis charges the attempt down and Coote recovers the ball 40m out for a fresh set of six.

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So the Sharks continue attacking the Cowboys, They've just started going side to side and aren't threatening right now. Ennis goes for a grubber kick that rolls past the in goal. North Queensland race to a 20m restart.

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INJURY UPDATE: Ligament damage for Gallen in his knee, he's not returning tonight.

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Coote and Cooper link to try and break the line. Thurston puts through a quality grubber deep into the in goal, Graham had nowhere to go but he evades Morgan and fends Thurston away to get back into the field of play.

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Maloney shocks everyone by attempting a 30m field goal from in front of the posts on fifth tackle, with defenders in the way. The kick sprays towards the right of the posts by about 10m.

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Feki desperately dives for a loose ball and because he couldn't gather it another set is coming up for North Queensland.

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Thurston throws a suspect pass on fourth, lucky it wasn't called forward. Once again the Sharks defuse the Cowboys attack and start a set of their own.

Big news, Gallen suddenly walking up the tunnel.

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Cronulla couldn't get out of their own half, and the Cowboys are able to bring the ball back to the 30m line to start their set.

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Great metres from the Cowboys and the crowd is back into the game. Barba is tackled 1m out from his line fielding the fifth tackle kick.

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Last tackle for Cronulla, Townsend continues to bomb and the torpedo is taken safely and uncontested by Linnett.

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Holmes cramps up and can't play the ball, he'll need to get right to become a field goal option at the back end of this game.

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The Fifita brothers and Gallen combine with short passes to put the Cowboys defence under pressure.
PENALTY Sharks the play from those three forces a penalty from 25m out straight in front of the posts. He elects to go for a penalty goal to tie the match.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-12

Play is stopped as two North Queensland players, Gavin Cooper and Antonio Winterstein, experience a head clash. Winterstein is worse off and will be forced to undergo a concussion test. From the looks of him it'svunlikely he'll be back tonight.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-12

The Cowboys reach 20m out from the Cronulla line on fifth tackle. Thurston's small cross field kick goes to Barba.
PENALTY Sharks, a chaser from the Cowboys was offside.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-12

Now the Sharks get on a role but when it looks like Cronulla might score from an Ennis kick, JT makes another great read to field the ball and run back to the 10m line. He earns a penalty in the process of playing the ball.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-12

JT tries to hit the upright on a fifth tackle kick, but it trickles over the dead ball line to give the Sharks and advantage in this next set. No team has had an advantage the last 5-10 minutes.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-12

Bombs are the theme of the second half so far, Townsend goes for another and Holmes skies for it, he comes up with a falcon that bounces into touch. That'll make the blooper reel.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-12

On the last play of the North Queensland set, Coote at halfway kicks high and Holmes takes the ball with ease 20m out.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-12

The crowd is silent as the Sharks have control right now. Townsend uses a fifth tackle kick from half way to trickle the ball into touch for a 10m scrum restart.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-12

PENALTY Sharks. Jake Granville had his hands on the ball. It gets the Sharks a full set within 40m of the Cowboys line.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-6

The seven tackle set gets the Cowboys great metres, 85m up the field on a regular set but the fifth tackle kick goes straight along the ground to Sam Tagataese who had no pressure in front of the posts to field the ball.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-6

The Sharks started a set from within 25m of the Cowboys line. On tackle two Maloney tries a left side set play and when Barba gets the ball to finish the play, he tries to dive over in the corner but three Cowboys players manage to bail him into touch.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-6

The Sharks are noticeably slow off their line which is a concern straight out of half time.

North Queensland Cowboys 14-6

O'Neill goes oh so close to barging over on third tackle, Cooper almost runs over defenders to go under the posts on fourth tackle. On fifth tackle Michael Ennis spins Thurston around by grabbing his jersey slightly before he had the ball. PENALTY Cowboys.

North Queensland Cowboys 12-6

PENALTY Cowboys. An inexcusable penalty given away by Wade Graham on fourth tackle. It gives the Cowboys an immediate chance to attack their line.

North Queensland Cowboys 12-6

James Maloney will get us underway from the kick off for the second half!

North Queensland Cowboys 12-6

That's half time at 1300Smiles Stadium. Both teams were getting great production from their forward packs in the first 10-15 minutes. Then the Cowboys managed to force some line dropouts with their fifth tackle options and that encouraged a 10 minute period where they put on two converted tries.

The Sharks were able to grind their way back to get more control of the run of play and it was fortunate Coote dropped a bomb for the Sharks first points.

Stay tuned for the second half in 10 minutes, the Sharks will think if they can play better in attack they'll have a chance to win. The Cowboys if they continue to show their good form should not give up a lead to Cronulla.

North Queensland Cowboys 12-6

Bukuya and the Sharks make a late charge on their first set after points. They wanted more points before half time and come fifth tackle it all fell to pieces when Coote fielded an uncontested kick.

North Queensland Cowboys 12-6

Cronulla begin to recover from a Cowboys onslaught. North Queensland had masses of possession by forcing line drop outs. The Sharks haven't played bad their completion rate has been around 70% and they've had some attacking opportunities.

North Queensland Cowboys 12-0

We have been going through some technical difficulties since the 14th mintue. We are working to get back to speed as soon as possible.

North Queensland Cowboys 4-0

Quickly back the other way for Cronulla, Townsend has a shocker of a fifth tackle kick, no pressure around and Townsend kicks deep into the in goal for an uncontested Sharks catch. A seven tackle set coming up from the 20m line.

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VIDEO REF: No try ruling for the Cowboys.

Taumalolo carries two forwards over the try line, he rolls off his back and gets the football to the grass but it is knocked on before it's on the ground.

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Better play from Maloney. The fifth tackle option is a small grubber through behind the posts and Michael Morgan is tackled in goal.

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A chaotic 30 seconds there! Cowboys kick long from inside their own half on fifth, Valentine Holmes drops the ball into the opposition on the return and Kane Linnett drops the ball on the counter attack. Jack Bird then makes 20m before being tackled just over halfway.

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The Sharks get three more tackles inside the North Queensland 10m line. Maloney chips cross field on fifth which bounces back towards the Sharks chasers, but Coote grabs the ball and just gets back into the field of play.

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Maloney tries to run some set plays and on fifth tcakle he chips for Luke Lewis and Kyle Feldt has been ruled to have caught the ball leaving the field of play. Line drop out for the Cowboys.

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PENALTY Sharks. Cronulla gets over the halfway line on two tackles and Jake Granville is called offside making the tackle.

Taumalolo has been very involved early and is making at least 10m every time he runs the ball. The last is 30m away from the Sharks line but a Coote bomb goes into the in goal for Barba to take and rush for a 20m tap.

The Sharks get to the Cowboys line in the first two tackles. On tackle three Thurston pokes a ball lose from a Cronulla forward tackled on the ground and the ref rules a knock on. A lucky break for the Cowboys.

PENALTY Sharks. Cowboys were holding down Feki too long.

Cowboys make just 34m on their set. A logn kick goes down the throat of Feki and they make it back to 35m out of their own line on tackle one.

Cronulla advance the full length of the field and are placed 20m out on fifth tackle. Ennis goes for a grubber towards the goal posts and Jonathan Thurston makes a great read to field the ball.

Sosaia Feki is forced to field a Thurston bomb on his goal line and the chasers force the winger into the in goal but the referee rules it was an illegal push.

Taumalolo needs three players to drag him down on a 10m run. 60m on that basic Cowboys set.

Great metres from Gallen and Fifita. Michael Ennis kicks long from halfway on fourth tackle.

We're underway in North Queensland! Andrew Fifita responsible for the first hit up tonight.

Now the Cowboys are on the field. It's a warm welcome to the 2016 season from the home fans.

Here come the Sharks onto the field led by Paul Gallen. A relatively quiet reception, not as many boos as you would expect for an away side.

The players are still on the field warming up, it appears there will be another 5-10 mins before we see kick off at 1300Smiles Stadium.

Welcome to the live update for the North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks. The last time these two met was in the 2015 NRL finals series where the Cowboys ended the Sharks season with a 39-0 thumping. Stay tuned for kick off at 7:30pm!