Cowboys conceded 38 points against the Knights, but the more concerning number was up the other end

North Queensland have six days to rediscover their mojo, or the Cowboys risk a season slipping away before the end of the Origin period.

NORTH Queensland has lost its mojo, and they need to find it quick or face the real prospect of their season ending within the next fortnight.

The Cowboys were rudderless against the Knights, conceding 38 points to a side that turned it on with superstar Kalyn Ponga at the back.

But the more concerning number for the Cowboys was the zero points scored at the other end.

North Queensland lacked any spark or ingenuity in attack.

Their focus has been holding onto the ball, which they did a much better job of in the second half, completing 16 of 19 sets.

Valentine Holmes of the Cowboys takes a high ball during the round 16 NRL match between the Newcastle Knights and the North Queensland Cowboys at McDonald Jones Stadium.

But there is little point holding onto the ball if the side is not using it to score points.

The Cowboys attack was pedestrian, neither of their halves Scott Drinkwater or Tom Dearden were willing to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, and the go to play of sending Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow careening at the defence from 10 metres out was a waste of his best asset.

The closest the Cowboys came to scoring a try against the Knights was the impressive spread from inside their own half to find a flying Tabuai-Fidow down the wing.

While there was plenty in the league world who were willing to give the Cowboys leniency with coach Todd Payten stuck in quarantine away from the club, it was refreshing to see captain Jason Taumalolo rebuke that.

“There is no excuse for that performance,” he said.

“We were ill-disciplined in defence, we really let the pressure valve off these guys at crucial moments and made it harder for ourselves to get back into the game.

Enari Tuala of the Knights in action during the round 16 NRL match between the Newcastle Knights and the North Queensland Cowboys at McDonald Jones Stadium.

“We have a lot to fix. We start with hanging onto the ball and learning how to defend our errors. We let in a few soft tries off the back of our errors. That is schoolboy stuff.”

Cowboys assistant coach Dean Young, who led the side in the absence of Payten, said it had become a common theme over the past month as the Cowboys went from winning six-of-eight in the middle stretch of the season to three straight losses.

In their past three losses the Cowboys have conceded 114 points and only scored 42 of their own.

“We started the year really slow and got it together and went through a period where we played decent footy, but the last three weeks there is real big clumps in our game where fundamental errors are putting us under pressure,” Young said.

“Poor discipline is releasing pressure on oppositions (and) we aren’t giving ourselves a chance.

Josh King of the Knights is tackled during the round 16 NRL match between the Newcastle Knights and the North Queensland Cowboys at McDonald Jones Stadium.

“The score line (against Newcastle) is really disappointing, we have a group in there that is really disappointed. They are pretty frustrated in themselves because they did what they did against Cronulla. We beat ourselves.”

The Cowboys have little time to rectify these fundamental errors ahead of a horror run of games against top eight sides.

The Cowboys play the Rabbitohs, Roosters and the competition frontrunners Melbourne in the next three weeks.

There only solace, the fact the Rabbitohs will be without their Origin stars while the Cowboys will likely only be missing Valentine Holmes with Kyle Feldt expected to make way from the Maroons for the return of Ponga.

Holmes escaped a trip to the judiciary for an awkward crusher-like tackle on Ponga, with the match review committee hitting him in the back pocket instead, handed a $1350 fine.

“We have a long week ahead to get ourselves ready to prepare well for next week against Souths. It is a tough next few weeks for us, but I am confident the boys can turn it around,” Taumalolo said.

Originally published as Cowboys conceded 38 points against the Knights, but the more concerning number was up the other end