{"id":889352,"date":"2026-09-12T12:46:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T12:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/889352\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T12:46:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T12:46:23","slug":"nrl-finals-2026-the-mole-player-ratings-sharks-vs-cowboys-opinion-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/889352\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL finals 2026, The Mole player ratings, Sharks vs Cowboys, opinion, analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cronulla were forced to abandon their beloved Shark Park and head into Moore Park for an elimination final against the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

But the home ground advantage \u2013 or disadvantage \u2013 mattered little as the Sharks advanced to the second week of the finals with a clinical 26-16 win.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nicho Hynes celebrates a try.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Mole rates every player\u2019s performance below. <\/p>\n

Cronulla Sharks<\/p>\n

1. Will Kennedy\u00a0<\/p>\n

Underrated fullback continues to shine for the Sharks, setting up one try and scoring another.\u00a0Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

2. Sione Katoa\u00a0<\/p>\n

Overcame an early HIA to score his 100th try for Cronulla, becoming the fourth player to do so. Then added another for good measure with an intercept in the second half.\u00a0Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

3. Riley Jones\u00a0<\/p>\n

A fair job in his first final although he did bomb a try with a loose pass early in the second half.\u00a0Rating: 6<\/p>\n

4. KL Iro\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hard running centre had some big moments, testing the Cowboys\u2019 defence out wide. Unlucky to have a try taken off him by the bunker.\u00a0Rating: 7<\/p>\n

5. Ronaldo Mulitalo\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brought his customary energy and enthusiasm to the table but marred his game by letting his opposite Burns score for the Cowboys.\u00a0Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

6. Braydon Trindall\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maintained his fine season for the Sharks despite a shoulder injury, marshalling the team in attack, kicking well and putting Kennedy over for a vital try in the second half.\u00a0Rating: 8.5<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Playing on virtually one arm, Braydon Trindall was brilliant against the Cowboys.\u00a0NRL Imagery\/Brett Costello<\/p>\n

7. Nicho Hynes\u00a0<\/p>\n

Much-criticised halfback sealed the Sharks\u2019 win with a brilliant play on last tackle, shaping to kick and then charging through the defence to score. Rating: 8\u00a0<\/p>\n

8. Addin Fonua-Blake\u00a0<\/p>\n

Denied an early try by the bunker but kept taking the ball forward and making the hard yards.\u00a0Rating: 8<\/p>\n

9. Blayke Brailey\u00a0<\/p>\n

Steered the team around the park well with his intelligent ball distribution from dummy-half.\u00a0Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Blake Brailey is tackled by the Cowboys on Saturday night.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

10. Jesse Colquhoun\u00a0<\/p>\n

Did his job with 130 run metres up the middle and some big effort plays when his team needed them.\u00a0Rating: 7<\/p>\n

11. Briton Nikora\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kept quiet by the defence with just six runs for 36 metres but showed his class with a fine try assist for Talakai.\u00a0Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

12. Teig Wilton\u00a0<\/p>\n

Playing his best football in 2026 and was never far off the ball, topping the tackle count – will be in hot demand come November.\u00a0Rating: 7<\/p>\n

13. Cameron McInnes\u00a0<\/p>\n

The veteran hardman had a strong game, holding up the middle in defence and leading the forwards well. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

14. Siosifa Talakai\u00a0<\/p>\n

Replaced Katoa (HIA) early on and made an immediate impact with a fine try from one of his trademark bursts.\u00a0Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Siosifa Talakai scores a try.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

15. Billy Burns\u00a0<\/p>\n

Played just under half the game from the bench and brought plenty of enthusiasm to the field with him.\u00a0Rating: 6<\/p>\n

16. Oregon Kaufusi\u00a0<\/p>\n

Only got 15 minutes of game time, making only four runs but some bruising tackles. Rating: 4<\/p>\n

17. Thomas Hazelton\u00a0<\/p>\n

A real ball of energy off the bench, he took a power of stopping with every run he made\u00a0Rating: 7<\/p>\n

North Queensland Cowboys\"\"<\/p>\n

Scott Drinkwater reacts after the Cowboys loss.\u00a0NRL Photos \/ Brett Costello<\/p>\n

1. Scott Drinkwater\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rocks and diamonds, as he has been for much of his career in his final game as a Cowboy. Made four errors, set up a wonderful try for Burns, before gifting a costly intercept try for Katoa.\u00a0Rating: 7<\/p>\n

2. Braidon Burns\u00a0<\/p>\n

Made more run metres than any player from either side and scored his team\u2019s first try.\u00a0Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

3. Jaxon Purdue\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kept quiet by the Sharks for most of the game but showed his class with a slick late solo try.\u00a0Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

4. Tom Chester\u00a0<\/p>\n

Showed patches of pace and class but didn\u2019t get enough clean ball to make a real impact. Rating: 6<\/p>\n

5. Zac Laybutt\u00a0<\/p>\n

Had few chances with the Sharks dominating field position but nailed the one chance that came his way via a glorious Dearden pass. Rating: 5<\/p>\n

6. Jake Clifford\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a good season, was very quiet with just four runs and no try assists or line breaks.\u00a0Rating: 5<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jake Clifford after full-time.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

7. Tom Dearden\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tried hard to rally his troops, with a Wally Lewis-like 30 metre pass to put Laybutt over for a try the highlight of his night. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

8. Griffin Neame\u00a0<\/p>\n

Solid up the middle in defence but couldn\u2019t;t make an impression on the well drilled Sharks defence.\u00a0Rating: 5<\/p>\n

9. Reed Mahoney\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gave his all, coming up with a big play to deny the much bigger Fonua-Blake a try with a desperation tackle and never far from the action.\u00a0Rating: 7<\/p>\n

10. Jason Taumalolo\u00a0<\/p>\n

The veteran took the fight to the Sharks up the middle but got little support from the rest of his pack.\u00a0Rating: 7<\/p>\n

\"10.<\/p>\n

Jason Taumalolo.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

11. Heilum Luki\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another Cowboy who was below his best in the pressure cooker sudden death atmosphere, finding it hard to get into the game.\u00a0Rating: 5<\/p>\n

15. John Bateman\u00a0<\/p>\n

Justified his late inclusion into the starting side with an aggressive defensive game and some strong runs.\u00a0Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

13. Reuben Cotter\u00a0<\/p>\n

Busy as always for the full 80 minutes, topping the tackle count and doing plenty of the hard stuff taking the ball forward.\u00a0Rating: 7<\/p>\n

12. Jeremiah Nanai\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tried to get into the game in his 56 minutes off the bench but had little impact for a player of his class.\u00a0Rating: 5<\/p>\n

14. Soni Luke\u00a0<\/p>\n

A crafty player out of dummy half, he added some finesse to the Cowboys\u2019 attack when given his opportunity off the bench.\u00a0Rating: 5.5<\/p>\n

17. Coen Hess\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luckless big man had a short night due to a category one HIA.\u00a0Rating: 2<\/p>\n

\u00a021. Sam McIntyre<\/p>\n

\u00a0Got a late cameo but the game was won and lost by that stage. Rating: 3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cronulla were forced to abandon their beloved Shark Park and head into Moore Park for an elimination final…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":889353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-889352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}