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North Queensland Cowboys vs. Newcastle Knights: NRL live scores, blog

Roar Guru
7th April, 2014
Teams

North Queensland Cowboys

1 Michael Morgan
2 Kyle Feldt
3 Brent Tate
4 Kane Linnett
5 Antonio Winterstein
6 Johnathan Thurston
7 Robert Lui
8 Matt Scott
9 Rory Kostjasyn
10 James Tamou
11 Gavin Cooper
12 Jason Taumalolo
13 Tariq Sims

Interchange
14 Ray Thompson
15 Glenn Hall
16 Ashton Sims
17 Scott Bolton


Newcastle Knights

1 Darius Boyd
2 James McManus
3 Dane Gagai
4 Joey Leilua
5 Akuila Uate
6 Michael Dobson
7 Tyrone Roberts
8 Kade Snowden
9 Kurt Gidley
10 Willie Mason
11 Beau Scott
12 Robbie Rochow
13 Jeremy Smith

Interchange
14 Adam Clydsdale
15 Korbin Sims
17 Adam Cuthbertson
18 David Fa'alogo
19 Zane Tetevano

One to be omitted

Kickoff: 7:00 AEST
Venue: Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville
Head-to-head: Played 30; Cowboys 13, Knights 17
Last meeting: Knights 48-0 Cowboys
Referees: Gerard Sutton & Dave Munro
Betting: Cowboys $1.50, Knights $2.65
TV: Fox Sports - Live
Removing one player from the NRL starting line-up could help out players like Roberts. players like Roberts. Photo: www.photosport.co.nz
Roar Guru
7th April, 2014
79
4520 Reads

GAME SUMMARY

FULL-TIME: Cowboys 28 – Knights 2

So there you have it – we’ve all been waiting for the Cowboys to click in 2014, and they finally did so tonight.

Great performance all round for the North Queenslanders, but they’ll be particularly happy with the form of their 1, 6 and 7. Thurston was dangerous as always but he had ample support in the form of Lui and Morgan, who threatened every time they got the ball and gave the Knights’ defenders that much more to think about.

Completions were high for the Cowboys, sitting at around 85% for most of the match before dropping off a little at the end, but they didn’t do it on the back of one-out running – there was plenty of ball movement throughout and they were never afraid of chancing their arm. That’ll be encouraging to their fans.

For the Knights, maybe it was a little bit of a comedown from last week’s performance or maybe it was the Townsville heat, but they didn’t quite click tonight. They started well enough and looked on song in the opening 10 minutes, but as soon as the Cowboys posted their first try they lost their way and never found a route back into this contest. I did think Beau Scott was a standout in a losing side, trying hard all night.

No injuries as far as I can tell – there was a brief scare to Taumololo as he went down clutching his shoulder, but he appears to be okay.

GAME PREVIEW

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Monday night NRL action comes to Townsville as the North Queensland Cowboys take on the Newcastle Knights. Join us for live scores and commentary from 7pm AEST.

It’d be fair to say both these sides have underperformed so far in 2014 with just one win apiece, and this evening’s clash shapes as an excellent opportunity for them to restore some direction to their season.

The Cowboys have thus far failed to live up to lofty expectations, their sole victory coming over the Raiders in Round 1. Last week they went down to the Titans in a game that was there for the taking if not for extremely poor handling.

After three consecutive losses to start the season, the Knights rallied last week with a brilliant first-half performance that was enough to do away with the Sharks.

The Novocastrians returned to their metre-eating best in that contest with no less than 10 players making more than 100 metres as they rolled up field at will.

The return of Darius Boyd was also crucial, their favoured left-side attack back in full force as Joey Leilua bagged a hat-trick. Look for them to send plenty of traffic down that side of the field again this evening.

There’s plenty of subplots in tonight’s contest too, from the brother battle between the three Sims boys – Ashton and Tariq for the Cowboys, Korbin for the Knights – to the return leg of last year’s fixture when Kade Snowden shoulder charge broke Ray Thompson’s jaw.

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I always find it tough to go past the Cowboys considering what we all know they’re capable of with Johnathan Thurston at the helm, but they seem to always take a couple of months to find their feet.

Couple that with the fact that the Knights looked to be back to top form last week and I’m tipping them to get the win here today. Knights by 8.

Can North Queensland turn it on at home or will the Knights make it two in a row?

Join us this evening at 7pm AEST for live score updates and debate on our live blog, and be sure to give us your opinion in the space below if you’re watching.

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