NRL Finals Series 2015: Winners and Losers from Qualifying / Elimination Finals

To say it was an eventful opening round in the NRL Finals series is an understatement.

Playoff football can bring out the best, and worst, in players, and the elimination and qualifying finals delivered plenty of talking points.

The reigning champions were sent packing, the minor premiers failed to make the most of home advantage and one team saw their season come to a dramatic end by virtue of a golden point.

After all the drama, now it is time to take stock of what exactly happened during the four fixtures spread across three days.

Here, Bleacher Report picks out the winners and losers from the action, starting with an away victory for a side that knows what it takes to go all the way.

The Melbourne Storm travelled to Allianz Stadium for the opening qualifying final knowing they always had the cushion of a second chance in the playoffs.

They went into the Sydney Roosters' back yard knowing their opponents were on a 12-game winning streak, while they had been well beaten by their opponents at the same venue in the regular season.

However, Craig Bellamy's side now find themselves just 80 minutes away from a trip to ANZ Stadium for the title clash after a 20-18 triumph on Friday.

Tries from Marika Koroibete, Tim Glasby and Kurt Mann saw the Storm seal their first playoff win since they were crowned champions in 2012.

Adam Pengilly wrote in his report for the Sydney Morning Herald, "It wasn't vintage Storm—and far less vintage Roosters bar a brief Michael Jennings explosion to set up a Shaun Kenny-Dowall second-half special—but the result is all Bellamy will care about."

They will now have home advantage for the Preliminary Final, when they will face either the Roosters again or the Canterbury Bulldogs.

That game won't take place until Sept. 26, giving Melbourne a chance to rest and recover. They will hope Koroibete will be fit to play, with Fox Sports NRL confirming on Twitter that he had "12 stitches in his lower calf/Achilles" after suffering a laceration.

The Roosters went into the playoffs having not tasted defeat since going down 10-4 to the Cronulla Sharks back on June 7.

They finished the regular campaign with a 12-match winning run, including thrashing the reigning champions, South Sydney Rabbitohs, 30-0 in the final round of fixtures.

However, despite their impressive streak, and despite having home advantage against the Melbourne Storm, they now find themselves in danger of suffering an embarrassingly early finish to their season.

Next the minor premiers find themselves facing an experienced Canterbury Bulldogs side knowing a second straight loss will end their title hopes.

There is, though, some good news for the Roosters.

Per Dean Ritchie of the Daily Telegraph [h/t Fox Sports], half-back Mitchell Pearce could return from a hamstring injury for the game against the Bulldogs at Allianz Stadium.

A crowd of 50,388 were present at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane to see the Broncos defeat the visiting North Queensland Cowboys by a 16-12 scoreline.

Wayne Bennett's side came out on top against their state rivals, in the process securing the team's first playoff success since 2011.

The pivotal moment in the match came when substitute Kodi Nikorima's break laid on a try for Anthony Milford, pushing Brisbane out to a 16-6 lead with 15 minutes to play.

Per abc.net.au, "The Cowboys had scored the most second-half points this year than any other team and had outscored their opponents 44-0 in the final 20 minutes of their last three matches."

But, although Johnathan Thurston converted his own try to cut the gap to four, North Queensland could not engineer a dramatic comeback.

While Brisbane get the extra week off, the Cowboys will have to saddle up and go again next Saturday.

They will at least have home advantage when they face the Cronulla Sharks, giving them a chance to earn a second crack at the Broncos.

Gareth Widdop was outstanding for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the Qualifying Final against the Canterbury Bulldogs.

The England international played through the pain of a leg injury to help his team, who had finished the regular season in eighth place in the standings, try and keep their season alive.

With his left thigh heavily strapped, Widdop managed to kick three goals. The last of them came in the 80th minute, sending the contest into sudden-death extra time.

But, the half-back turned from hero to villain when, after a failed shot at the posts earlier in the extra period, his ambitious 40-20 attempt was pushed straight out on the full.

The error set up the chance for Josh Reynolds to kick the game-winning drop goal for the Bulldogs, who progress to face the Sydney Roosters.

While nearly all the Canterbury players celebrated, their captain, James Graham, headed straight for his international team-mate to console Widdop, according to Michael Carayannis on Twitter.

Dragons coach Paul McGregor praised Widdop's performance, per Jack Brady of NRL.com, "Gareth's a big game player and someone who has got us to where we are. And he'll continue to do that. He hadn't trained for two weeks, he's done minimal work this week because he was in a hospital bed seven days ago."

As always seems to be the case when he's on the field, Paul Gallen was at the centre of the action when his Cronulla Sharks hosted the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The forward—never afraid to run his blood to water—gained 215 metres on 22 carries in just 64 minutes of action, according to Dean Ritchie in the Daily Telegraph.

Gallen admitted after the game that he had been fired up by criticism from the legendary Phil Gould, who suggested the captain of New South Wales was not a team player after the 14-12 loss to Manly.

The 34-year-old responded with his display on the field, though he also said afterwards, per Simon Brunsdon of Fox Sports, "I think when someone with that much power and influence over people seem to have an opinion on you personally it’s not nice."

However, that wasn't the only talking point involving Gallen.

South Sydney's Luke Keary was placed on report for a possible eye gouge on the Cronulla captain in the seventh minute of the contest.

You can take a look at the incident for yourself, if you haven't already seen it, courtesy of a Vine posted by Aaron Thomas.

Gallen, though, was quick to come out in support of Keary. He said, according to Steve Mascord of the Sydney Morning Herald, "It was an accident. He told me during the game it was an accident. On the field, we do what we have to do. I did what I had to do to get a penalty. I don't think anything will come of it."

The South Sydney Rabbitohs meekly surrendered their grip on the NRL crown, losing 28-12 away to Cronulla.

As already mentioned, Luke Keary was placed on report over a potential gouging offence in the early stages.

He's not the only member of the Bunnies who could find himself in hot water for an incident involving Sharks forward Paul Gallen.

South Sydney skipper Greg Inglis—who was returning to action following knee surgery—will also have to wait to see if he will be punished for a high shot on his long-time Australia team-mate in the second half.

By then, though, Inglis and the rest of his team knew their race was run.

The Rabbitohs had backed into the playoffs with three successive defeats that saw them concede a total of 109 points.

They weren't helped by the absence of George Burgess against the Sharks—the England international was suspended after throwing a water bottle at Sydney Roosters prop Kane Evans.

It must have been tough to watch for Rabbitohs owner Russell Crowe, though it should not be forgotten they won both the Auckland Nines and the World Club Challenge earlier in the year.