Late Adam Reynolds field-goal helps Rabbitohs edge Cowboys 21-20 in Cairns

JOHNATHAN Thurston’s dream of a premiership swansong has officially evaporated after South Sydney delivered the bullet to the Cowboys’ finals hopes with a heartstopping 21-20 victory in Cairns.

Johnathan Thurston couldn’t save the Cowboys from a narrow defeat to the Rabbitohs. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

IT’S official - Johnathan Thurston’s farewell season will end in tears.

Thurston’s dream of a premiership swansong is in tatters after South Sydney delivered the bullet to the Cowboys’ finals hopes with a heartstopping 21-20 victory in Cairns.

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Johnathan Thurston couldn’t save the Cowboys from a narrow defeat to the Rabbitohs. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Entering the clash, the Cowboys needed to win their remaining nine games to have any hope of making the finals and they were on the cusp of a boilover when they led Souths 20-16 with six minutes to play.

But a Robert Jennings 75th-minute try levelled scores at 20-all before Adam Reynolds snapped a field-goal 90 seconds from time to drive the dagger into the Cowboys’ season.

Right until the bitter end, however, Thurston went down swinging.

Damien Cook was enormous for South Sydney. (AAP Image/Marc McCormack)

In the final seconds, the Cowboys were given a penalty, putting them within field-goal distance. From the tap restart, Thurston attempted to level scores with a field-goal snap near the touchline, but his attempt sailed agonisingly wide as Souths players raised their arms in triumph.

Thurston slumped to the turf a broken man. It was a gut-wrenching end for a champion who was magnificent yesterday, setting up two early tries, including one for Gavin Cooper in his 200th club game, to propel the Cowboys to a 14-12 half-time.

Jason Taumalolo put in a typically strong performance in Cairns. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

But there will be no shimmering premiership ring as a thank you for his services to the NRL. Instead, Thurston’s finale will be a regular-season away game against the Titans at Robina.

“He takes losses pretty hard anyway,” Cowboys coach Paul Green said. “But he is disappointed like the rest of us, we had that game, we just weren’t able to finish it off.”

North Queensland’s capitulation is head-spinning. They were tipped to win the premiership in pre-season but their squad has looked a shadow of the team which famously charged to the 2015 premiership.

Sunday’s defeat crystallised their season. For 60 minutes, the Cowboys played with passion and commitment, but in clutch moments, they continue to mentally switch off and implode with unforced errors.

Green should have been rapt with the effort. Instead, he rightly lashed his side for two shocking defensive misses that led to tries. One came just seconds before half-time when Coen Hess allowed Sam Burgess to put Cody Walker over.

Then, with five minutes on the clock, Kyle Feldt produced a woeful jersey-grab for Jennings to slip past for 20-all, setting up the moment for Reynolds to break Thurston’s heart.

“It’s disappointing to lose any game, it was a big game for me,” said Cooper. “Every loss this year has been hard. We keep finding ways to lose.”

SOUTH SYDNEY 21 (C Graham R Jennings A Reynolds C Walker tries A Reynolds 2 goals A Reynolds field goal) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND 20 (G Cooper L Coote A Winterstein tries J Thurston 4 goals) at Barlow Park. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Ashley Klein. Crowd: 7,651.

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