After copping a flogging at the hands of Cronulla last week, Cowboys coach Todd Payten predicted it would be a “character revealing” time and he liked what was on display as his side ended the Roosters’ unbeaten Magic Round run, with a 20-6 victory on Sunday afternoon.
Heading into this match having won all of their previous games at the NRL’s beloved annual footy spectacular at Suncorp Stadium, many expected the Tricolours’ record to stay intact.
But after their embarrassing 44-6 loss at Shark Park, the desperate Cowboys put on a complete performance, playing for each other, competing in all areas and smothering their opponents on both sides of the ball.
“I said this month was going to be character-revealing and I liked what I saw every minute of every day at training and the same with that contest then,” said Payten.
“I can cop losing if we are in the contest, going after it and fighting hard……it was a different team there tonight.”
“What an upset. What a victory!” said Fox League analyst Braith Anasta. “I don’t think anyone expected this result today. They were resilient, they were tough and they were just way too good.”
Hail and torrential rain greeted the players as they ran out to take the field, and set the scene for a muddy and slippery encounter. The Cowboys simplified their footy and were set to play the long game, whereas the Roosters seemed determined to pretend the sunshine was still shining over Magic Round, and produced a frustrating performance with an un-Roosters-like number of errors.
They couldn’t replicate their efforts from their win last week in the wet against the Warriors.
“We had to play in the conditions last week but the end of sets became very important and we conceded two and built no pressure on the other end. That was certainly an error that was quite poor,” said Roosters coach Trent Robinson.
The Cowboys dominated the possession with their simple game plan.
“The Cowboys simplified their play, centralised their attack and scored a lot of points off kicks,” said Fox commentator Cooper Cronk after the match. “This win means a lot to the club – they are back!”
Tom Dearden thought he had opened the scoring for the Cowboys in the 6th minute, but a knock was spotted by the bunker from teammate Murray Taulagi. It took until the 21st minute for the first points to be scored when a quick offload from Coen Hess close to the line found Cotter to cross next to the posts.
The Roosters were very poor on the attack in the first 40 minutes, struggled to be creative and seemed to have limited opportunities at the Cowboys’ end of the field. Any chance they had to attack the line was met with rock-solid defence, and the tricolours went to the sheds trailing 6-0 at the break.
The errors continued for the Roosters early in the first half when a Cowboys grubber fumbled and Jack Gosiewski got to the ball before Manu to score. The Cowboys extended their lead minutes when a kick from Drinkwater on the last was allowed to bounce by Joseph Suaalii, and Taulagi snuck up the sideline to gather and pass to Chad Townsend to cross for his side’s third try of the game.
The Cowboys continued their wall of defence, not allowing the Roosters the chance to put on a comeback. A late try to Angus Crichton allowed the Roosters to avoid the embarrassment of not scoring.
With Sam Walker being dropped from the Roosters starting side, the new halves combination of Luke Keary and Joey Manu seemed to be the right move. But after average performances from both in the team’s loss on Sunday, it didn’t take long for the discussion of whether Walker was the problem in the first place.
“The Jury is out,” said Greg Alexander. “Trying to make a call on whether they are doing the right thing with Keary and Manu in these conditions – I’ll sit back and let them have another run.”
Anasta knew exactly what would happen next. “The Walker noise had gone away with the wins over the last two weeks. All of a sudden they have one loss and it will all come back. The Walker noise will start right now.
“I’m not sure about Manu’s move to five-eighth,” Ennis added.
Robinson was asked how he thought Manu has gone in the past three games at number six.
“Oh, he’s been OK,” he responded with a grimaced face. “I feel like he is defending well, he has had some good running performances … but we can get better there.”
After the success of season 2022, this year has been a big disappointment for the Cowboys. Coming into this match in 16th spot, many have criticised the Cowboys for suffering from second-year syndrome, or for some players taking their foot off the pedal after earning first-time representative honours last season.
It’s been a clunky start from North Queensland who have looked very disjointed compared to the well-oiled attacking we all enjoyed watching last year. But the effort on display was one of the best the team have produced, with the entire squad finally working together and looking like the Cowboys of old.
“The way that the Cowboys are defending, there’s shades of their defence from last year,” said Cronk. “There’s really good glimpses that the Cowboys are starting to get their brand that we saw last year back together.
“This could be the type of game that propels you in the direction with the confidence and the way you can put your football team together back up the ladder.”
Usually dishing out the punishment, Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves wasn’t too happy about being on the receiving end of some treatment from Cowboys player Jamayne Taunoa-Brown.
Believing he was collected high, JWH stayed on the ground for the required amount of time to allow the bunker to review the tackle. When the veteran front-rower finally got to his feet, he gave referee Ashley Klein another option besides a penalty or sin bin.
Many can picture a finals series without the Roosters in it, but this season is raising many questions about whether they will be there come September.
Clinging onto 8th spot with five wins and four losses, the Tricolours are a shadow of dominating side we are used to watching with no real sign of getting out of the hole they find themselves in.
“We were looking for some relief through them rather than working for it,” said Robinson.
“When you’re relying on motivation to play this game you’re in trouble. You’re going to yo-yo each week. If you have a mindset of playing hard every week that you go out there, then you are going to get the right thing in this competition. And we are not there yet.”
When asked how far away he thought his side was from reaching that goal, Robinson had no answer. “Not sure,” he said with a shrug.
“Our attack is not anywhere near where it should be with the players we have,” added captain James Tedesco.
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