How do you get from eighth to a grand final? ‘A prime Jason Taumalolo helps’

Coen Hess doesn’t need to ponder long when asked what it takes for a team to rise from eighth to thrust themselves into an NRL grand final.

“A prime Jason Taumalolo and Michael Morgan helps,” the Cowboys enforcer says with a laugh, recalling North Queensland’s scintillating 2017 finals campaign.

That season marked Hess as an NRL player – bursting onto the scene to garner a State of Origin call-up for Queensland as an impact back rower. Even playing most of his footy off the bench, the now 30-year-old scored 13 tries and ran for a career-best 108 metres a game.

He and Taumalolo are the last men standing from that 2017 charge, in which the Cowboys fell to the Melbourne Storm at the final hurdle.

No side has replicated the feat since, with every decider determined between two teams who completed the regular season inside the top four.

It was a fortuitous run, Hess recalls, as North Queensland needed the Dragons to lose their round 26 clash with the Bulldogs after the Cowboys fell to the Broncos earlier in the week in a run of five defeats in their past six games.

But when St George-Illawarra succumbed, a window opened. Coincidentally, Hess and his teammates faced the same rivals – the Sharks – as they will on Saturday night from the same position. It’s the seventh time they will square off in a finals’ campaign.

History of Cowboys v Sharks in NRL finals

• 2013 elimination final: Cronulla 20 def North Queensland 18 in a clash marred by controversy after Beau Ryan crossed in the corner in what was the seventh tackle of the set, after a miscount had ensued. 
• 2015 semi-final: North Queensland 39 def Cronulla as Johnathan Thurston set up two tries and another three linebreaks to book a preliminary final berth en route to a maiden title.
• 2016 preliminary final: Cronulla 32 def North Queensland 20, with the Cowboys’ three tries in the final 10 minutes not enough to overcome a sluggish start. The week before, North Queensland had fought a 90-minute thriller against the Broncos in Townsville. 
• 2017 elimination final: North Queensland 15 def Cronulla 14, with Michael Morgan kicking an extra time field goal after the Cowboys trailed 8-2 at halftime. 
• 2022 qualifying final: North Queensland 32 def Cronulla 30 in a contest Coen Hess describes as “one of the best wins I’ve been a part of” after Valentine Holmes slotted a two-point field goal after 92 minutes. 
• 2024 semi-final: Cronulla 26 def North Queensland 18, as a Braydon Trindall masterclass – scoring twice and setting up another try – guided the Sharks home. 

The season has not been smooth for the Cowboys – their historic 82-10 capitulation against the Roosters, and a heavy 50-30 loss to Canberra each occurring at home in their last five. No side in 2026’s top 12 have conceded as many as North Queensland’s 652 points.

But momentum, Hess believes, can be wrestled back quickly, as 2017 proved.

“One win can really springboard you and give you a lot of confidence, and I think we just rode the high for as long as we could. We were just grateful to be in the position we were – we didn’t even know we were making finals, so we just got thrust into the finals and went on a run,” Hess says.

“This year, the way the games go, anyone can beat anyone on their given day, so it’s just a matter of turning up each week, playing like it’s going to be your last game.

“We haven’t really spoken about it [the 2017 campaign]. During the year you make running comments here and there, but it’s not something we’ve leant on.”

In their three finals victories en route to the grand final, Morgan and Taumalolo struck up a dominant combination.

On the back of Taumalolo’s 756 running metres and 13 tackle busts across those outings, Morgan scored and set up a try in each encounter to overcome the Sharks (15-14), Eels (24-16) and Roosters (29-16).

The halfback of that series – Morgan – has since retired. At the time, he had stepped in to fill the void left by an injured Johnathan Thurston.

Throughout 2026, Taumalolo has looked to recapture the form from that 2017 campaign.

Earlier this year, his career had been teetering under the threat of injuries, including a debilitating knee issue.

But after three lean years in which he managed just 49 games – 10 in 2025 – the 33-year-old has been in the conversation as the game’s best middle forward.

Taumalolo’s 54 tackle busts for the year has been his best figure since 2022, while his 153 running metres an outing on reduced minutes – roughly 46 a game – reignited the aura that once surrounded the Tongan colossus.

“There are those players with aura, and he’s definitely one of them. He definitely gets up for the big games, and it’s just being out there with him” Hess says.

“When he’s demanding the ball, you know he’s on, and he’s skittering defenders. If you see him doing that, it makes you want to follow in his footsteps and do that as well.

“The big fella is firing, so anything can happen – we might have to ride his coattails, get the horse whip out, and start giving him a few to see what we can do. He’s back in career-best form.”

The Cowboys have been boosted by lock Reuben Cotter being cleared to play after contesting his one-game suspension for a reckless high-tackle charge issued against the Raiders.

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