Eels v Cowboys: How the NRL finals clash was won and lost

THE Cowboys stunned the Eels 24-16 to move with a win of the NRL grand final. Here’s how the game was won and lost at ANZ Stadium.

Eels lock Nathan Brown is wrapped up by the Cowboys defence at ANZ Stadium.

• MATCH REPORT: Eels bomb out of premiership race

• PLAYER RATINGS: Who starred, who struggled?

• MORE: Five things we learned from Cowboys v Eels

• SCHEDULE: All you need to know about preliminary finals

THE Cowboys stunned the Eels 24-16 to move with a win of the NRL grand final.

Here’s how the game was won and lost at ANZ Stadium.

NEW KING OF THE NORTH

Michael Morgan take a bow. The JT-sidekick-turned-chief-playmaker controlled the game perfectly on Saturday night. His stacked pressure on the Eels on the back of his boot and menaced the opposition defence with the ball in hand. He also scored the try which sealed the deal for the Cowboys.

No one gave this side a chance in the finals. They stumbled their way into September and the pundits said they were merely making up the numbers.

But on the back of Morgan’s efforts both in the regular season and against the Eels they remarkably find themselves one win away from the grand final.

Michael Morgan was superb for the Cowboys.

TRY-SAVING PLAYS

You couldn’t fault North Queensland’s determination to stay in touch with the Eels. They scrambled like everything was on the line and it was. In the first half and in the same set in the 20th minute, they came up with two try-saving plays. First Jason Taumalolo smothered Eels backrower Nathan Brown when he looked certain to break through and score under the posts. Then Lachlan Coote come up with some last-gasp cover defence to beat Radradra to the ball in the in-goal.

In the second half, Ethan Lowe made a last-ditch tackle around the ankles on Mitchell Moses, who had managed to punch his way through defence and with the tryline in sight.

MID-SEASON RECRUITS

Te Maire Martin’s arrival in Townsville could not have been more timely for the Cowboys, whose title chances were supposedly finished with Johnathan Thurston’s season-ending injury. While Morgan has stepped up in the place of JT, Martin has been the perfect foil to his new halves partner. He knows exactly when to chime in and when to step back and not overplay his hand. He also set-up the try to put his side ahead in the second half with a nice inside ball to put Coen Hess into a gaping hole.

The result didn’t go Parramatta’s way but you can’t take away from what newcomer Mitchell Moses had brought to his new club. He couldn’t get them over the line on Saturday but you sense he could help steer the Eels to something special in the very near future.

Te Maire Martin tries to reel in a loose ball.

ERRORS AND EXECUTION

The Eels just couldn’t execute when it mattered most and they lost their way in terms of discipline in the second half.

When they had the ball they came up with very little and produced costly handling errors. They ended up with a total of 12 errors making it very difficult to compete against a Cowboys side that was relentless in the last 40 minutes.

POWER AND PRESSURE

Leading by eight points midway through the second half, the Cowboys took their game to another level. Their up-and-in-your-face defence had the Eels frazzled. Their power game led by the return of Taumalolo after the break saw them dictate terms and they kept Parramatta camped in their own half. Then they piled on the pressure by forcing a number of repeat sets through the boot of Moragn and even Taumalolo.

Jason Taumalolo’s power game troubled Parramatta. Picture: Brett Costello

COWBOYS’ KICKING GAME

Michael Morgan’s kicking game was a mixed bag in the first half. He made some clever choices in the first half to get his team out of trouble and took pressure off his team with a timely kick for touch in the 24th minute. But he misfired at least two high kicks coming out of his own half.

That was all forgotten after his spiral bomb landed perfectly between Will Smith and Kirisome Auva’a and forward John Asiata was there to pick it up and score, edging the Cowboys ahead after the 45th minute.

FANTASTIC FOUR-POINTERS

Three tries were scored in the first half and each one as spectacular as the one before it. The Eels ran for 180 metres for their two tries with a runaway 100m Semi Radradra effort opening the scoring against the run of play. In the 30th minute Will Smith cleaned up a kick from near his own try-line to streak away and score an 80m try. The Cowboys responded with their own brilliance after a nice shift right of the ball to find Kyle Feldt, who managed to keep his body in play to score in the corner in the 11th minute.