2022 NRL finals series

2022 NRL finals series
Duration	9 September 2022 – 2 October 2022
Teams	8
Minor premiers	Penrith Panthers
Matches played	9
Broadcast partners	Nine Network Fox League
← 2021

The 2022 National Rugby League finals series was a tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2022 Telstra Premiership season. The series was played over four weekends in September and October, culminating in the 2022 NRL Grand Final on 2 October 2022 won by the Penrith Panthers.

The top eight teams from the 2022 NRL season qualified for the finals series. NRL finals series were continuously played under this format since 2012.

Qualification

v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Penrith Panthers (P)	24	20	0	4	1	636	330	+306	42
2	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	18	0	6	1	573	364	+209	38
3	North Queensland Cowboys	24	17	0	7	1	633	361	+272	36
4	Parramatta Eels	24	16	0	8	1	608	489	+119	34
5	Melbourne Storm	24	15	0	9	1	657	410	+247	32
6	Sydney Roosters	24	15	0	9	1	635	434	+201	32
7	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	14	0	10	1	604	474	+130	30
8	Canberra Raiders	24	14	0	10	1	524	461	+63	30
9	Brisbane Broncos	24	13	0	11	1	514	550	−36	28
10	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	12	0	12	1	469	569	−100	26
11	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	24	9	0	15	1	490	595	−105	20
12	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	7	0	17	1	383	575	−192	16
13	Gold Coast Titans	24	6	0	18	1	455	650	−205	14
14	Newcastle Knights	24	6	0	18	1	372	662	−290	14
15	New Zealand Warriors	24	6	0	18	1	408	700	−292	14
16	Wests Tigers	24	4	0	20	1	352	679	−327	10

Finals structure

The system used for the 2022 NRL finals series is a final eight system. The top four teams in the eight receive the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals, such that if a top-four team loses in the first week it still remains in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight play knock-out games – only the winners survive and move on to the next week. Home ground advantage goes to the team with the higher ladder position in the first two weeks and to the qualifying final winners in the third week.

In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week. The losers of the qualifying final plays the elimination finals winners in a semi-final. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final.^[1]

Venues

The Grand Final as well as the Sydney-based preliminary finals were held at Stadium Australia, with the Grand Final returning to Sydney after a one-year absence. The North Queensland Cowboys hosted one preliminary final at North Queensland Stadium. All matches in the first two rounds were played at the home stadium of the team with the higher ladder position, except that the semi-final between Cronulla-Sutherland and South Sydney was held at the Sydney Football Stadium rather than Endeavour Field where Cronulla-Sutherland had hosted a qualifying final the previous week.

Sydney Olympic Park	Penrith Parramatta Sydney Olympic Park Moore Park Woolooware Melbourne Townsville	Penrith
Stadium Australia		Penrith Stadium
Capacity: 82,000		Capacity: 22,500
Townsville		Melbourne
North Queensland Stadium		Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
Capacity: 25,000		Capacity: 29,500
Parramatta		Woolooware
Western Sydney Stadium		Endeavour Field
Capacity: 30,000		Capacity: 20,000
Moore Park
Sydney Football Stadium
Capacity: 42,500

Fixtures

Summary

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and time (local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
First week: Qualifying and elimination finals
Penrith Panthers	27 – 8	Parramatta Eels	9 September 2022, 19:50	BlueBet Stadium	Gerard Sutton	21,863
Melbourne Storm	20 – 28	Canberra Raiders	10 September 2022, 17:40	AAMI Park	Grant Atkins	20,838
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	30 – 32	North Queensland Cowboys	10 September 2022, 19:50	PointsBet Stadium	Adam Gee	12,447
Sydney Roosters	14 – 30	South Sydney Rabbitohs	11 September 2022, 16:05	Allianz Stadium	Ashley Klein	39,816
Second week: Semi-finals
Parramatta Eels	40 – 4	Canberra Raiders	16 September 2022, 19:50	CommBank Stadium	Ashley Klein	29,134
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	12 – 38	South Sydney Rabbitohs	17 September 2022, 20:00	Allianz Stadium	Grant Atkins	39,733
Third week: Preliminary finals
North Queensland Cowboys	20 – 24	Parramatta Eels	23 September 2022, 19:50	Queensland Country Bank Stadium	Grant Atkins	25,372
Penrith Panthers	32 – 12	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24 September 2022, 19:50	Accor Stadium	Ashley Klein	50,034
Fourth week: Grand final
Penrith Panthers	28 – 12	Parramatta Eels	2 October 2022, 19:30	Accor Stadium	Ashley Klein	82,415

Bracket

	Qualifying and elimination finals					Semi-finals						Preliminary finals					Grand Final
	9 September – Sydney
	1	Penrith Panthers	27
	4	Parramatta Eels	8			16 September – Sydney
						Parramatta Eels		40
	10 September – Melbourne					Canberra Raiders		4				24 September – Sydney
	5	Melbourne Storm	20									Penrith Panthers		32
	8	Canberra Raiders	28									South Sydney Rabbitohs		12			2 October – Sydney
																	Penrith Panthers		28
	11 September – Sydney											23 September – Townsville					Parramatta Eels		12
	6	Sydney Roosters	14									North Queensland Cowboys		20
	7	South Sydney Rabbitohs	30			17 September – Sydney						Parramatta Eels		24
						Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks		12
	10 September – Sydney					South Sydney Rabbitohs		38
	2	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	30
	3	North Queensland Cowboys	32

Matches

First week: Qualifying and elimination finals

First qualifying final

9 September 2022 19:50 AEST (UTC+10)

Penrith Panthers	27 – 8	Parramatta Eels
Tries: 4 To'o  15', 51' Edwards  59' Fisher-Harris  61' Goals: 5 Cleary  16', 53', 60', 63', pen 78' (5/5) Field goals: 1 Cleary  37'	1st: 7–6 2nd: 20–2 Report	Tries: 1 Kaufusi  28' Goals: 2 Moses  29', pen 46' (2/2)

BlueBet Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 21,863[2] Referee: Gerard Sutton Bunker: Adam Gee Touch judges: Phil Henderson, Michael Wise

First elimination final

10 September 2022 17:40 AEST (UTC+10)

Melbourne Storm	20 – 28	Canberra Raiders
Tries: 4 Coates  17', 21', 44' Asofa-Solomona  56' Goals: 2 Munster  46', 58' (2/5)	1st: 8–16 2nd: 12–12 Report	Tries: 5 Timoko  7' Fogarty  31' Whitehead  34' Young  65' Rapana  73' Goals: 4 Fogarty  32', 36', 66', 75' (4/5)

AAMI Park, Melbourne Attendance: 20,838[3] Referee: Grant Atkins Bunker: Ashley Klein Touch judges: Drew Oultram, Liam Kennedy

Second qualifying final

10 September 2022 19:50 AEST (UTC+10)

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	30 – 32	North Queensland Cowboys
Tries: 5 Kennedy  35', 66' Rudolf  10' Talakai  24' McInnes  56' Goals: 5 Hynes  12', 25', 36', 57', 67' (5/5)	1st: 18–18 2nd: 12–12 ET: 0–0 GP: 0–2 Report	Tries: 5 Gilbert  7' Dearden  28' Hiku  30' Taulagi  52' Taumalolo  79' Goals: 5 Holmes  8', 29', 32', pen 72', 80' (5/6) Field goals: 1 Holmes  92' (2 point)

PointsBet Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 12,447[4] Referee: Adam Gee Bunker: Gerard Sutton Touch judges: Chris Sutton, Jon Stone

Second elimination final

11 September 2022 16:05 AEST (UTC+10)

Sydney Roosters	14 – 30	South Sydney Rabbitohs
Tries: 3 Crichton  9' Tupou  12' Nat Butcher  54' Goals: 1 Walker  55' (1/3)	1st: 8–12 2nd: 6–18 Report	Tries: 5 Johnston  5', 46' Mitchell  22' Arrow  51' Tass  71' Goals: 5 Mitchell  6', 23', 47', 52', 73' (5/5)

Allianz Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 39,816[5] Referee: Ashley Klein Bunker: Grant Atkins Touch judges: Kasey Badger, Dave Munro

Second week: Semi-finals

First semi-final

16 September 2022 19:50 AEST (UTC+10)

Parramatta Eels	40 – 4	Canberra Raiders
Tries: 7 Niukore  70', 79' Penisini  6' Opacic  14' Blake  19' Paulo  23' Moses  45' Goals: 6 Moses  7', 21', 25', 70', 72', pen 75' (6/8)	1st: 22–4 2nd: 18–0 Report	Tries: 1 Savage  28' Goals: Fogarty (0/1)

CommBank Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 29,134[6] Referee: Ashley Klein Bunker: Gerard Sutton Touch judges: Dave Munro, Phil Henderson

Second semi-final

17 September 2022 20:00 AEST (UTC+10)

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	12 – 38	South Sydney Rabbitohs
Tries: 2 Nikora  41' Mulitalo  55' Goals: 2 Hynes  43', 56' (2/2)	1st: 0–18 2nd: 12–20 Report	Tries: 6 Milne  29', 66' Nicholls  2' Murray  39' Ilias  45' Walker  61' Goals: 7 Mitchell  3', 30', 40', 46', 63', 68', pen 77' (7/7)

Allianz Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 39,733[7] Referee: Grant Atkins Bunker: Adam Gee Touch judges: Drew Oultram, Michael Wise

Third week: Preliminary finals

Second preliminary final

23 September 2022 19:50 AEST (UTC+10)

North Queensland Cowboys	20 – 24	Parramatta Eels
Tries: 3 Cotter  11' Leilua  25' Taulagi  52' Goals: 4 Holmes  13', pen 38', pen 49', 54' (4/5)	1st: 12–12 2nd: 8–12 Report	Tries: 4 Campbell-Gillard  18', 57' Penisini  6' Sivo  64' Goals: 4 Moses  8', 19', 58', 65' (4/4)

Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville Attendance: 25,372[8] Referee: Grant Atkins Bunker: Adam Gee Touch judges: Dave Munro, Michael Wise

First preliminary final

24 September 2022 19:50 AEST (UTC+10)

Penrith Panthers	32 – 12	South Sydney Rabbitohs
Tries: 5 Koroisau  35' To'o  39' Leniu  44' Tago  54' Cleary  77' Goals: 6 Cleary  36', 40', 45', 55', pen 64', 79' (6/6)	1st: 12–12 2nd: 20–0 Report	Tries: 2 Walker  11' Kennar  18' Goals: 2 Mitchell  12', 19' (2/2)

Accor Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 50,034[9] Referee: Ashley Klein Bunker: Gerard Sutton Touch judges: Phil Henderson, Drew Oultram

Fourth week: Grand final

2022 NRL Grand Final

Sunday, 2 October 19:35 AEDT (UTC+11)

Penrith Panthers	28 – 12	Parramatta Eels
Tries: 5 To'o  18', 46' Crichton  11' Sorensen  28' Staines  59' Goals: 4 Cleary  13', 22 (pen)', 29', 61' (4/6)	1st: 18–0 2nd: 10–12 Report	Tries: 2 Gutherson  77' Arthur  78' Goals: 2 Moses  77', 79' (2/2)

Accor Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 82,415 Referee: Ashley Klein Bunker: Grant Atkins Touch judges: Phil Henderson, Drew Oultram Clive Churchill Medal: Dylan Edwards (Penrith)

References