Canberra Raiders lose match to Cowboys and Josh Dugan to injury as Matt Bowen stars for Cowboys

THE Canberra Raiders season took another nosedive Saturday. If a 22 point belting by the Cowboys wasn't enough they also lost Josh Dugan to injury.

MANGO has his mojo back.

That was the assessment of Matt Bowen's long-time North Queensland Cowboys team mate Aaron Payne when asked why the dynamic fullback was in such good form.

In front of Queensland chairman of selectors Des Morris last night, Bowen demanded a State of Origin recall with his second standout performance in as many weeks. After just 19 minutes in the Cowboys' 40-18 thumping of the Canberra Raiders at Dairy Farmers Stadium, Bowen had thrown the last pass for three tries.

GALLERY: COWBOYS V RAIDERS

He ended the game with yet another try assist, a line break, several tackle busts and some solid bomb-defusal at fullback.

With Billy Slater (knee) little chance of being fit for Origin III, Maroons selectors are weighing up the virtues of shifting Greg Inglis to fullback, plumping for young dynamo Ben Barba or trusting the experience of Bowen.

If Bowen is picked for the decider at Suncorp Stadium on July 4, it will be his first Queensland game since coming off the bench in 2007's dead rubber Game 3.

Queensland coach Mal Meninga publicly declared last week he wanted to leave Inglis at left centre for the stability of the team, noting that shifting the giant to fullback would only create another problem.

Bowen made his choice much easier last night.

Payne, who has played alongside Bowen since 2002, said the 30-year-old's form was sensational.

"He's got his mojo back," Payne said.

"I think Matt has been tremendous for us lately. He's over the injuries now.

"He's confident and that's when Mango's at his best."

See how we covered the game at our match centre

Not only did the Raiders lose the match, their star five-eighth Josh Dugan suffered a serious ankle injury in the 76th minute and was stretchered from the field.

Raiders coach David Furner said he hoped it was only a sprain which sidelined him for six to eight weeks.

The Cowboys were playing just 36 hours after learning Dianne Scott, mother of their co-captain Matt, had lost her battle with cancer.

Players observed a minute's silence before kickoff and wore black armbands.

Cowboys coach Neil Henry said he was unsure whether Scott would play in Game 3.

"That's completely up to him and how the family sees things, but I imagine he will want to," Henry said.

Fulltime score:

NORTH QUEENSLAND 40 (G Hall 2 S Bolton A Graham K Linnett R Thompson A Winterstein tries J Thurston 5 M Bowen goals) bt RAIDERS 18 (J Croker J Dugan B Ferguson tries J Croker 3 goals) at Dairy Farmers Stadium. Referee: Alan Shortall, Brett Suttor. Crowd: 14,344.

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