There couldn’t have been more of a contrast between Manly and North Queensland at Brookvale last weekend.
On the one hand, the Cowboys are arguably the most stable team in the competition at the moment.
Until a couple of weeks ago, they hadn’t changed their line-up from last year’s grand final match.
They were the first team to turn up to the World Club Challenge with exactly the same squad they brought to their qualifying final.
While the Broncos are arguably more dominant, they’ve also had a number of changes and new additions, with James Roberts, in particular, taking time to get into gear.
Under Johnathan Thurston’s watchful eye, however, the Cows have become the closest I’ve seen to NRL perfection.
On the other hand, the Sea Eagles are struggling to find stability.
Most teams this season have been poised between young guns and veterans but none have felt quite as precarious as Manly.
That was particular clear on the weekend, with the team down to their third fullback choice in Dylan Walker after Brett Stewart and Tom Trbojevic were unavailable.
With Walker off with a leg injury in the second stanza, they were down to option number four, who turned out to be Pita Godinet.
With Api Koroisau also out, it often felt as if the boys from Brookvale were playing a game of musical chairs.
As gritty as the game was, you couldn’t help but feel a carnival vibe in the air, the sense that anything could happen.
Pita Godinet was brought into first grade at five-eighth only to end up as fullback, where he scored the final try of the night.
All of that put enormous pressure on the halves to perform, especially Daly Cherry-Evans, who really delivered.
While he’d returned the previous round, it really felt as if he was back in the spotlight this week.
One of the most strategic halves in the game, DCE showed off his keen mind with a grubber that set up Lyon’s first try and a four-pointer of his own in the dying minutes.
Lyon was also in form, scoring and converting the first try of the night and managing to convert Manly’s second and third four-pointers under fairly stressful conditions in the last ten minutes.
Between them, DCE and Lyon bookended the Sea Eagles’ game.
Nevertheless, the Cows proved that it takes more than a couple of good performances to make a team gel.
North Queensland were dominant all night and would have managed to almost shut out Manly completely had it not been for DCE and Godinet.
While Kyle Feldt may have scored the opening two tries for North Queensland, the points were as spread out and well paced as always from the Cowboys, thanks to Antonio Winterstein (19′), Michael Morgan (32′), Gavin Cooper (62′) and Kane Linnett (68′).
Winterstein and Feldt, in particular, owned the first half, racking up three tries off three Manly penalties without allowing the Steeden to touch the opposition’s hands.
Thurston and Morgan were also brilliant in the halves.
JT has so many plaudits and decorations that it’s easy to forget how much of a collaborator he is on the field.
Despite being one of the greatest players in the world – if not the greatest – with the Cows he’s always just one ingredient in the NRL’s premium halves pair.
What an experience it must be for Morgan to hone his craft alongside that kind of vision.
With JT managing five out of six conversions it was a refreshing game after a couple of rounds of fairly spotty kicking efforts from veteran halves.
If Winterstein, Feldt, Morgan and Thurston weren’t enough, the Cowboys’ front pack reminded us that they’re one of the biggest and best in the business, with James Tamou, Matt Scott, Ethan Lowe and Jason Taumalolo all racking up more than 100 metres.
Having won seven from nine North Queensland are now facing their best start to a season since 2006.
Combined with last year’s grand final win,that makes them the most intimidating team in the game at the moment.
While Brisbane might be a bit stronger, even they can’t muster up the particular mythology that seems to ensure Thurston’s teammates such poise and grace on the field.
Whereas the Sea Eagles have had to fight for nearly every win this year, the Cows never seem to get out of second gear, so effortless and elegant is their presence on the field.
On the verge of representative round, the Cowboys almost feel like a representative team.
Certainly, they’ve mastered the consistency, synergy and unity that Stephen Kearney will be so anxious to impart to the Kiwis and Kangaroos.
Once upon a time it felt as if the Sea Eagles and the Storm had dibs on that kind of perfectly integrated team culture.
Watching the Cows face Melbourne and Manly face Brisbane in two weeks, then, is going to feel like a changing of the guard.
No matter who comes away with the win, it’s bound to be a turning point in the 2016 competition.
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