The Sydney Roosters have consigned the North Queensland Cowboys to their third-straight loss, winning by 12 points on Sunday.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Roosters 22
Cowboys 10
After two losses in a row, the North Queensland Cowboys will be eager to edge closer to the top four when they take on the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium. Join The Roar from 4pm (AEST) for live coverage.
After a heavy loss at the hands of the Panthers, the Roosters are looking to move up from second last position with a win to push them up alongside the Rabbitohs and Eels on 14 points.
It comes after a season from hell for the Roosters that has been defined by injury, suspensions and the hangover from key player departures last year.
Riddled with inconsistency, Trent Robinson has had his stars moving in and out of the team and will welcome back Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Mitchell Pearce to the 17.
Waerea-Hargreaves has failed to find his groove in 2016 with the former Kiwi international unable to return to his wrecking ball status. If the tricolours are to come close to the Cowboys, they will need the big man to fire and lead his forward pack against a formidable Cowboys opposition.
Like Waerea-Hargreaves, Pearce has also been plagued with inconsistency in 2016. After a sour start to the season that resulted in his suspension, the halfback had a good patch midway through the season but has since gone back into his hiding hole.
The former Origin holds the key to success for the Roosters and will come up against energetic half Michael Morgan.
Morgan was silenced by the Wests Tigers last week alongside his halves partner Johnathan Thurston.
It was a week to forget for Cowboys fans after they tallied up their second loss in as many weeks.
They will be eager to turn it around against Sydney with Paul Green making a number of changes.
Ben Hannant’s knee injury sees Patrick Kaufusi and Coen Hess come onto the bench while Kyle Feldt returns from suspension on the wing pushing Javid Bowen to an extended bench.
The biggest change to the North Queensland lineup lies in the hooking position with Ray Thompson to wear the No.9 jersey after Jake Granville sustained a hand injury sidelining him until the penultimate round of the regular season.
The Roosters have dominated encounters between the two clubs winning 19 of 29 matches since 1998.
Last time they met, North Queensland humiliated the Roosters with a 40-0 victory in Round 3 of this year.
Prediction
North Queensland will get their first win in three weeks with Thurston to lead the way.
Cowboys by 6.
Join The Roar from 4pm (AEST) for live score updates and debate in our live blog.
You can find Riley on Twitter @rileypettigrew.
Renegade
Roar Guru
I don't think either of them want to be playing the team that finishes 8th right now as well..
Doug Graves
Guest
Baffling perfromance from the Cowboys. Is it time to stick the fork in them? They had everything to play for but got towled up by a rabble who are only going to avoid the spoon because of Newcastle's worst team and season in the history of the NRL. Any other year and the Roosters would be clear wooden spooners. The decline of JT has been remarkable this season.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
The Cowboys and Bulldogs seem to be in a protracted game of "No, you play the Storm week 1 of finals"...
howzyapappa
Guest
I agree with you. I was going for the Cowboys but I thought it was a try. Not sure what Ferguson was meant to do. Feldt fell into it (actually what was going on with Feldt? He has been great this year but he spent most of the game falling on his behind. He needs new sprigs for Father's Day). But as you said Adam - that is how high shots are officiated now. Same in AFL. Disappointing but correct.
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
» Click here to read the full match report That concludes The Roar’s coverage of Sydney Roosters vs North Queensland Cowboys. Be sure to join us over the remainder of the round with AJ Mithen live from 7pm (AEST) tomorrow night with coverage of Canberra Raiders vs Melbourne Storm. Thanks for following along.
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
The ladder as it stands 1. Melbourne Storm – 38 2. Cronulla Sharks – 37 3. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – 32 4. Canberra Raiders – 31 5. North Queensland Cowboys – 28 6. Brisbane Broncos – 28 7. Penrith Panthers – 26 8. Gold Coast Titans – 25 9. New Zealand Warriors – 24 10. Wests Tigers – 24 11. St George Illawarra Dragons – 22 12. Manly Sea Eagles – 20 13. South Sydney Rabbitohs – 16 14. Parramatta Eels – 14 15. Sydney Roosters – 14 16. Newcastle Knights – 7
Chinmay Hejmadi
Roar Guru
Cowboys and Sharks both in the middle of a form slump. Remains to be seen whether the Storm slip up too. Who will take charge of the Premiership now? Canberra the dark horses I feel.
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
MVP Nominations 3 - Mitchell Pearce 2 - Boyd Cordner 1 - Jason Taumalolo Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10
Chinmay Hejmadi
Roar Guru
Good win. A pretty shaky 15 minutes or so from the hour mark onwards but good defence to hold the Premiers out. Wouldn't have been so scary had SKD thrown a normal pass out to Mitchell on the wing a couple of minutes earlier though. But all in all a good showing. Pearce MOTM in my opinion. Watson, Cordner, SKD all good too.
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
FULL-TIME Possession: 52% - 48% Completions: 35/40 (88%) - 29/37 (78%) All Runs: 190 - 167 All Run Metres: 1831 - 1528 Line Breaks: 8 - 2 Offloads: 13 - 10 Tackles: 325 - 362 Missed Tackles: 30 - 44 Penalties: 6 - 7 Errors: 9 - 9 Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
FULL-TIME The Roosters have put in a solid showing to come away with a 12-point victory over the Cowboys at home. The Cowboys were the first to cross with Ethan Lowe beating Ryan Matterson to score just moments after the utility replaced Dale Copley who came from the field with concussion. Matterson got one back on the Cowboys with a try after 21 minutes thanks to a Mitchell Pearce try assist. Pearce continued to assert his dominance on the game with Easts spreading right to send Shaun Kenny-Dowall over on the opposite flank. The Roosters looked to have their third try in 10 minutes with Blake Ferguson going over after Lachlan Coote and Kyle Feldt dropped the ball in-goal. It was disallowed after the bunker found that Ferguson made high contact made Feldt in forcing the ball loose. The home side compensated for the botched try with Boyd Cordner going through the line with three minutes remaining. Easts had one last chance with only seconds left in the first half, Mitchell Pearce taking an unsuccessful field goal attempt to put them in front by 12 points. The Roosters were the first to score in the second term with Latrell Mitchell going through space to score in the corner after Daniel Tupou made a big gallop. The boys from Bondi had two disallowed tries with a cut-out ball from Pearce opening the gap on the right flank with Shaun Kenny-Dowall passing forward to Mitchell. Then Pearce dropped the ball upon grounding after he dummied to make his way through the Cowboys' defensive line. North Queensland stayed in the game with Kane Linnett scoring from a Gavin Cooper pass. Cooper looked to have scored one of his own with ten minutes remaining however, it was called back after Kenny-Dowall beat him to the ball from a Michael Morgan kick. In the end the Roosters were too good and come away with a 12-point victory. Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10
XI
Roar Guru
Huh. I was half-joking about this but now I feel like I should have been more confident.
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
FULL-TIME The Roosters have come away with a 12-point victory. Match report, statistics and MVP Nominations to come. Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
80' Pearce grubbers, charged down. The siren goes and the Roosters hold on. Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
79' Pearce almost breaks the line from the scrum base. Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
78' Friend grubbers and Morgan fields it in-goal, he passes for Feldt who is put in touch by Ferguson. Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
77' Coote knocks on at the 40m line, Roosters scrum-feed. Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
76' The Roosters gain 50m, Pearce grubbers and Coote comes up with it. Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
75' Thurston grubbers, Taukeiaho fields it inside the field of play. Penalty against Tamou Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
74' Bolton is brought down 3m short, Morgan with footwork offloads, it goes left and Linnett goes inside before offloading to Taumalolo. Now they go right and Lowe goes a metre short. Sydney Roosters 22 North Queensland Cowboys 10