Five things we learned from North Queensland’s 24-12 loss to Canterbury

North Queensland’s attack failed to fire yet again as they fell to the lowly Bulldogs. Here’s five things we learned from the 24-12 defeat.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 26: Josh Jackson of the Bulldogs celebrates with teammates after scoring a try during the round 7 NRL match between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium on April 26, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

• FUTURE: Cronk’s call for the path ahead

• INJURY: Friend’s cruel blow

North Queensland have hit another rough patch, crashing to a 24-12 loss to the lowly Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.

Here’s what we learned from the club’s fifth loss of the season.

1) Cowboys halves Michael Morgan and Jake Clifford need to fix their last-tackle options after failing to find a win against the bottom-of-the-table Bulldogs. Kicks out on the full and dropped balls on the last tackle cost the Cowboys a chance of scoring points against the worst defensive side in the competition.

North Queensland’s last tackle options were poor. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images.

2) They say catches win matches and it seemed the case after North Queensland simply weren’t able to hold onto the ball. Ten errors in the second half invited the Bulldogs into the game after going into the sheds 6-6 at halftime.

3) The shining light from last night’s loss came through Paul Green’s middle forwards. Jordan McLean (170 running metres, three tackle breaks), Josh McGuire (170m, three tackle breaks) and Matt Scott (157m, one tackle break) are all knocking on the door for Origin call-ups.

4) Queensland selectors would also be keeping an eye on Bulldog backrower Rhyse Martin. The North Queensland-product put in a huge effort to help his side find their second win of the season. He set up a try, ran for 131m and had a 100% conversion rate.

The forwards did the job. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images.

5) Wrecking ball Jason Taumalolo was watching on from the sidelines and the Cowboys will be sweating on his return. North Queensland’s forwards have done a great job to fill the void however, they are lacking his ability to break the line. The Cowboys were only able to find a linebreak once against the Bulldogs’ seven.

Originally published as Five things we learned from North Queensland’s 24-12 loss to Canterbury