Five things we learned from Brisbane’s win over the Cowboys

Cowboys hardman Josh McGuire continues to push the limits with a potential eye gouge in the loss to Brisbane. Here’s the five things we learned from the Queensland derby.

Josh McGuire of the Cowboys during the Round 21 NRL match between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Brisbane Broncos at 1300SMILES Stadium in Townsville, Thursday, August 8, 2019. (AAP Image/Michael Chambers) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

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Another eye-gouge controversy for Josh McGuire and Brisbane’s halves have a long way to go before establishing their roles in the side.

Here’s the five things we learned from Brisbane’s late 18-14 win over the Cowboys.

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Jake Turpin sliced through for the match-winner. Picture: Ian Hitchcock

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1. The Broncos are alive and kicking ... just. Brisbane’s finals hopes looked in tatters with the Cowboys leading 14-12 with 60 seconds to play, only for Jake Turpin to conjure a moment of magic to snatch a dramatic derby. Brisbane rise on Friday in seventh spot, while North Queensland’s top-eight hopes are officially shot.

2. The Broncos have serious problems with their halves. Brisbane’s forwards churn out the metres but even with field position scrumbase duo Darius Boyd and Jake Turpin lack polish, organisation and direction.

“Their attack has no flow,” NRL halfback Immortal Andrew Johns said on Channel Nine. “They don’t know what they are doing. Someone has to take control.”

Both sides failed to fire in the clash. Picture: Ian Hitchcock

3. How the mighty have fallen. Four years ago, the Broncos and Cowboys were in the grand final.

On Thursday night, they produced a derby debacle, committing 26 errors as both sides made a host of under-8s errors.

There were panic plays and second-rate execution. It was one of the worst games of the season.

4. The interpretation of the obstruction rule is a blight on the code. Jake Clifford beat three Broncos to score in the 48th minute, only for the video ref to rule Andrew McCullough was obstructed by Gavin Cooper.

Even though Cooper loitered, McCullough still had a clean front-on shot at Clifford and missed him cold. It was a disgraceful ruling.

5. Josh McGuire has to cut the stupid ill-discipline out of his game. The Cowboys hardman again raised eyebrows when he placed his hand in the face of David Fifita in the first half. The NRL match-review committee may look at the incident.

It didn’t appear to be an eye gouge, but after two previous charges this year, McGuire can’t afford to step out of line. McGuire had a spicy running battle with Matt Lodge all night.

Originally published as Five things we learned from Brisbane’s win over the Cowboys