NRL Finals 2022 Week 3 Schedule

odds.com.au

23 September 2022

The first week of NRL Finals proved an epic one, packed with plenty of twists and turns and three betting favourites being beaten, while the second week saw the matches be a little more one-sided.

During Week 1, Melbourne Storm were the first side bundled out of the premiership running, Craig Bellamy's side suffering their earliest exit since 2014 when the Canberra Raiders proved too good in a 28-20 win on the Saturday evening.

The Storm have been hampered by injuries throughout the season's back end, but still suffered their fifth straight loss to the Raiders at AAMI Park as Ricky Stuart's side advanced to a semi-final against the Eels.

For their part, the Eels were outgunned by the Panthers in the first Qualifying Final on Friday night as Penrith gained some revenge for two losses to Parramatta during the season.

The most dramatic clash of the first weekend, though, occurred at Shark Park as Cronulla and North Queensland were forced into golden point extra time after scores were locked at 30-30 at the end of play,.

There was drama all over the park as the Cowboys trailed by six in the last minute of regular time only for Jason Taumalolo to take the ball and bust through a tackle to score by the sticks.

An ice cool Val Holmes nailed the conversion to take the match into added time, but when scores were still level after the first 10 minutes, it came down to Holmes again. This time the former Shark nailed a 45 metre field goal in the 93rd minute to send North Queensland into their first preliminary final since 2017.

The Shark will now face South Sydney at Allianz Stadium this weekend after the Rabbitohs proved too good for the Roosters on the Sunday in a fiery affair that ended 14-30.

Throughout the game, seven players were sent to the sin bin, including Thomas Burgess, who missed the semi-final against Cronulla.

His absence failed to blunt the Rabbitohs too much in the second week of finals as they hammered a disappointing Cronulla 38-12, inflicting a six tries to two victory on the Saturday.

The Bunnies were up for the fight at Allianz Stadium from the outset, scoring three unanswered tries before the break. And, while Briton Nikora's 41st-minute try suggested a Sharks comeback may be on the cards, Souths quickly snuffed that out when Lachlan Ilias dotted down in the 45th minute.

Ultimately a straight-sets exit will be hugely disappointing for a Cronulla outfit that dominated huge sections of the season, winning 18 matches and being within 30 seconds of a Preliminary final before Taumalolo's try for North Queensland saw their Qualifying Final go to added time.

On Friday night, Parramatta brought Canberra's late-season surge to a grinding halt as well, defeating the Raiders 40-4 at CommBank Stadium.

NRL 2022 FINALS FIXTURE - WEEK 1 (All times AEST)

Qualifying Final:(1) Penrith v (4) Parramatta

Friday September 9, 7:50pm at BlueBet Stadium

Scores: Penrith 27 def Parramatta 8

Elimination Final:(5) Melbourne v (8) Canberra

Saturday September 10, 5:40pm at AAMI Park

Scores: Melbourne 20 def by Canberra 28

Qualifying Final:(2) Cronulla v (3) North Queensland

Saturday September 10, 7:50pm at Pointsbet Stadium

Scores: Cronulla 30 def by North Queensland 32

Elimination Final: (6) Sydney v (7) South Sydney