NRL 2023: North Queensland Cowboys win 19-18 over Canberra Raiders, Scott Drinkwater stars
The Cowboys started their 2023 season off with a bang after surviving a Canberra comeback attempt, while one Raider was lucky to stay on the field after a brutal hit.
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The North Queensland Cowboys’ first win of 2023 is in the books after a hard-fought 19-18 victory in front of 19,855 fans in a surging Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
Chad Townsend was the home town hero in the final stages, knocking over a 75th-minute field goal to deliver North Queensland the win.
The fast-starting Cowboys looked like they would send the Raiders back to Canberra with their tails between their legs but the visitors surged back in the second half to set up the grandstand finish.
Murray Taulagi made a habit of making the extraordinary look easy in 2022 and he picked up where he left off with a spectacular finish for North Queensland’s first points.
The Cowboys were almost flawless in the first half, dominating possession (70 per cent), territory (82 per cent), making almost 100 less tackles and only making one error late in the half.
However that sole error led to the Raiders first real opportunity and the visitors broke through some soft contact to get the on the board through replacement forward Emre Guler to head into the break trailing 18-6.
The Cowboys came out of the gates slow and before they knew it the Raiders had levelled the scores thanks to tries from Tom Starling and Jack Wighton.
A poorly-executed short dropout was knocked on by Kyle Feldt and Wighton swooped on the loose ball to tie the game with 20 to play.
That set up a gruelling back-and-forth that was eventually ended by the Cowboys co-captain.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten characterised the win as a “Jekyll and Hyde performance.”
“I thought we had a lot of control in that first half and we had a lot of possession,” Payten said.
“We executed really well and got our last plays right and built a lot of pressure.
“I was really disappointed going into half-time conceding that try considering we only defended two sets on our own try line – that try was not good enough.”
UNDERRATED RAIDERS RISE TO THE OCCASION
Most neutral fans had written off the Raiders before the first whistle, but a resilient Raiders outfit showed why they believe they’ll be a finals team in 2023.
Canberra ran out a new-look backline with the return of gun centre Harley Smith-Shields and Sebastian Kris playing from the back while Xavier Savage recovers from a broken jaw.
Kris gave away an early turnover after a huge tackle by Murray Taulagi, but otherwise looked solid at fullback with 142 metres and three tackle busts.
Pasami Saulo did a serviceable job filling the 4XL jersey left by Josh Papali’i but the Maroons enforcer’s absence was still noticeably lacking.
Papali’i’s usual front row partner Joseph Tapine played 50 minutes between his starting and finishing shifts, making 35 tackles and notching up 90 run metres.
That was absolutely brutal! 😳
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Danny Levi’s first start in a green jersey was solid, but Starling was outstanding when he came on and the replacement hooker was rewarded with a try for his efforts.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said he was disappointed to miss out on the points but applauded his team’s work defending their line.
“I know they’ve got the heart in them and the grit,” Stuart said.
“If we didn’t have to use so much juice in the first half we’d win that match, but the boys at half-time still had that energy in their eyes and we were still very confident.
“We’ve had some great defensive moments and great defensive games over the years ... and tonight equals it.
“That was an unbelievable defensive effort.”
OFF-SEASON WORK PAYS OFF FOR ROBBO
During the pre-season Reece Robson identified his kicking game as an area he wanted to build on.
The 24-year-old hooker kicked just once in the entire 2022 season but his first kick of the new season was a beauty.
A repeat set gave the Cowboys great attacking position and Robson booted a fifth-tackle grubber from dummy half which was collected by Scott Drinkwater for his second try of the first-half.
Robson also contributed to the team in his usual manner, making a team-leading 42 tackles and forcing one dropout.
COWBOYS THE COMPLETE PACKAGE
The Cowboys completed their first 21 sets, mounting huge pressure on the Raiders by starving them of the ball.
Ball security is paramount when playing in challenging humid conditions and North Queensland put on a masterclass of how to hold onto possession.
Great fifth tackle options also prevented Canberra from getting any 20 metre restarts during the match.
The perfect start petered out by the end of the game, with the Cowboys finishing 33 of their 39 sets at 85 per cent.
Canberra completed nine of their 12 first-half sets at 75 per cent, but completely turned it around in the second stanza to finish 29 from 35 at 83 per cent.
SCORE:
Cowboys: 19 Tries: Taulagi, Drinkwater (2) Goals: Holmes: 2/3 conversions, 1/2 penalty goals, Townsend 1/1 field goal.
Raiders: 18 Tries: Guler, Starling, Wighton. Goals: Fogarty 3/3 conversion
HT: 18-6
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