Well, that was brutal.
The North Queensland Cowboys hopes for a repeat premiership were shattered on Friday night during their 32-20 loss to a relentless Cronulla Sharks outfit.
The end score wasn’t a true reflection of how dominant the Sharks were on the night on their way to the clubs first grand final since the Super League era.
Post-match Cowboys skippers Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott made no excuses for the loss, but it was pretty apparent that their epic 90 minute clash against the Broncos the week before had taken its toll.
In sharp contrast the Sharks were rearing to go after earning a weeks rest after their win against the Raiders a fortnight ago.
The Sharks used that factor to excellent effect in the first 40 minutes as they ceaselessly attacked the Cowboys line.
While the northerners initially stood strong, repeat sets to the Sharks and the ‘Boys own costly errors in attack eventually took its toll.
Their stingy defence eventually cracked at the 22 minute mark when Sosaia Feki crossed in the corner to make it 6-0 to the home side following a penalty conversion a few minutes earlier.
A second penalty conversion by James Maloney increased the lead to eight, which became 14 soon after when Chad Townsend crossed from a Maloney pass that was surprisingly not called for being forward.
The Cowboys looked like they might get back into the match when Lachlan Coote scored just after the break to cut the deficit back to eight.
But the early Sharks attack seemingly took the gas out of the Cowboys tank, as a try to Luke Lewis, a double to Maloney plus another penalty score blew the lead out to 32 to six by the 66 minute mark.
The Sharks wouldn’t score again on the night but the damage was already done, though to North Queensland’s credit they played hard through to the final whistle, Kyle Feldt notched a double and Coen Hess put one in a minute before full time to make the end result a bit easier to deal with.
While I’m sure its not how Cowboys supporters thought the season would end, a semi-final finish after a premiership win is still an impressive effort. Until next year, Go Cowboys!