NRL 2020: North Queensland Cowboys go down to Manly Sea Eagles 24-12 | Match Report
Manly have struggled without Tom Trbojevic in 2020, but find themselves back in the top eight with two wins in a row after surviving a late scare to beat the Cowboys 24-12.
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Interim Cowboys coach Josh Hannay has challenged his playing group not to drop their heads and become “soft” following their 24-12 loss to Manly on Friday night.
In a week of huge upheaval in North Queensland, all eyes were on the Cowboys and how they would respond to the departure of former mentor Paul Green earlier in the week.
Though they showed plenty of grit and determination, it was their ill-discipline and poor defence that gave the flying Manly side enough to capitalise.
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A fortnight ago Manly were down-and-out with injuries but now two convincing wins – against Parramatta and North Queensland – have them waking up this morning in the top eight.
Manly’s win came on the back of their No.6 Cade Cust, in just his third game in the halves, who was all class and finished the game with one try assist, one try and a valuable linebreak.
Despite the loss, Hannay said he was encouraged by his players’ attitude and challenged them to remain up-tempo for the rest of the year.
“We’ve got to make sure the last fortnight around effort and attitude is the standard and benchmark for the rest of the year,” Hannay said.
“It’s imperative that we don’t go back from this, in the effort and attitude because that’s something we’ve done as a footy club in previous years.
“We show glimpses of good footy and then a month of soft footy.
“We’ve had periods of footy this year where what’s let us down has been an absolute soft underbelly and what I would call an attitude problem.
“I didn’t see that out there tonight.
“I can live with those errors, though they’re costly. I can’t live with the soft stuff.
“I’m really encouraged I didn’t see that tonight.”
NO HIP HIP HANNAY
Interim Cowboys coach Josh Hannay found out early how tough it is to be an NRL head coach.
Despite playing 153 first-grade games, the former Cowboys great realised it’s a lot tougher sitting up in the coaching box.
There was no Bellamy-blow-up but every time the camera turned to him, you could sense the frustration whenever his side would make costly errors.
He added his own touch to the game plan as well by using Jason Taumalolo for 60 straight minutes before a seven minute spell in the second half.
It wasn’t the winning recipe but it was a clever tactic to keep the side’s best player on the park for as long as he could.
COWBOY DEFENCE
Before the Broncos match last night, the Cowboys had conceded the most tries of any team in the NRL and their poor defence will prove to be their downfall.
North Queensland had 20 missed tackles at halftime, to Manly’s seven, and it hurt the home side.
It took just six minutes for Manly backrower Curtis Sironen to crash his way over in a set where there was nothing happening.
Not taking anything away from Manly and their monster engine room who steamrolled the Cowboys with ease.
NORTH QUEENSLAND SPINE
A lot was spoken before the game about the Cowboys inexperienced spine, which last night had a combined 59 first-grade games between them and it showed.
Young halves Jake Clifford and Daejarn Asi did their best to control the match but both made a few ordinary decisions.
It took 79 minutes before fleet footed fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow terrorised the opposition, sprinting 60 metres out of his own in-goal and evading defenders with ease.
COWBOYS 12 (Tries: Feldt, Molo & Goals: Feldt 2/2) beat/go down to SEA EAGLES 24 (Tries: Sironen, Levi, Cherry-Evans, Cust & Goals: Garrick 4/4) at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
‘RARE GIFT’: COWBOYS SPEEDSTER YET TO HIT TOP GEAR
North Queensland’s fleet-footed fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is undoubtedly a speed machine but no one quite knows his top speed.
The 18-year-old lit up the NRL last weekend when he sprinted past seven Penrith defenders – even while doubled over and stumbling – to score one of the tries of the year.
The Cowboys No.1 has been clocked running 10.85 seconds over 100 metres as a 16-year-old but his coaching staff believe he’s even faster than that.
Ahead of Friday’s clash with Manly, Cowboys head of performance Michael Dobbin lifted the lid on the club’s excitement machine.
Dobbin revealed Tabuai-Fidow had missed the club’s official sprint testing last year because he was rehabilitating a serious hamstring injury, suffered during a game in the Hastings Deering Colts competition.
“In that first year, we hadn’t really thrown him into the testing,” Dobbin said.
“He had a reasonable injury leading into that and he was being rehabbed by us.
“That’s where it all comes from – that no one knows how fast he actually is.
“He’s certainly quick though and he’d be a 10-metre per second kind of athlete.
“It’s a pretty rare gift to be given and no one at training can catch him.
“Everyone saw it at the Nines – he only runs as fast as he needs to get to someone or to get away from someone.
“That legend has stuck ever since.”
The Cairns product has made the most of his opportunity at fullback so far this season, in place of the injured Valentine Holmes, with two tries and close to 100 running metres a game.
Tabuai-Fidow’s First XV coach at Brisbane Grammar School, Paul Warwick, saw his potential at fullback from an early age following a classy display against a future rugby star.
“He’s got something you can’t coach,” Warwick said.
“A game that springs to mind was when we played Brisbane State High and the now Reds (and Wallabies) fullback Jordan Petaia was the opposite fullback.
“It was a real contrast between a big, confrontational fullback to Hamiso who was very elusive and hard to catch.
“Hamiso ended up being the better fullback that day because we ended up winning.
“My big question is that no one knows how fast he actually is because he only goes as fast as he needs to.”
Friday night’s clash with Manly will be Tabuai-Fidow’s first five-day turnaround as a professional athlete, and the club is doing everything to ensure the speedster is fully fit.
“If you’ve won the lottery and you can run that fast, there’s a lot of work that goes into making sure you don’t get injured again,” Dobbin said.
“This week is his first five-day turnaround as a professional so he’s got some stuff to work through. He just needs to learn to protect the gifts he’s been given.”
FIVE REASONS FOR COWBOYS FANS TO BE HOPEFUL FOR THE FUTURE
1. YOUNG TALENT TIME
The Cowboys have one of the most exciting young crop of players coming through the ranks. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Jake Clifford, Tom Gilbert and Daejarn Asi have already made their mark on the NRL and they’re only in the infancy of their first-grade careers.
2. SEVEN MORE YEARS OF LOLO
The human wrecking ball Jason Taumalolo has become such a pivotal player to the club – and he’s not going anywhere. The barnstorming forward still has seven years left on his decade-long contract and, like a fine wine, he’s only getting better with age.
3. NEW COACH, OLD MATES
Caretaker coaches Josh Hannay, David Tangata-Toa and Aaron Payne aren’t just some strangers brought in to look after the club – they’re Cowboys greats with close ties to many of their players. Hannay has been in Origin camp with the likes of Michael Morgan, while Tangata-Toa is close with Taumalolo through their Tongan links.
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4. FUTURE OF VAL
He may be ruled out for an extended period but Valentine Holmes is still only 25. The Origin representative has experienced plenty in his young life so far and he’s only set to get better. He’s set to remain at the club for another five years and there’s no doubt he will be worth every cent.
5. THIRSTY WORK
The Cowboys may have lost the great Jonathan Thurston to retirement but young Scott Drinkwater is doing a mighty fine job as a playmaker. In the absence of Michael Morgan, Drinkwater has managed to set up seven tries in nine games, score two tries for himself and bust 17 tackles.