The Dragons have beaten the Cowboys 27-24 at WIN Jubilee Oval
ANOTHER road trip, another defeat. But this time for the Cowboys it was sheer heartbreak as Gareth Widdop lead the Dragons to victory.
Cowboys
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cowboys. Followed categories will be added to My News.
ANOTHER road trip, another defeat. But this was sheer heartbreak.
Missing $3.1 million in talent, the Cowboys traded on guts but the class of winger Jason Nightingale broke their spirit to give the Dragons a 27-24 victory at Kogarah.
In a thriller on a night where the Dragons honoured the late Reg Gasnier, Nightingale channelled the tryscoring magic of ‘Puff’ to post a match-winning hat-trick.
But the braveheart Cowboys almost gatecrashed the party, overcoming a 14-4 deficit to snatch a stunning 20-14 lead with 30 minutes to play.
Missing Origin stars Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott, Brent Tate and James Tamou, a Cowboys boilover would have ranked among the finest wins in the club’s 19-year history.
Underscoring their decimation, coach Paul Green was forced to blood four new faces in Roosters recruit Tautau Moga, Sam Hoare, Zac Santo and Ben Spina, the son of foundation halfback Laurie.
In the end, the Dragons held their nerve, Nightingale levelling scores in the 58th minute before breaking the Cowboys’ hearts seven minutes from time.
For all the Cowboys’ courage, the pain will resonate. This was their eighth consecutive road loss.
Leapfrogged by the Dragons, the Cowboys have slumped to 12th, four points adrift of the top eight, their finals hopes as grim as their away record.
“I have a mixture of anger and disappointment,” Green lamented.
“I’m really disappointed with the result but I have mixed emotions. We are under the pump with the players we have out, but at the end of the day the game was there for us to win.
“There were some courageous efforts. Unfortunately, I’m in here talking about a loss rather than would could have been our best win of the year.”
Now Green will have the calculator out. To clinch a finals berth, the Cowboys must win at least six of their last eight games. Their next two games are road trips to Cronulla and Canterbury. Beyond that, they travel to Penrith and Souths.
The equation is not good. If the Cowboys miss the finals, North Queensland’s board should be ropeable and put a rocket up everyone at the club.
The Cowboys were at least stoic. Their debutants were spirited. Winger Antonio Winterstein posted a double, Michael Morgan probed at halfback and Tariq Sims was inspirational, charging over to spark the second-half fightback.
But when nerve was needed, experience prevailed. In Test trio Benji Marshall, Gareth Widdop and Nightingale, the Dragons had enough sagacity to scrape home.
Asked if the Cowboys could still make the finals, Ashton Sims fired: “100 per cent, we’re going forward, you can talk about our players out, but we should have won.”
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 27 (J Nightingale 3 A Quinlan C Runciman tries G Widdop 3 goals G Widdop field goal) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND 24 (A Winterstein 2 C Rona T Sims J Taumalolo tries E Lowe 2 goals) at WIN Jubilee Oval. Referee: Gavin Badger, Adam Devcich. Crowd: 12,082.
Originally published as The Dragons have beaten the Cowboys 27-24 at WIN Jubilee Oval
Rabid Cowboys fan to Rookie of the Year: Purdue’s incredible 12 months
To say the last 12 months has been a meteoric rise for Jaxon Purdue would be a huge understatement. Read how the kid from Mackay went from Cowboys superfan to NRL player in less than a year.
Star exits present Cowboys golden opportunity to revitalise backline
The departure of high-profile Cowboys Valentine Holmes, Chad Townsend and Kyle Feldt gives North Queensland a unique opportunity to revitalise each edge. Find out who’s in line to step up.