A pre-match pep talk from former Test prop Noel Kelly helped settle the Wests Tigers' nerves before they thumped North Queensland 50-6 in the NRL's first qualifying final at Telstra Stadium on Friday.

Kelly, who played 114 matches for Wests in the 1960s, and ex-Balmain prop Paul Sironen, presented the jumpers to Tigers players before the clash, played before a crowd of 26,463.

"Noel Kelly made a good point and the guys really took to him," explained Tigers coach Tim Sheens.

"Before the game he said besides having six schooners to settle him down the night before, he used to be nervous as hell.

"He said you need to be nervous. But he said 'then I realised that the bloke in the other shirt was just as nervous and I was here playing with my mates'.

"I think that was a great little story that a lot of the younger blokes took a lot out of. They were nervous but so were the Cowboys."

Tigers fullback Brett Hodgson, who played in the 2001 grand final for Parramatta, certainly wasn't too nervous.

He bagged a personal haul of 30 points, jagging three of his team's eight tries and kicking nine goals to break his own club record for most points scored in a match.

Hodgson, 27, also became the highest point-scorer for a fullback in an NRL season, surpassing the previous record held by Darren Lockyer.

"He's probably been our most outstanding and consistent player," said teammate Benji Marshall about Hodgson.

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