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North Queensland have beaten Manly 26-12 in a spiteful Anzac Day NRL clash at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Saturday.
The four tries to two defeat is the Sea Eagles fifth of the season, and will again raise questions about their ability to defend their NRL premiership while fullback Brett Stewart is sidelined with injury.
Cowboys star pair Johnathan Thurston and Matt Bowen were in sparkling form all night and killed off Manly’s hopes with key roles in the home team’s third try of the night.
The North Queensland skipper sliced through the Sea Eagles defence in the 66th minute and released Willie Tonga, who found Bowen on his inside to seal the game.
Bowen added further salt to Manly’s wounds clinching his second try in the dying seconds after latching onto a Thurston chip.
The Eagles mounted a charge in the second half when Chris Bailey crossed but their inability to transfer a mountain of second half possession into points consigned them to their fifth loss of the year.
The major talking point came in the 30th minute after a high shot from Manly’s Jason King felled Ben Farrar with the prop placed on report by referee Gavin Badger.
Test hopeful Luke O’Donnell earned 10 minutes in the bin after retaliating to the indiscretion by landing a combination of punches on the Sea Eagles forward.
The fierce ending to the half capped a fine display from both teams who were willing to spread the football.
The home side took a 14-6 halftime lead through tries to Farrar and Scott Bolton however the Eagles weren’t far off the early pace and crossed the Cowboys line in the 10th minute through Glenn Hall.
With Manly dominant in possession in the second half Cowboys coach Neil Henry praised his side’s tenacity in defence.
“Happy about the commitment to defend, everyone could see we turned over the ball and gave them every opportunity to get back into the game,” he said.
“We hung in defensively we scrambled well and coped with one man in the sin bin.”
Henry believed the sin binning of star forward Luke O’Donnell was over the top.
“I think there was a penalty for a high tackle that we earned, I think there was a bit of push and shove and he threw a bit of a punch,” Henry said.
“I think the 10 minutes was a bit harsh.
“He has served his time – the 10 minutes on the sidelines – I dont think we will hear much more about it.”
Manly coach Des Hasler refused to blame his side’s loss on the missing Stewart instead pointing the blame at poor execution.
“I was really disappointed with the result,” he said.
“We lost that game. There were at least two definite tries in the second half we tossed away.
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