Eels

The Cowboys pulled off one of the biggest boilovers of the year in front of 41,287 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

The Cowboys only snuck into eighth spot when St George Illawarra were beaten by Canterbury in the last round but will now take on the Sydney Roosters next Saturday for a spot in the grand final.

The Townsville side were effectively written off after co-captains Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott were ruled out for the year but continue to defy the odds.

This initiative is in honour of the Kelly family, who tragically lost two sons –Thomas and Stuart – four years apart.

Then-18-year-old Thomas was the victim of coward-punch killer Kieran Loveridge in Kings Cross in 2012; Stuart took his own life one year ago, also at the age of 18, after not only losing his brother but having to deal with the fallout including being victimised over the State Government's introduction of lockout laws in the wake of the initial tragedy.

‌While the Kiwi pivot will no doubt cop a razzing from elements of the blue and gold crowd, he remains on good terms with his former teammates. However, after orchestrating a 22-10 win against his former club at Mt Smart Stadium in Round 6, Eels players are hoping things will be different when he faces the music against his old home crowd.

"He'll be sweet; I hope he's sweet, Parra fans are brutal!" laughed Eels hooker Kaysa Pritchard.

The absence of form hooker Josh Hodgson to a one-game suspension looked like costing Canberra dearly as a disorganised Raiders outfit was stunned by an early blue and gold avalanche but the Green Machine sparked into life in the second half as skipper Jarrod Croker's virtuoso performance helped his outside man Brenko Lee to a stunning four-try haul.