The second-placed Sharks host the third-placed Cowboys at PointsBet Stadium in a week one Finals match up at Saturday night.
The two teams have plenty of Finals history, dating back to 2013 when the Sharks scored a narrow 20-18 victory in a match made famous by a seventh tackle try scored by Cronulla’s Beau Ryan.
In all they have met four times, with the ledger standing at two wins apiece.
See following all the stats that matter ahead of the big game on Saturday night.
FINALS MATCHES
SHARKS V COWBOYS
2013: Sharks won 20-18 at the SFS in Week 1
2015: Cowboys 39 Sharks 0 in Townsville in Week 2. This was the Cowboys biggest finals win and Sharks worst finals loss
2016: Sharks win 32-20 at the SFS in the Preliminary Final. Sharks would go on to win the Grand Final
2017: Cowboys win in extra-time 15-14 of Week 1 courtesy of a Michael Morgan field goal
The winner of this match will advance to a Preliminary Final in Week 3, the loser to face the winner of Sunday’s Roosters v Rabbitohs final
Since 2012, the 2 v 3 Final has seen the second placed team win seven times, the third placed team win three times
The Sharks have won all five finals at PointsBet Stadium, the last match at the venue was Week 1, 2008, with Cronulla defeating Canberra 36-10
SHARKS FINALS RECORD
Matches played – 49
Won 19
Lost 29
Drawn 1
COWBOYS FINALS RECORD
Matches played – 27
Won 15
Lost 12
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Matches played – 53
Sharks – 35 wins
Cowboys – 18 wins
The Sharks are on an eight-game winning streak against Cowboys.
The Cowboys most recent win was a 20-14 victory in Round 1, 2018 at Dairy Farmers Stadium
The Sharks beat the Cowboys 26-12 at Qld Country Bank Stadium in round 18 this season
At PointsBet, Cronulla has won the past five, and 15 of 20 matches overall against North Queensland
SHARKS - 38pts – 18 wins, 6 losses, +209 differential
The finished in the top two for the first time since 1999 when they were Minor Premiers
The Sharks 18 wins equaled the most in a regular season wins in club history (also 18 in 1999)
They have won 11 of their past 12 matches, the only defeat a 20-10 loss to Penrith in round 19
The Sharks are aiming for seven straight wins for the first time since 2016
They have won nine of 10 matches at Shark Park in 2022, the only loss coming against the Roosters in Round 12. This represents their best home record since the 2016 Premiership winning season
Each previous season the Sharks have finished second, they have made the Grand Final (1973, 1978, 1997)
Since 1999, Cronulla has the worst Week 1 finals record of the top eight teams, winning six of 14 matches, their last victory coming against the Raiders in 2016
Cronulla has won just one of its past six finals
COWBOYS - 36pts - 17 wins, 7 losses, +272 differential
Last week North Queensland recorded its 17th win of the season, its equal with 2015 for most in a regular season
They finished third on the ladder for the third time, which equaling their highest ladder finish
The Cowboys were also third in 2007 before losing in the Preliminary Final and in their Premiership-winning season of 2015
The Cowboys defeated top eight teams the Panthers, Eels and Storm by 30 points in games played this season
Seven losses was equal to their fewest in a regular season
The Cowboys have won eight of 12 matches on the road in 2022
This will be North Queensland’s first finals match since losing the 2017 Grand Final to Melbourne.
They have won seven of their past 10 finals matches
This will be the sixth straight game played in NSW – their most recent match in Queensland was against the Broncos in Townsville in 2016, the Cowboys winning in Week 2 of the Finals
PLAYERS
Andrew Fifita will play his 250th NRL match, and his final game as a Cronulla player at PointsBet Stadium
This will be Fifita’s 211th match for Cronulla, moving past club legend Greg Pierce as the eighth most capped Shark in club history
Valentine Holmes, with 224 points, topped the NRL point scorers list in 2022.
Holmes has also kicked the most goals in the 2022 season, 91 in all.
Nicho Hynes scored 180 points and kicked 76 goals. Hynes has kicked the most field goals with 4.
Holmes played 105 matches for Cronulla from 2014-2018 and was a member of the Premiership winning team in 2016. He holds the record for most tries in a season for the Sharks, with 22 tries scored in 2018
Chad Townsend played 146 matches for the Sharks from 2011 to 2021, playing in seven finals series including the 2016 Grand Final
Braden Hamlin-Uele began his career at North Queensland, playing one NRL match in 2017 before joining the Sharks. He has now played 78 NRL games.
Ronaldo Mulitalo has scored a career high 16 tries this season, including nine in nine matches at PointsBet Stadium.
Jeremiah Nanai leads the Cowboys with 17 tries in 2022
Kyle Feldt has scored 13 tries in matches against Cronulla
Hynes leads the NRL for line break assists with 24
Townsend is third in the try assists category with 19, Holmes has 17.
And Blayke Brailey has touched the ball more than any other player in the NRL in 2022, with a total of 2,811 receipts.
