The system used for the 2022 NRL finals series is a final eight system. The top four teams in the eight receive the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals, such that if a top-four team loses in the first week it still remains in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight play knock-out games – only the winners survive and move on to the next week. Home ground advantage goes to the team with the higher ladder position in the first two weeks and to the qualifying final winners in the third week.
In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week. The losers of the qualifying final plays the elimination finals winners in a semi-final. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final.[1]
Venues
The Grand Final as well as the Sydney-based preliminary finals were held at Stadium Australia, with the Grand Final returning to Sydney after a one-year absence. The North Queensland Cowboys hosted one preliminary final at North Queensland Stadium. All matches in the first two rounds were played at the home stadium of the team with the higher ladder position, except that the semi-final between Cronulla-Sutherland and South Sydney was held at the Sydney Football Stadium rather than Endeavour Field where Cronulla-Sutherland had hosted a qualifying final the previous week.
