North Queensland has kept its hopes of a top-two finish alive by defeating an understrength Penrith outfit 38-8 in Townsville.
The news was not as positive for the Brisbane Broncos, who saw their season come to an end following a 22-12 loss to St George Illawarra, while Gold Coast finished its campaign on a winning note against the Warriors with a 27-26 golden-point victory.
The Cowboys' chances of hosting Cronulla in the first week of the finals now hinge on Newcastle upsetting the Sharks on Sunday afternoon.
If Cronulla wins, the Cowboys will instead travel to Shark Park, where they are on a five-match losing streak that pre-dates their maiden premiership win in 2015.
With the minor premiership locked away a fortnight ago, the Panthers rested 11 of their stars for Saturday night's match and fielded a team unrecognisable from that which won last year's grand final.
Three debutants and only one premiership Panther, Scott Sorensen, took the field.
The gulf in experience between the two sides only began showing on the scoreboard midway through the first half when humid conditions took their toll on the young Penrith forward pack.
The Cowboys did much of the damage on the left edge, with Robert Jennings and Christian Crichton unable to contain State of Origin duo Murray Taulagi and Valentine Holmes, who combined for three of their side's four first-half tries.
A contender for a place in the Dally M Team of the Year, Holmes had his third brace as the hour-mark approached and earned an early mark in preparation for the finals series.
Penrith brought renewed intensity to the second half to ensure the Cowboys did not turn the result into a cricket score as it appeared they might in the shadows of half-time.
The Panthers pegged a try back through Jennings and then another when Sunia Turuva slid over while Penrith debutant Thomas Jenkins was in the sin-bin for a professional foul.
But the Cowboys never looked fazed and sealed the result when Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Reece Robson scored in quick succession late.
Penrith's back-up halfback Sean O'Sullivan left the match in the final 10 minutes with an apparent injury concern and did not return.
The Panthers chartered a private plane to fly home on Saturday night and on arrival in Sydney will immediately begin preparations for their qualifying final against arch rivals Parramatta, the side responsible for two of their four defeats this year.
Broncos to miss finals
Brisbane's season is over following its loss to St George Illawarra, handing Canberra eighth spot and passage to the finals.
With everything to play for at Kogarah, the Broncos barely put themselves in the contest before Ben Hunt and Mat Feagai performed the last rites on a horror end to 2022 for Brisbane.
The Raiders had entered the weekend believing they would need to beat Wests Tigers on Sunday to wrap up their top-eight spot.
But with Brisbane's collapse, the Raiders will now face the Melbourne Storm in an elimination final next Saturday unless they somehow lose by 54 points to the last-placed Tigers.
The result also means Broncos will become the first team since Canberra in 1999 to miss the finals with a winning record.
The Broncos only have themselves to blame.
They sat in the top four as recently as round 19, but have since won just one of six matches and conceded an average of 35 points per match.
In turn, they are now the only team since to fall from the top four so late in the season to out of the finals since the NRL introduced a top-eight system in 1995.
And it was a bunch of former Broncos who sealed the longest finals drought in the club's history.
Of the six ex-Broncos players in the Dragons side, Jack Bird scored the first try of the match, before Hunt was the Red V's best as he staked one final claim for the Dally M Medal.
The halfback starred, kicking a 40-20 in the lead-up to one try and skipping free and putting on a one-handed ball for Cody Ramsey to score another.
He also pulled off a crucial last-ditch tackle on Zac Hosking with 13 minutes to play, keeping the Dragons' 16-12 lead intact.
Hunt eventually linked up with Mat Feagai for the decisive play, putting the winger into space and helping him bump off seven Broncos for a 50-metre try with four minutes to play.
Te Maire Martin showed moments of danger at the back for the Broncos before copping a knock, while Pat Carrigan ran 181 metres on return from suspension at lock.
But the Broncos produced errors on three separate attacking raids in the first half, only building pressure once before Delouise Hoeter stepped through a hole to make it 6-6.
Billy Walters also managed to get the match back to 16-12 with 20 minutes to play, before Feagai's late heroics for the Dragons ended any hope of a Broncos miracle.
Titans pip Warriors
Gold Coast ended its underwhelming season with a comeback golden-point win over the Warriors in Auckland.
A beautifully-taken Tanah Boyd field goal from 40 metres out was the difference after the Warriors blew what looked a comfortable lead at a packed Mt Smart Stadium.
The crowd size was helped by a lot of free tickets, which went some way to tempering the mood of disgruntled Warriors fans, who learned during the week that the club would not be hosting any extra home matches next season despite having played the majority of the last three years in Australia.
They did not have to wait long to have something to cheer about.
A bust from Eli Katoa after only four minutes led to a quick play the ball, which Warriors fullback Reece Walsh used beautifully to send Jesse Arthars over for the first points.
Walsh was in the action only a few minutes later, collecting a spilled ball at the back by Jayden Campbell then flicking a behind-the-back pass for crowd favourite Josh Curran to rumble over.
When Dallin Watene-Zelezniak crossed in the corner off a scrum, the Warriors were up 16-0 and enjoying their best start to a game all year.
They should have made all the pressure they enjoyed for the first half-hour count for more, but the Titans finally woke up and created enough space for AJ Brimson to squeeze over next to the posts.
However, some messy work off another Warriors kick saw Curran get to the ball first and make the score 20-6 to the home side at the break.
The Titans came out fizzing in the second half, with Beau Fermor scoring to close the gap.
Again though, they squandered any momentum gained, with young Warriors winger Viliami Vailea punching through some weak defence off a scrum to score a long-range try.
Freddy Lussick went close to putting the result beyond doubt when he was held up after 65 minutes, an outcome the Warriors would rue when Campbell made up for his earlier error with a stunning solo try.
The next set saw Paul Turner cross to bring the Titans back to within two points, a deficit which was wiped out by a Boyd penalty goal as time expired.
After only three minutes of extra time, Boyd stepped up to be the hero with the sweetly-taken field goal.
The Titans finish with a sorry 6-18 record, as do the Warriors.
AAP
