Received

South Sydney face a nervous wait on several stars after easily dispatching Cronulla 38-12 to book a date with Penrith in a fifth straight NRL preliminary final.

On a dominant night for the Rabbitohs, Cameron Murray was brilliant in Saturday's do-or-die semi-final, while Lachlan Ilias also stood up and Taane Milne scored two tries.

But it didn't come without some concerns, with Alex Johnston suffering a hip flexor injury, Siliva Havili a calf problem and Jai Arrow a groin issue ahead of next Saturday's clash at Accor Stadium.

Prop Tevita Tatola also found himself on report for a chicken-wing tackle on Ronaldo Mulitalo, with fellow front-rower Tom Burgess already missing through suspension.

"I think (Tatola)'s alright. There's no doubt he put it in a position where he will probably get fined," coach Jason Demetriou said.

"But he didn't go on with it, so I am pretty sure he will be okay."

"Physios hope (Havili) is not too bad and he'll be okay. Jai has a groin issue he has had for a few weeks and will be fine.

"AJ has a hip flexor. Fingers crossed we can get them into rehab and we can get them back."

But regardless, little was going to sour the Bunnies' night at Allianz Stadium as they qualified for a fifth straight preliminary final.

They jumped out to an 18-0 at halftime and while Cronulla got themselves back into the game at 18-6 and 24-12, the Rabbitohs never looked in trouble.

Souths also did it without relying on Latrell Mitchell for an impact play.

Mitchell kicked seven goals from as many attempts but he also threw an intercept pass that led to a Sharks try.

Cody Walker also had a quiet evening, but he did skip over for the try that put the match to bed at 30-12 before Milne crossed late.

Instead, this time it all started with their inspirational skipper Murray.

The lock has been one of the unsung heroes of South Sydney's surge to the finals, routinely playing a part in tries for his outside men by digging into the line.

He was at it again for Souths' second try, helping Ilias and Keaon Koloamatangi give Mitchell the space to put Taane Milne over.

Murray also provided the decisive play of the match just before halftime, breaking free from Dale Finucane's hold to go over from 15 metres out.

"His handling and ball-playing was again first-class," Demetriou said.

"He's pivotal. Our spine extends to our 13. He has a huge role in that."

Ilias also thrived in the key moments in the biggest game of the rookie halfback's career.

He pulled off a crucial tackle on Braden Hamlin-Uele to drag down the Sharks prop when the score was 6-0, before later forcing an error on Wade Graham.

And when Cronulla opened the scoring in the second half, the No.7 went short side and backed up to score and re-establish an 18-point lead.

But for all the Rabbitohs' brilliance, Cronulla were poor in defence.

Souths' first try came when Mark Nicholls crashed through Toby Rudolf from close range, after Damien Cook put him one-on-one with the defender.

And while the Sharks briefly threatened a comeback in the second half, any hope of that was snuffed out when Walker scored with 17 minutes to play.

With that, Cronulla's season was over, becoming the first top-two side to go out in straight sets since Manly in 2014.

"I'm bitterly disappointed with our performance," coach Craig Fitzgibbon said.

"It's just not good enough at this time of year. We got a lesson in fundamentals of footy.

"And we just didn't respond to anything tonight. We had little squirts, but nothing of note."

© AAP 2022

Sydney have repeated history, winning through to the AFL grand final with an epic one-point preliminary final win over Collingwood at the SCG.

In front of a heaving capacity crowd of 45,608, the Swans rushed through a Collingwood behind in the last few seconds to secure the 14.11 (95) to 14.10 (94) win.

They will play Geelong in a grand final for the first time next Saturday at the MCG.

Sydney's only other preliminary final at the SCG was a one-point win over Essendon in 1996 - the start of the Swans' current era that has featured two premierships and now seven grand final appearances.

"I'm OK - it's just a prelim final by a point," coach John Longmire deadpanned post-match.

The Cats will start favourites next Saturday, particularly given they cruised to a 71-point win over Brisbane, they have the extra day to prepare while Sydney and Collingwood belted the hell out of each other to the death.

But Longmire said the Swans will be ready.

"We'll be OK. It was a pretty tough blowout, right to the last two seconds. We covered it well, we'll be OK," he said.

The Magpies, who have become the AFL's cardiac kids this season with a string of close wins, looked shot in the third term when they fell six goals behind.

But they kicked four goals to one in the last quarter to nearly do it again.

Coach Craig McRae left his players alone post-match for a few minutes, saying he was worried his emotions would get the better of him.

"It's difficult, because you get so close. There's just an overwhelming sense of pride, though.

"You look at the players in the eye and see how much they hurt and see how much they've given for the year, to fall short.

Crucially, Tom Papley was paid the mark and kicked his third goal for Sydney midway through the last term when he should have been penalised for a push on Darcy Moore.

Luke Parker subdued Collingwood star Jordan De Goey in a best-afield performance, while captain Scott Pendlebury and fellow onballer Jack Crisp were outstanding for the Magpies.

Lance Franklin kicked two first-half goals for the Swans, taking him to equal-third for AFL goals in finals.

"What a finish. Wow. Well done to our boys. They fought really hard. They were a really good team. We knew they were going to come and they did," Franklin said.

"It felt longer than 30 seconds (at the end), that's for sure."

Swans key position player Sam Reid was subbed off at the start of the third term with an adductor injury, putting him in serious doubt for the grand final.

Coach John Longmire refused to address Reid's chances of playing next week.

"It's not relevant at the moment, it's just after our game. I don't deal in the what-ifs an hour after the game. Let's wait and see," he said..

Franklin, after a quiet qualifying final against Melbourne's All-Australian Steven May, was much more prominent and played a key role in the win.

His two first-half goals took him to 74 in finals - equal-third on the all-time AFL list.

It was a fast and furious opening half with a total score of 18.8 - the most in the first half of a final since 2010.

Sydney led by 21 points at quarter-time and five goals at the main break.

Collingwood kicked the last two goals of the third term to only trail by 23 points at the last change, setting up the pulsating final quarter.

The game looked over 12 minutes into the third term when Magpies defender Darcy Moore - arguably the player of the finals in the first two weeks - tried to centre a pass to Jeremy Howe.

Justin McInerney picked off the kick and tore forward to goal and put the Swans 35 points up.

But Collingwood, as they have done repeatedly this season, rallied and nearly pulled off another miracle comeback win.

© AAP 2022

A Queensland teenager has been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly driving his car at kangaroos on the Gold Coast.

The 18-year-old, from Reedy Creek, has been charged with one count each of serious animal cruelty and driving without due care and three counts of fraud.

Residents in Worongary discovered at least 10 dead kangaroos across their neighbourhood last Sunday.

Investigations found a Nissan Patrol allegedly drove through San Fernando Drive, Harry Mills Drive and The Pinnacle between September 8 to 10 in a manner to intentionally kill or cause serious injury to animals.

The man was charged on Saturday and is due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on October 12.

Police investigations continue.

© AAP 2022