North Queensland have won without their halves pairing as they defeated St George Illawarra 18-12 at WIN Stadium on Saturday night.
>> MATCH REPORT: Cowboys return to NRL winner’s circle
Facing a depleted St George squad the Cowboys would score three tries to two to record their 12th win out of their last 13 matches.
It started well for them with a try in the opening 2 minutes.
Kane Linnett would score again at WIN Stadium, with his 4th try at the venue, to give the team a 4-0 lead.
They would extend it to 6-0 after 22 minutes before the Dragons leveled with a try to Euan Aitken after 28 minutes.
A brilliant pass from Benji Marshall, and a missed tackle from the Cowboys, gave him the try.
From that moment on, until the 60th minute, it was all the Cowboys as they scored two tries to lead 18-6.
Linnett would score his 2nd try right on half time, before Jake Granville made it a 12 point lead.
This triggered the Dragons into attacking football and it paid off straight away with a try to Mark Ioane.
Making his debut, after signing from the Titans during the week, he would score an acrobatic try in the corner to reduce the margin to six points.
That was as good as it got for the Dragons as they fell short of scoring another try to take it to golden point.
In the last few minutes the Cowboys made two lunging tackles to stop Marshall and Aitken from scoring in the same set.
They now remain in the top two as the Origin series draws to a close this week.
They are also three games clear of the rest of the field.
The Dragons remain in the top four but are starting to fall to the chasing pack.
They have now lost 4 straight matches and will be glad the Origin series is over.
It’s a battle of the top four as the St George Illawarra Dragons take on the North Queensland Cowboys at WIN Stadium tonight. Join The Roar for a live blog of the action from 7:30pm AEST.
Coming off losses in Round 16, to the Sharks and Eels respectively, both will be looking for a win to remain in the hunt for a double chance in the finals.
In the case of the Dragons, they desperately need a win, after losing three straight matches.
Since the Origin series started, on the 27th of May, they have won just once in four matches.
That was a 42-6 win against the Sharks after the 1st Origin match.
Since then they have conceded an average of 21 points to lose their last three matches to the Roosters, the Bulldogs, and the Eels.
The defence, which is still the number 1 statistically in the competition, has started to lapse in the last few weeks.
They were also without Mitch Rein and Jason Nightingale for the match last week.
On the other hand the Cowboys have been the inform team of the competition.
Before last week’s loss they won 11 straight matches.
They also had an 18-0 lead over the Sharks last weekend before conceding the next 24 points.
The Cowboys will look to respond without their halves combination today.
Both Jonathan Thurston and Michael Morgan are out with Origin duty which puts the match in the favour of the Dragons.
Replacing them will be Ray Thompson and Robert Lui, who has another chance to prove himself at the club.
James Tamou and Matt Scott are also out with Origin duty and are replaced by Ben Hannant and Sam Hoare.
The Dragons are also depleted with Origin selection with them missing Josh Dugan and Trent Merrin.
Jason Nightingale returns from injury with Nathan Green and Mitch Rein also returning to the team.
Tyson Frizell, Joel Thompson, and Dylan Farrell are also out for the match.
Yaw Kiti Glymin will make his debut with Will Matthews and Jake Marketo also in the team.
Just who wins this match will be interesting.
Both are severely depleted, so form is virtually thrown out the window.
The Cowboys have also won 5 of the last 12 matches they have played at Win Stadium. That record is better than at other Sydney venues for the Queensland team.
This is a toss of the coin as to who will win. The Dragons though need to win to stop the slide they are having at the moment.
Based on that I predict them to just record a victory over the Cowboys. Expect this match to be close.
PREDICTION – Dragons by 2.
Tomas Kelly
Roar Rookie
It was the Dragons failure to adapt their game (when it clearly wasn't troubling the Cowboys) rather than the low-risk game plan itself which was most disappointing for me Ken
Ken
Guest
The kicking game could have been better but the boring gameplan is an inevitable outcome of having a makeshift team. WIth so many new players, a couple on NRL debut, a couple only joining the club a couple of days earlier, a few more that haven't played NRL this year - you can't run a bunch of intricate plays expecting everyone to know their role. Gotta keep it simple and hope for the best. On a sidenote, this is similar to what we see in Origin. With the calibre of players involved special moments occur regardless, but really both teams go in with far simpler gameplans to those in club land.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Only had about 10 players out....
Tomas Kelly
Roar Rookie
Defensive line speed is such an important factor for any NRL team and none more so than the Dragons. Again tonight, their line speed was terrible with the Cowboys completely dominating the go forward and creating offloads almost at will. Only positive is that like most things in defence, it is largely attitude related with the Dragons needing to re-capture their defensive resolve quick smart otherwise will continue their drift down the competition ladder. Must win local derby coming up against the Sharks next week!
Tomas Kelly
Roar Rookie
Totally agree nerval. Dragons played like they were ahead by 8 the whole game and threw very little at the Cowboys until it was too late. Very similar scenario to previous games against Roosters and Eels. Their low-risk game plan totally back fired and was never going to work with such a depleted side. Cowboys played much the same but in contrast, earned the right to do so with their domination of the ruck.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
Full report to come after the Wimbledon match between Sam Groth and Roger Federer. You can head there now for a live blog of the match.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
STATS - Metres gained - Dragons 1655 Cowboys 1843 Offloads - Dragons 4 Cowboys 9 Line Breaks - Dragons 2 Cowboys 4 Possession - Dragons 50% Cowboys 50% Completions - Dragons 32/36 Cowboys 35/39 Tackles - Dragons 420 Cowboys 362 Missed Tackles - Dragons 27 Cowboys 21 Penalties Conceded - Dragons 3 Cowboys 5 Errors - Dragons 2 Cowboys 3
nerval
Guest
A hugely frustrating game to watch as a Dragons fan. For the vast majority of the game, the "game plan" seemed to consist of 5 one-man drives and a kick - a kick that invariably went straight down the throat of one of the Cowboys back-fielders courtesy of both Marshall and Widdop. 12 points down and, finally, the Dragons start to play. I'll risk stating the bleeding obvious - why didn't they at least try to play this way before they went 12 points down? Can they not see how much more threatening they became? Can the game as a whole not see that it also becomes much more exciting for the fans at the ground and the TV viewers at home? I like Mary McGregor and want him to succeed, but I really hope he learns something from this game.
Bronco Juggernaut
Guest
Dragons are stuffed
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
FULL TIME - Cowboys drag down the minute and hold on. They defeat the Dragons 18-12 and record their 12th win from their last 13 matches. COWBOYS 18 Linnett 2 Granville 1 Lowe 2/3 & 1/1 DRAGONS 12 Ioane 1 Aitken 1 Widdop 2/2
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
H2 - 79:00 A Widdop kick is taken by Cooper 15 metres out. Cowboys have 60 seconds to survive.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
H2 - 78:00 Dragons have the ball back after a Cowboy set. This could be their last set.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
H2 - 76:40 Amazing defence from the Cowboys. They make two try saving tackles, on Marshall and Aitken, and hold on. Jake Granville's tackle was brilliant. They have a scrum ten metres out.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
H2 - 75:21 A high kick is almost taken by Gavin Cooper on the last tackle of the Cowboy set. He knock on though. The Dragons have the ball back. They might only have two sets left here.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
H2 - 74:30 Mitch Rein tries a 40/20 and almost gets it. The Cowboys just keep it in play. They are holding on.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
H2 - 73:40 A high kick is taken well by Green. Dragons attack again with another set.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
H2 - 72:47 Cowboys get the ball back. They attack again.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
H2 - 71:56 They don't get close enough and the Dragons have the ball back 10 metres out from their line. Can they score?
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
H2 - 70:50 Dragons don't do anything with the extra set. The Cowboys have the ball back. Surely they will go for a field goal if they get close enough.
Shane Jones
Roar Guru
H2 - 69:10 A big run from George Rose sets up a play for the Dragons. A kick then runs towards the goal line and the Cowboys are forced to put the ball dead. Goal line drop out time. The Dragons are finally starting to play attacking footy.