NRL 2021 North Queensland v Newcastle: Judiciary hits Taumalolo and Burr with bans
North Queensland may have claimed the two premiership points on Thursday night but at the cost of losing their star forward Jason Taumalolo.
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North Queensland’s win over Newcastle has come at a cost, with skipper Jason Taumalolo facing a spell on the sidelines alongside teammate Lachlan Burr.
Taumalolo has been hit with a grade two careless tackle charge for his shot on Knights forward Tyson Frizell.
The Cowboys star was sin-binned for the tackle in his side’s 36-20 win Thursday night, and now faces a week out with an early guilty plea – or two weeks if he fights the charge at the NRL judiciary and loses. Burr faces a one-week ban for a grade one careless tackle charge.
The Cowboys host the Warriors next Friday night.
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Rugby League immortal Andrew Johns fears a State of Origin match or a Grand Final will be ruined by the NRL’s relentless high-shot crackdown.
His comments came after a decimated North Queensland clawed its way back to overpower Newcastle despite a double send-off in Townsville on Thursday night.
The Cowboys were leading 16-6 when first Jason Taumalolo and then Lachlan Burr were sent to the sin bin for high tackles in the first half, leaving the home side with 11 men for several minutes.
By the time they returned, the Knights had drawn level at 16-all and hit the lead for the first time early in the second half.
Once back to 13 players, the Cowboys steadied to snuff out the comeback, but Knights legend Johns is fearful for the game’s future if there is no let-up by referees.
Taumalolo, Burr and young Cowboys forward Heilum Luki all finished on report for high tackles as the zero tolerance level set during Magic Round continued.
With a touch of sarcasm, Joey said: “A great performance from the Knights to come back (in the first half) … and a great performance from (referee) Ashley Klein.
“It (the sin-bins) takes the whole contest out of the game.
“I felt deflated. If someone loses an Origin or a grand final (because of the crackdown) … I don’t know what to say.
“It’s a brutal game. I’m sitting here scratching my head.”
North Queensland coach Todd Payten declared the crackdown was negatively changing the face of rugby league.
“It’s having a massive influence on the game. It’s making the game uneven,” he said.
“Players are going to have to work harder and harder and harder.
“But whether you like it or not, that’s the way the game’s going.
“It’s not going to stop. It is what it is.”
North Queensland quickly regained control when they were at full strength, scoring 20 unanswered points to run away with a vital victory.
Winger Murray Taulagi finished with a hat-trick of tries, with debutant Luki grabbing the match-sealer minutes from full-time.
KNIGHT FIGHT
The Knights went into the game with just one win in a month and question marks over their character and commitment.
O’Brien even went as far to suggest losing was ingrained in the club’s DNA following years of mediocrity.
Johns was on board with the comments.
“When the club started in 1988, there were certain standards put in place,” Joey said.
“That was to be tough and tackle hard – I’m not sure those standards are still in the club.
“Something is missing. For a coach to say there’s a losing culture, it’s worrying.
“He’s seen stuff he doesn’t like.”
While the result didn’t go his way, O’Brien would have been pleased with what he saw from his players as they clawed their way back from a dreadful start to make a game of it.
The Knights looked headed for a hiding when they conceded three soft tries to trail 16-0 after 18 minutes, but this time they refused to fold.
Yes, they scored two tries while the Cowboys had players in the bin.
But they were good enough to take advantage.
The Knights led for a short period in the second half and showed enough in defeat to suggest their season is far from over, especially when Kalyn Ponga, Bradman Best and Mitchell Pearce return.
“I think the guys did a good job wrestling themselves back into it,” O’Brien said.
“I thought it was a better performance. I’m confident we will come out the other side (of this).
“We will get better. Some young blokes are on their journey and we have some experienced blokes coming back.”
COWBOYS REGROUP AFTER DOUBLE SEND-OFF
—Nick Wright
The NRL’s crackdown on high contact threatened to derail a rare fast start from the Cowboys, but ultimately the class of the North Queensland wingers shone through in a 36-20 triumph.
Guilty of allowing teams to get a head start throughout the 2021 campaign, the Cowboys surged out of the blocks to claim an early 16-0 lead.
However after the mayhem of Magic Round eventuated with 18 players sent to the sin bin or from the field, the tough new stance on high contact was bound to creep in again.
And it was the home side who were sent into panic stations in the first half.
But while they found themselves behind early in the second half by four, North Queensland’s ability to turn around a deficit came to the fore again.
Spearheaded by a hat-trick to winger Murray Taulagi, the Cowboys backline proved a class above with Scott Drinkwater and Valentine Holmes pulling the string, with the latter ending a try scoring drought stretching back to round four to break the 20-20 deadlock.
Another trademark Drinkwater grubber kick assist then sent Mitch Dunn across to seal the result.
For Taulagi, it was arguably his finest performance in first-grade, his three tries joined by 153 running metres, four line breaks and a whopping 12 tackle busts.
Kyle Feldt also proved a handful on the right hand side, ending the match with 236 running metres, four line breaks and 10 tackle breaks
But the moment of the night was saved for the end.
North Queensland debutant Heilum Luki charged onto a Jake Granville short pass close to the line, making a meal of his attempted celebration but sending a passionate collective of supporters into raptures.
HEAD SHOTS THREATEN COWBOYS’ HOME STREAK
Last week’s Magic Round announced the introduction of the NRL’s new policy on head high contact: inflict it, and you’re in the sin bin.
Towards the back end of the first half, the repercussions of that almost devastated the Cowboys.
First it was skipper Jason Taumalolo who, with his side up 16-6, was sent from the field for 10 minutes.
They were immediately made to pay, with former North Queensland centre Enari Tuala crossing to narrow the margin.
Shortly after it was Lachlan Burr, who felt the wrath of the new regimen when he joined his captain off the field.
Straight away they were punished with only 11 men on the field. Lachlan Fitzgibbon was put through a gaping hole off the next set, with the conversion levelling the scores.
While the Cowboys were able to withstand the onslaught for long enough to regain their troops, the stance very nearly thwarted what was the perfect start.
FINALLY, A FAST START
In the past seven weeks the Cowboys have finally found some sort of groove, now winning five of those encounters.
However in many of those games they were guilty of letting their rivals get ahead of the contest.
In their victories against Canberra and Brisbane they had to claw back from deficits, while they were forced to mount comebacks against the Roosters and Warriors only to lose late.
But on Thursday night they came out firing.
Some individual brilliance from Taulagi opened proceedings, receiving the ball from 40m out and demonstrating some silky footwork and a brilliant dummy pass to score.
The Cowboys doubled their lead four minutes late, with a late Shane Wright offload close to the line putting Reece Robson over.
The Knights looked to fight back in the 16th minute, however the try was called back when Javid Bowen was impeded in the lead up.
Soon after Taulagai had his second. After earning a repeat set from a Knights knock out, a swift Val Holmes cut out send the winger into the corner to extend the margin.
In the end, it was that fast start which enabled them to recover from the sin bins of two forwards and ensure they had enough time and points to play with to close out the contest.
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