Cowboys capitulation in Canberra has coach Paul Green fuming

YOU RATE THE COWBOYS: Coach Paul Green has questioned the commitment of his players as North Queensland's State of Origin curse becomes a serious issue.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - MAY 25: Ashton Sims of the Cowboys is tackled during the round 11 NRL match between the Canberra Raiders and the North Queensland Cowboys at GIO Stadium on May 25, 2014 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Stefan Postles/Getty Images)

COWBOYS coach Paul Green has questioned the commitment of his players as North Queensland's State of Origin curse becomes a serious problem.

The Cowboys yesterday suffered their worst loss of the season to the worst defensive team in the NRL.

North Queensland were uncharacteristically tired and unorganised against a patchy Canberra Raiders, who thumped the visitors 42-12 at Gio Stadium.

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When Terry Campese's injury-ravaged knees stroll through your frontline, there are major defensive issues to be addressed.

The Cowboys have now lost their past four State of Origin-impacted games stretching back to July 2012.

In their past five matches without Johnathan Thurston they have conceded more than 30 points.

The news gets worse for North Queensland as they could lose backrower Tariq Sims to suspension.

Shaun Fensom of the Raiders is tackled by Tariq Sims of the Cowboys at GIO Stadium.

Late in the first half, Sims tipped Shaun Fensom past the horizontal in a potentially dangerous lifting tackle.

Fensom was unscathed but considering the NRL's crackdown on lifting tackles, Sims could be suspended.

The Cowboys were missing six members of the team that smashed the Sydney Roosters 42-10 just eight days earlier.

Origin claimed Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott, Brent Tate and James Tamou, while Gavin Cooper and Cameron King are out long-term through injury.

Despite the absentees, a 62-point turnaround was unacceptable to Green.

“A couple of times our effort wasn't good enough,” he said.

“Our effort areas, the little things (weren't good enough). We pride ourselves on our defence but it was a backwards step out there today.

“We could have played well and still got beaten today, considering the guys we had out.

“It is not about the result, it is about how we played and I was a little bit disappointed with how we played.”

The Cowboys loss came against a side that concedes the most points, tries and linebreaks in the NRL.

Coach Ricky Stuart reacts to Canberra's 42-12 drubbing of Cowboys.

The Raiders actually made more errors than the Cowboys yesterday, 13-12, but the away team missed 29 tackles to the Raiders’ 12.

Green refused to make excuses for his depleted team, which faces the Melbourne Storm with their Origin players back this Saturday.

“They are our best players and our leaders. That said, we worked hard as a group to get to this point of the year,” he said.

Stand-in Cowboys captain Ashton Sims was furious post match.

“Some of the stuff we did out there, me included, two forwards passes, errors at the wrong time, that is not Cowboys 2014 football,” Sims said.

Scott Bolton of the Cowboys is tackled at GIO Stadium.

Under-siege coach Ricky Stuart was even caught smiling late in the contest after his side scored seven tries to two, with Jack Wighton bagging a double.

Campese made three line-breaks, one of which he was untouched by the Cowboys, in his best performance this season.

Despite the final scoreline, the Cowboys were more than competitive in the opening minutes of each half.

They scored the first try of the game to impressive backrower Ethan Lowe and they were only behind 18-12 in the 43rd minute when winger Curtis Rona, who is being chased by Canberra for next season, barged over.

However, more errors and missed tackles allowed the Raiders to kick away and force North Queensland to re-examine how they tackle the Origin period.

Originally published as Cowboys capitulation in Canberra has coach Paul Green fuming