5 things we learned from North Queensland’s 26-16 loss to Cronulla

THE Cowboys season is slipping away before their eyes. Here’s five things we learned from North Queensland’s 26-16 loss to Cronulla.

North Queensland Cowboys V Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks from 1300 Smiles Stadium, Townsville. Cowboys Jason Taumalolo after a Sharks try. Picture: Zak Simmonds

THE Cowboys season is slipping away before their eyes. Here’s five things we learned from North Queensland’s 26-16 loss to Cronulla.

1) KALYN Ponga played the entire match with an injured left arm. While it is unclear when he hurt himself, the injury became evident in the 28th minute when Ponga switched to fullback.

As he ran across the field, he could not even move the arm.

He struggled to pass, tackle and even pick the ball up off the ground but returned at halftime and stayed on the field until the 47th minute. It took a while for the Cowboys to concede that Ponga was not at his best but this just showed how desperate they are to hang onto their finals hopes.

Kalyn Ponga injured shoulder on this play, worry for AC jt or nerve traction injury. Very brave to play as long as he did #NRLCowboysSharks pic.twitter.com/Y9JbIeAQ5J

— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) August 19, 2017

2) PONGA was not the only casualty for the Cowboys, after John Asiata was taken off just seconds into the second half with a suspected broken arm.

It’s a massive loss for North Queensland, whose depleted forward pack is already missing the likes of Matt Scott, Patrick Kaufusi, Shaun Fensom and Ben Spina.

The Cowboys will need Gavin Cooper (calf) back next week to save their finals campaign.

REFLECT: Barba on where it all went wrong

OVER: The day Henry lost the Titans

3) THIS is the third game straight where the Cowboys have finished the match with a two-man bench.

Against Melbourne they lost Gavin Cooper and Antonio Winterstein. Last week it was Michael Morgan and Justin O’Neill. In this game, Kalyn Ponga and John Asiata went down.

As much as the Cowboys need a win, they’ll also be hoping for some injury-free weeks to end the season.

Kalyn Ponga battled on bravely with an injured shoulder.

4) CRONULLA may have left Townsville with the win but they have plenty to work on if they are to be a finals force.

Neither team will be happy with the first half stats, in which Cronulla had a 70 per cent completion rate and made six errors but still went into the break with a 24-6 lead.

The Sharks won’t get away with that against a team that is less bruised and battered.

They also let in two tries to none in the second half. It’s not good enough for a top four team.

5) THE Cowboys will stay in eighth place this week but need to save their season against the Tigers.

With a clash against the Broncos to be their final game of the year, next week’s showdown with Wests has become a must-win affair.

It was supposed to be one of the easiest games of their run home, but could now prove the most crucial.

Originally published as 5 things we learned from North Queensland’s 26-16 loss to Cronulla