Opinion
The North Queensland Cowboys defied a Leichhardt Oval hoodoo, a raucous home crowd and a Wests Tigers comeback to record a 34-30 victory on Sunday afternoon.
In front of a big crowd, many there to remember Tommy Raudonikis, it was the Cowboys who would strike first. In just their second set of the match, the Cowboys shifted left early in the count, well inside their half.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow burned David Nofoaluma for pace and kicked behind Daine Laurie. He regathered and, despite the best efforts of Laurie, got the ball down.
The Tigers then applied the blowtorch, getting three back-to-back sets on the Cowboys line. North Queensland survived that onslaught but a Luke Brooks chip soon after brought them undone.
Kyle Feldt couldn’t hold the ball under plenty of pressure and Laurie scooted away to score in the eleventh minute. Adam Doueihi added the extras but that was as good as it got for the Tigers in the first half.
Six minutes later, a Francis Molo offload created some second phase play. Scott Drinkwater went to the line, grubbered through and Murray Taulagi was there to collect.
A Jacob Liddle forward pass 15 minutes before the break gave the Cowboys another chance. Drinkwater’s initial last play kick was blocked, but he picked the ball up, chipped over the top and scored himself to put the Cowboys 16-6 in front.
If Tigers fans didn’t think it couldn’t get any worse, they were mistaken.
A Nofoaluma knock-on in a zero tackle, with ten minutes to go in the half, provided the Cowboys with a chance. Crafty dummy half work from Reece Robson put Ben Condon over.
Just before half time, Drinkwater’s bomb was plucked out of Nofoaluma’s hands by Taulagi who juggled before getting the ball down just inside the dead ball line.
Valentine Holmes was having a good afternoon with the boot and the Cowboys led 28-6 at the break. From a standing ovation at a trial pre season, a chorus of boos followed the Tigers off into the sheds.
If there ever was a game of two halves, this was it.
The Tigers immediately showed more intent in the second half, making metres through the middle and getting offloads away.
Eventually, North Queensland cracked, 13 minutes into the second half. A slick right hand side move paid dividends as a classy cut out pass from Doueihi put Nofoaluma in.
After a Feldt error, Wests were in again shortly after. Brooks’ grubber on the last was taken by Luciano Leilua, who dived in under the posts.
With just over 20 minutes to go, Doueihi bent the defensive line before putting Luke Garner into a gap. He wasn’t going to be stopped and the Tigers were back within eight points. The Tigers were a different team and the tide had seemingly turned.
However, the match turned on a moment just two minutes later. A smart offload from Garner put Nofoaluma in for a try in the corner but, after a long delay, the bunker found an obstruction penalty against James Roberts.
This seemed to suck the drive from the Tigers temporarily. From the resulting penalty, a Drinkwater bomb was contested and knocked back. Ben Hampton found a gap in the Tigers defence and gave it to Lachlan Burr who stretched out to score.
With fifteen minutes remaining, the Cowboys lead 34-20.
To Wests’ credit, they came again. With eight minutes left on the clock, they scored after some strong lead up work from Garner. A left side play saw Tommy Talau score in the corner.
With just 60 seconds left, Joe Ofahengaue surged over the line after some nice work from Jacob Liddle. The Doueihi conversion made it a four point game and the Tigers would have one last chance.
It wasn’t to be, however, as Brooks knocked on a relatively short Feldt kick off. The Cowboys had held on 34-30 for their first win of the season, and their first at Leichhardt since 2000.
3 points: Scott Drinkwater’s kicking game was almost perfect this afternoon and he had a part to play in a number of tries. His bomb in the second half stemmed the flow from the Tigers and enabled the Cowboys to hold on
2 points: Adam Doueihi was a standout in a beaten side, with his running and kicking game almost tilting the result
1 point: This could have gone to a number of players but I am giving it to Francis Molo. He made 81 metres in the first half, set up a try with an offload and his return late gave the Cowboys some much needed go forward.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Cronulla and the Cowboys entered Shark Park on Sunday with question marks over whether they are legitimate title contenders or not. The hosts obliterated…
There are few greater sledges you can give an NRL team than calling them pretenders but the Cowboys will not be contenders until they…
Who are the hardest working big men in the NRL?
Parramatta eased the pressure on coach Brad Arthur with an upset 27-20 win over the Cowboys at CommBank Stadium on Saturday night despite an…
Derbies are often rated on intensity rather than quality, and that was very much to the fore at Suncorp for the third Battle of…
1. Sea Eagles see no evil The Manly Sea Eagles are a loveable bunch, which is why they famously don’t have to carry banners…
