It’s a Cowboys v Storm NRL grand final

North Queensland are 80 minutes away from a historic NRL premiership after advancing to the grand final with a 29-16 preliminary final upset of the Sydney Roosters.

The Cowboys will meet Melbourne at ANZ Stadium next Sunday in a David-versus-Goliath showdown.

Paul Green’s men are the first team to make the decider from eighth since Parramatta in 2009, while no team has lifted the trophy from outside the top four in the NRL era.

Melbourne, finishing minor premiers in a canter, haven’t lost a game in nine weeks.

Twice, the Cowboys were forced to come from behind on Saturday night against the Roosters.

However, star halfback Michael Morgan, who had a hand in three tries, came up with the clutch plays to lead the sentimental favourites into their second decider in three years.

The Cowboys were down 14-12 with 20 minutes to go at Allianz Stadium when Morgan fired a cutout pass for Kane Linnett to regain advantage.

A Justin O’Neill error allowed Roosters winger Blake Ferguson to snatch back the lead, only for Kyle Feldt to touch down just millimetres inside the corner post in the 66th minute.

Ethan Lowe made it a six-point buffer via a penalty goal soon after, before Morgan ensured victory with a 77th-minute field goal.

In front of a crowd of 28,108, Cowboys prop Scott Bolton put an exclamation point on the win with a try in the final minute.

The first half was an arm wrestle before the contest turned on an Isaac Liu error.

Lowe opened the scoring with a penalty goal from a Roosters high tackle not long after, which was exacerbated when Latrell Mitchell sent the restart out on the full.

Te Maire Martin then unlocked the game with a moment of individual brilliance, dummying his way between Mitchell Pearce and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves before scurrying 35 metres.

The visitors appeared to be in control when the game again pivoted on a penalty against O’Neill for impeding Ferguson’s chase of a Pearce bomb.

The Roosters didn’t take long to convert their chance, with Mitchell taking a Luke Keary kick misjudged by Feldt to reduce the deficit to two at halftime.

The home side appeared to have taken the lead early after the break when Ryan Matterson was awarded a try, however the decision was overturned due to an obstruction in the lead-up.

Cowboys co-captain Matt Scott was omitted from the final line-up despite being included in the 21-man squad for the first time since undergoing a knee reconstruction in March.

But it didn’t take long for Trent Robinson’s men to seize the initiative, with Pearce putting Boyd Cordner into the backfield for Connor Watson to score in the 46th minute.

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