Johnathan Thurston put on a show as North Queensland Cowboys hammered Parramatta Eels 44-6 in his Townsville farewell and the David Fusitu'a-inspired New Zealand Warriors sealed an NRL finals spot on Friday.
Cowboys captain Thurston pulled the strings and was perfect with the boot, nailing seven out of seven conversions - several from the sidelines - and a penalty to finish with 16 points in front of a sell-out crowd at 1300SMILES Stadium.
The legendary Thurston assisted two early tries for Ben Hampton after running out onto the field with his two daughters and was lively throughout a crushing victory for the Cowboys in his final home match before retiring.
Kyle Feldt claimed a hat-trick and Gavin Cooper equalled a premiership record that has stood for 100 years by scoring in an eighth consecutive game, but it was Thurston who took centre stage as he celebrated a 100th and final home win.
The Cowboys have endured a miserable season, but the Eels replaced them at the bottom of the ladder after they were blown away in the first half of Matt Scott's 250th appearance.
Hampton crashed over twice inside eight minutes after taking whipped passes from Thurston and Feldt rose to take a brilliant cross-field kick from Jake Clifford and touch down before finishing superbly in the corner.
Gideon Gela-Mosby added a fifth try, with Thurston adding the extras once again to make it 32-0 at the break and Feldt nipped in for a treble when George Jennings and Corey Norman failed to deal with a grubber.
Cooper became the first forward since Frank Burge in 1918 to score eight tries in as many games before a Michael Jennings try, which was no consolation for the sorry Eels, who remained on the field to show their respect for Thurston.
The Warriors put Penrith Panthers to the sword to reach the finals for the first time in seven seasons, Fusitu'a crossing twice in the second half to secure a treble in a six-try 36-16 drubbing.
Penrith, already assured of a top-eight finish, lost centre Dean Whare to a suspected broken left forearm at Mt Smart Stadium.
