Cowboys eliminated again in controversial circumstances

It's happened again, the North Queensland Cowboys have been eliminated from the NRL Finals for the third straight year in controversial circumstances as the Sydney Roosters plucked a 31-30 victory at Allianz Stadium.

A crowd of 18,355 were left stunted with the North Queensland side just falling short of moving onto a Preliminary Final. Johnathan Thurston was left speechless post-game as the video referee denied the try which could have seen the Cowboys advance.

The Roosters started brilliantly in the first 30 minutes as they posted as many points to claim a 30-0 lead. The fire was started by Mitchell Pearce has he bolted 95 metres downfield via a poor grubber kick from Michael Morgan, who had a game to forget.

The points flowed as Daniel Tupou (16th and 26th minute), Michael Jennings (21st minute) and James Maloney (31st minutes) crossed to all but dash the hopes of a Preliminary Finals berth for the Cowboys.

Thurston turned the tide at the back end of the first half as the Cowboys mounted two late tries through Ethan Low (35th minute) and Gavin Cooper (38th minute). The Cowboys went into the sheds, behind 30-12.

‘JT' put on a show in the second half as his skills gave the Cowboys a chance of fighting back. A tricky show-and-go run from the halfback fooled the Roosters defence to dart over for North Queensland's third try in 45th minute.

Anthony Minichiello celebrated his 301st NRL appearance, equaling the most games record for the Roosters with tricolours legend, Luke Ricketson. However, Minichiello had a moment he would like have again as a ‘brain explosion' saw Robert Lui mop up a wayward pass to close the points gap to just six, Roosters 30-24.

The Cowboys continued scare the Roosters defence as Matthew Scott surged through under the uprights to lock the game at 30-all come the final quarter of the contest.

Sonny Bill Williams was denied the try which could have secured victory in the 74th minute as he backed is way over the try line. Matt Scott with a massive effort to hold up SBW.

Inside the final five minutes, James Maloney slot a rushed field goal to give the Roosters a one point lead, 31-30 over the Cowboys.

In a moment which saw Cowboys fans calling ‘conspiracy' as Thurston was shown No Try by the video referees. Robert Lui was ruled to have knocked on a short pass from Michael Morgan, certainly controversy leaving fans north of the border feeling bitter.

The Sydney Roosters advance through to the Preliminary Finals with their one point victory as they now prepare for the South Sydney Rabbitohs next Friday Night at ANZ Stadium. 

SYDNEY ROOSTERS (31)
Tries: Mitchell Pearce, James Maloney, Daniel Tupou (2), Michael Jennings
Field Goals: James Maloney (1/1)
Conversions: James Maloney (5/5)
Penalty Goals: James Maloney (0/1)

NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS (30)
Tries: Ethan Lowe, Johnathan Thurston, Gavin Cooper, Robert Lui, Matthew Scott
Field Goals:
Conversions: Johnathan Thurston (5/5)
Penalty Goals:

LATE MAIL: North Queensland - James Tamou to starts in the second row, Glenn Hall moves to the bench

LATE MAIL: Sydney Roosters - Kane Evans drops off the extended bench with no changes to the starting side, 1-17

Welcome to LeagueUnlimited.com's LIVE coverage from Allianz for this Elimination Semi-Final between the Sydney Roosters and North Queensland Cowboys. A spot against the South Sydney Rabbitohs is on the line in next week's Preliminary Final at ANZ Stadium. The Roosters coming off a one-point loss to the Panthers last week, while the Cowboys eliminated the Broncos with a strong performance, 32-20.

1: We are UNDERWAY at Allianz Stadium as both teams are on the park with the Roosters kicking off.

2: First penalty of the game, offside is the call. JT finds the sideline and the Cowboys attack 45 metres out

3: TRY SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Scored by Mitchell Pearce. Kick to come.
Mitchell Pearce takes an grubber kick straight off the boot of Michael Morgan and the Roosters go 95 metres to post first points

4: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Conversion attempt by James Maloney successful.
James Maloney with the conversion attempt slots the extras to give the Roosters an early 6 point lead.

6: Kick from Pearce finds the sideline, it's a scrum feed for Cowboys 10 metres off their own try line

8: WOW! Surely not, VIDEO REFEREE for the Cowboys. We have a TRY!

8: Kyle Feldt gets RED LIGHTS as he knocked on diving for the ball. 20m tap Roosters, 6-0

9: UNFORCED ERROR SYDNEY ROOSTERS
James Maloney makes an unforced error.
James Maloney has backed is way almost over the try line on last tackle but it's short. Change over for the Cowboys on the 10 metre line.

10: Time off here with JT being collected late. No report coming up here for the contact from Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. Cowboys 10 metres out from the free kick

11: Robert Lui toes a kick through the line, Anthony Minichiello is caught in goal to force a line drop out. Cowboys with a repeat set here

13: Penalty to the Roosters, JT stripped the ball out after the held call. Roosters kick for touch through Pearce to give the Roosters a fresh set

14: Secondary penalty for the Roosters, another strip in the ruck against the Cowboys. Roosters attack inside the red zone now.

16: VIDEO REFEREE for Daniel Tupou. We have TRY, grounding and sideline. Looked brilliant as the Roosters shifted to the open left side.

16: TRY SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Scored by Daniel Tupou. Kick to come.
Daniel Tupou gets GREEN LIGHTS as he sailed off a floating pass into the corner to bring up the Roosters second try of the night. Brilliant raid on the Cowboys left side defence

18: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Conversion attempt by James Maloney successful.
James Maloney with the conversion attempt slots the extras from the eastern sideline

19: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves held down in the ruck, penalty comes and the Roosters attack 20m out

21: VIDEO REFEREE for SYD, we have a TRY for Jennings. Lui may have beaten him to it as he dived under the posts.

21: TRY SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Scored by Michael Jennings. Kick to come.
Michael Jennings has dived on a loose ball off a goal pads deflection off the boot from James Maloney. Roosters post their 3rd try of the game

22: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Conversion attempt by James Maloney successful.
James Maloney slots the conversion attempt from right in front to extend the lead to 18 points

23: UNFORCED ERROR SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves makes an unforced error.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves attempted to offload a pass and it's ruled a knock on. Cowboys with a prime chance here with a scrum feed 15 metres out

24: Penalty to the Cowboys, held down in the ruck. Back to the 10m out with the quick tap

25: UNFORCED ERROR NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Michael Morgan makes an unforced error.
Michael Morgan screams as he runs through the line without the ball as JT provided the inside pass. Scrum for the Roosters

26: TRY SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Scored by Daniel Tupou. Kick to come.
Daniel Tupou has bolted away 50 metres after taking a short pass from Michael Jennings as he darted away himself. Roosters score again and the Cowboys are left in the dust

27: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Conversion attempt by James Maloney successful.
James Maloney makes no mistake with an easy conversion attempt from in front again

29: UNFORCED ERROR NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Michael Morgan makes an unforced error.
Double knock on ruled, the first mistake comes from Michael Morgan as he attempted a jump on Minichiello for the last tackle kick. Roosters attacking from a scrum 10 metres out

30: TRY SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Scored by James Maloney. Kick to come.
James Maloney darts over simply for the Roosters and the Cowboys are in a massive hole at the moment

31: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Conversion attempt by James Maloney successful.
James Maloney slots the conversion to make it a whooping 30 point lead

33: UNFORCED ERROR SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Shaun Kenny-Dowall makes an unforced error.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall juggled a jump catch and it's a change over for the Cowboys inside their own half

34: TRY COWBOYS! Well… maybe, off to the Video Referee for a possible four-pointer to Ethan Lowe

34: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Ethan Lowe. Kick to come.
JT puts up a bomb and Anthony Minichiello has mistimed the catch and Ethan Lowe has cleaned up to finally put the Cowboys on the board.

34: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Thurston quickly slots the conversion attempt to make it a 24 point game

37: Penalty to the Cowboys against Boyd Cordner. Cowboys kick to attack 35 metres out

38: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Gavin Cooper. Kick to come.
Cowboys could be back here with some fight left in them as Gavin Cooper crosses on the left side

38: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Thurston slots the conversion attempt and the difference is three converted tries.

40: Penalty to the Cowboys, Roosters tackling players off the ball. Cowboys with a shot here with 30 seconds left

41: Second half is UNDERWAY at Allianz Stadium as the Roosters kick off and hold a three converted try lead

43: Anthony Minichiello caught in goal, line drop out coming up as Michael Morgan with a good chase.

44: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Johnathan Thurston. Kick to come.
Johnathan Thurston has tricked the defence with a beautiful show and go to dart over for the Cowboys 3rd try of the night.

45: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Thurston slots the goal to convert his own four-pointer to close the gap

50: Off to VIDEO REFEREE as Minichiello has thrown a long pass in goal… Lui claiming, complete brain explosion from Mini

50: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Robert Lui. Kick to come.
Robert Lui has mopped up the biggest brain explosion from Anthony Minichiello as he passed in goal to try and get out into the field of play. Cowboys still alive in this final.

51: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Thurtson slots the conversion attempt and the it's game on!

54: MALONEY IS AWAY… but it's dropped by Tupou off a forward pass. Roosters bomb a try as the Cowboys defence was cracked again.

57: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Matthew Scott. Kick to come.
Matthew Scott surges under the posts as the Cowboys got the restarted count

57: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
JT slots the conversion and we are locked up!

61: UNSUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Penalty goal attempt by James Maloney unsuccessful.
James Maloney hooks the attempt at penalty goal, it's an optional 20 metre tap for the Cowboys.

64: JT IS THROUGH! But Antonio Winterstein just misses it arriving late to the corner as JT provided a grubber kick.

66: Friend kicks on 2nd tackle and the Cowboys have possession in their red zone

67: Sonny Bill struggles to his feet to play the ball. suggestions of a high shot. It goes to Maloney on last tackle who kicks high for Michael Morgan in the Cowboys red zone.

69: UNFORCED ERROR SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Sonny Bill Williams makes an unforced error.
Sonny Bill Williams fumbles the ball in the tackle of Robert Lui. Cowboys with a scrum feed now to give them a shot with a full set from half way

70: Miscommunication on last tackle, Lui throws wide to JT and he has to kick away, still locked up here in the final 10 minutes

72: UNFORCED ERROR SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Mitchell Pearce makes an unforced error.
Mitchell Pearce almost comes up with an intercept as JT threw a long pass. Scrum for the Cowboys

73: UNFORCED ERROR NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Michael Morgan makes an unforced error.
Morgan fumbles the inside pass as the Cowboys shifted quickly through several hands. Scrum for the Roosters 15 metres short of half way

74: Penalty to the Roosters, hand on the ball against the Cowboys.

74: VIDEO REFEREE for the Roosters, Sonny Bill Williams apparently has grounded his ball on the try line.

74: NO TRY for SBW! Matt Scott has saved the day for the Cowboys! Roosters will have one final play here

75: SUCCESSFUL FIELD GOAL SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Field goal attempt by James Maloney successful.
James Maloney gives the Roosters a one point lead with a rushed field goal on last tackle.

75: Short kick off goes the 10 metres and the Roosters have it just shy of half way, very lucky to get the bounce and make the 10 metres

78:  Cowboys get a 20m tap, kick is too long from the Roosters, leading 31-30

78: VIDEO REFEREE for the Cowboys, NO TRY for JT. Looking at knock on

79: UNFORCED ERROR NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Robert Lui makes an unforced error.
Robert Lui has been ruled to knocked on as he got a pass from Morgan.

80: FULL TIME at Allianz Stadium, with the Roosters defeating the Cowboys 31-30. The North Queensland Cowboys have been eliminated on the back of another big call from the video referee.