North Queensland Cowboys vs Parramatta Eels Tips, Odds and Free Bonus Bets – NRL Finals 2022

Queensland Country Bank Stadium will play host to Friday's Round 28 NRL game between North Queensland Cowboys and Parramatta Eels. The game kicks off at 7:50 pm with North Queensland Cowboys heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the North Queensland Cowboys vs. Parramatta Eels game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Friday September 23, 2022 at 7:50 pm

Where: Queensland Country Bank Stadium

Bet: Bet On This Match HERE

North Queensland Cowboys vs Parramatta Eels Odds

North Queensland Cowboys vs Parramatta Eels Preview

North Queensland hosts a preliminary final for the first time as the club shoots for a third grand final berth in eight years that few would have thought possible at the start of 2022.

Parramatta, after snapping a semi-final hoodoo, are in a prelim for the first time since 2009 as the club strives to end a 36-year premiership drought.

The Cowboys were mere seconds away from a week two date with Souths, but a last-gasp Jason Taumalolo try and Valentine Holmes’ long-range field goal in golden point stole a 32-30 rollercoaster at Cronulla.

Tom Dearden was superb on finals debut, veteran centre Peta Hiku had an unbelievable game, and Taumalolo and Reuben Cotter racked up 450 metres between them.

But the Cowboys’ perseverance and ability to ride out some choppy waters and surge back into the contest was the most striking feature of a momentous win.

The Eels fell away in the last 20 minutes at Penrith in week one to lose 27-8, Waqa Blake experiencing a Nathan Cleary-induced nightmare and Mitchell Moses’ HIA exit, leaving the underdogs rudderless with Clint Gutherson and Dylan Brown going missing.

But a dominant engine-room display from the blue-and-golds set the tone for a 40-4 shellacking of the red-hot Raiders at CommBank Stadium.

Six Parramatta forwards managed 150-plus metres, with Shaun Lane and Isaiah Papali’i – well-contained by the Panthers – both topping 200. The Eels also offloaded at will.

With a rock-solid platform to work off, Brown and Gutherson (54 runs and 537 metres between them) were electrifying, while Moses produced multiple moments of brilliance.

It will all come down to which Eels side turns up this Friday in the (forecast to be 25-degree) Townsville heat?

Brad Arthur has called up Bryce Cartwright to the bench at the expense of Makahesi Makatoa. Tom Opacic is in doubt; if he is ruled out, expect the impressive Marata Niukore to move to centre and Nathan Brown to come into the 17, while the Cowboys have named an unchanged side.

North Queensland took out both the clubs’ previous finals clashes as underdogs – a stunning 29-0 boilover against the minor premiership-winning Eels in 2005 and a 24-16 result in the 2017 semi-final as the Cowboys surged to the grand final from eighth.

Scott Drinkwater was on fire as the Cowboys thrashed the Eels 35-4 in Darwin in Round 8, with Kyle Feldt (who has scored 10 tries in his last seven games against the Eels) grabbing a hat-trick. The Cowboys have won seven of their last eight against the Eels in Townsville.

The Cowboys have won eight of their last nine at home and have conceded just 14 points per game at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in 2022.

This is just the Eels’ second match outside Sydney since Round 12.

The Cowboys’ edge defence will prove far harder to exploit than the Raiders’.

Parramatta needs to display some patience and build pressure – simply scoring every time they get a repeat set won’t happen as it did last week against a much more resilient opponent.

North Queensland holds a significant advantage in big-match chops. Incredibly, former Roosters premiership winner Ryan Matterson is the only Parramatta player to have appeared in a preliminary final previously.

The Cowboys boast five grand final winners in Holmes, Taumalolo, Feldt, Townsend and McLean.

North Queensland has defied expectations all season and their collective experience and the home-ground factor should get Todd Payten’s $1.68 favourites into the decider.

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