The Canberra Raiders have stunned the North Queensland Cowboys, holding on for a 18-8 win off the back of a determined defensive effort at 1300Smiles Stadium.
Having conceded seven tries in last week’s 42-22 loss to South Sydney, many saw the Raiders as simple cannon fodder for a Cowboys side coming off a much-needed win over the Titans.
However, much of the hype surrounding Paul Green’s men this season was based off their outstanding run to last year’s Grand Final and by Round 8 we are still waiting for that Cowboys side to turn up.
Despite the sheer talent of their roster, North Queensland have looked predictable in attack and struggled against a resolute Canberra side on Saturday night.
The Cowboys opened the scoring after Jonathan Thurston put Gavin Cooper through a gaping hole in the 17th minute. However, they would not be able to cross the line again for the remainder of the contest.
Rather, it was the Raiders who ran in the next three tries. The first came in the 26th minute when the improving Siliva Havili gave it to Josh Papalii who crashed past Jason Taumalolo and Shaun Fensom to score under the posts. As a result, both sides entered the sheds locked up at 6-all.
North Queensland scored the first points of the second half courtesy of a penalty goal.
Yet moments later Canberra hit the lead for the first time when Aidan Sezer took on the line and beat the attempted tackles of Michael Morgan and Coen Hess to cross over.
The Cowboys had several chances to strike back but poor execution and strong defence from Canberra continued to deny them.
Ricky Stuart’s men sealed the well-deserved 18-8 victory in the 74th minute when Havili surged over several defenders to score.
Final score
North Queensland Cowboys 8
Canberra Raiders 18
Swannies
Guest
A good win on the road...something the Raiders have struggled with. Ricky might have finally got his team's balance right...hopefully not too late. They look good to win their next 2 at home.
Nat
Roar Guru
Change the record Rob, we get it. Do they make a antidote for tall poppy syndrome?
Rob
Guest
The Cowboys are playing ordinary. The Raiders were a good bet IMO. The Cowboys will be luck to finish higher than 12th with the current pensioners playing. The difference from the finals performance to the current performances is the playing roster. They're older, slower and stoping the young blokes from getting their hands on the football..
Albo
Guest
Yep ! I think the Raiders defence won the night, and Havili has really added some starch to their pack. Papalii & Tapine too were outstanding defensively. Sezer continued his recent good form and I think Ricky might have stripped it all back to a more simple game plan ( less expansive) for now to get them in the winning groove. Since Gordon Tallis labelled the Cowboys pack the best ever at the start of the year, they have been outplayed by nearly every pack they have played. Add the fact that the Cowboys spine is yet to really fire, with Coote replaced last night and Morgan still not impacting to any great degree, and the Cows are looking in real trouble after being one of the early favourites this year.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Hey Gary. Did not see that coming. I would have put the house on the Cowboys before the game. Just goes to show there are no certainties in sport. Just watched the full replay (went to a concert last night so couldn't see the game live) and was super impressed with the defensive performance of the whole Raiders team. Amazing that they kept the Cowboys to one try despite only having 42% of possession. I've been bagging some of Ricky's selection decisions but as you suggest he made the right moves with the bench last night. Havilli had a lot more game time and the forwards all contributed when they came on. Couldn't be happier with that defensive effort. Thought the back 5 were outstanding, Papalii and Tapine were great, Havilli was excellent at hooker, I thought Sezer and Austing were pretty good in the halves and what about that shot by Junior on Taumololo. When you think about it the defence has been really good for 3 out of the past 4 games. Lets hope they can get on a bit of a roll from here.
Lovey
Guest
JT still played a great game. Those kicks did not get result but were close, if they had come off it would have been glory. I think Winterstein is not up to it now. The Cows forwards got rolled in the first half, but came back. They could have easily won that game, it was close. I couldn’t see how the bunker could overrule that last try to the Raiders though.
kk
Guest
So apt, I like it GH. I thought the Cowboys were he bet of the round and invested accordingly. My son influenced me to have a back saver on the Vikings and that eased the pain. JT needs a podiatry check up. He and the Steeden seemed to be in conflict. Congratulations to Canberra. We can expect more of the same ???
Gary Harvey
Guest
Solid win. 2 points, great defensive effort and all the boys put in. Stuart also used the bench well, can't believe I just wrote that last sentence.