Round 4: North Queensland Cowboys vs Wests Tigers

[Queenslander]

North Queensland Cowboys vs Wests Tigers
Saturday April 7, 7:30pm; Dairy Farmers Stadium

Referee: Jarred Maxwell

Team Notes:

Cowboys

Tigers

Teams:

North Queensland Cowboys

1 Matt Bowen
2 Brenton Bowen
3 Ashley Graham
4 Paul Bowman
5 Neil Sweeney
6 Jason Smith
7 Johnathan Thurston (c)
8 Matthew Scott
9 Aaron Payne (vc)
10 Shane Tronc
11 Steve Southern
12 Luke O'Donnell
13 Justin Smith
Interchange:

14 David Faiumu
15 Jacob Lillyman
16 Sione Faumuina
17 Ray Cashmere.
Wests Tigers

1. Brett Hodgson
2. Daniel Fitzhenry
3. Dean Collis
4. Paul Whatuira
5. Jason Moodie
6. Benji Marshall
7. John Morris
8. Keith Galloway
9. Robbie Farah
10. Bryce Gibbs
11. Ben Galea
12. Todd Payten
13. Liam Fulton
Interchange:

14. Dene Halatau
15. Chris Heighington
16. Taniela Tuiaki
17. Bronson Harrison.


***Please use this thread for game day spoilers and general match information***

[Poida]

Cowboys were good in last weeks game. That last 20 they let a few bad penalties away but werent as bad as I originally thought or they wouldve lost the game.
Cowboys by about 16

[DIEHARD]

North Queensland will kill 'em.

I will have to listen to this one on the radio though!

[Poida]

Should hope they do :D:D
Ill always remember the day they denied us the premiership in 05 :(:(
Gotta love continuous revenge :D

[Capital_Shark]

The return of Jason Smith and the whipping they would have copped from Murray should aid in the Cowboys keeping their heads screwed on for the full 80 minutes this week.

Apart from that the only dangers I see in the Tigers are once again Benji, Farah and Hodgson and little from Harrison when he comes off the bench. None of which matches it with the constant combination of Payne, Thurston, Smith and the Bowen boys.

Cowboys 13+

[Poida]

Smith tells Cowboys not to panic

Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 5:33 PM

The oldest player in the 2007 NRL competition has returned from injury with some timely words of wisdom for the North Queensland Cowboys - don't panic.

The Cowboys are flying high after an undefeated season start.

But 35-year-old pivot Jason Smith saw warning signs in last round's 22-18 win over St George Illawarra as he recovered from an ankle injury.

Leading 22-0, the Cowboys conceded three unanswered tries in the dying minutes after captain and star playmaker Johnathan Thurston was sin binned.

It did not auger well for the Cowboys who are expected to be without incumbent Test halfback Thurston during the representative season.

North Queensland are still smarting from last season's collapse when they missed the finals altogether despite winning their first six games.

But Smith aims to provide a level head to ensure similar scenes are not repeated by the Cowboys, starting against the winless Wests Tigers at Townsville on Saturday night.

Cowboys coach Graham Murray said Smith would face a fitness test later this week but the veteran pivot claimed he had fully recovered from an ankle complaint - and last weekend's "heart attack".

"It caused me a bit of a heart attack for a while there," Smith said of last round's win.

"He (Thurston) is probably regarded as the best player in the game now and it does take away from your team's confidence (when he is off the field).

"It (the Dragons' three tries) was disappointing but hopefully I will be on the field at that time to help the side in that situation."

However, Smith said the Cowboys' collapse was more to do with the loss of prop Carl Webb than Thurston's sin binning.

Smith said the Cowboys forwards would have to dig deep to cover the loss of Webb who suffered a broken jaw early in the match and is expected to be out for six weeks.

"I think losing Carl Webb pretty early in the game took it out of our big blokes by the end of the game," Smith said.

"Losing that impact frontrower probably had more to do with it (collapse) than Johnathan being off the field - we've just got to cope with it better.

"It's unfortunate because everyone who knows Webby has been amazed at how hard he had been training.

"He wanted to get back into that Queensland side and there was already talk about him getting into the Anzac Test side...so I feel for Webby.

"But he will bounce back and hopefully get back into that Origin side."

North Queensland has named Shane Tronc as Webb's front row replacement against Wests Tigers, promoting prop Ray Cashmere onto the bench.

Cashmere gets a crack at his former club Wests Tigers after escaping a ban for a lifting tackle while playing for the Cowboys' feeder club Young Guns thanks to an early plea.

In other news, former Maroons winger Ty Williams will make his comeback from a lengthy knee injury for the Young Guns against Easts in Saturday night's curtain raiser.

Source: AAP

[Robbie_Dee]

Cowboys to whip some but! Thurston and Bowen will continue to rip up the defence!!! Cows for a 13+ win!

But apart from the win, I'd like to see no injuries!

BTW, Ty Williams make his return from his MASSIVE injury from mid-way through last season! He is playin for the YoungGuns, and will only be a matter of time before he cracks FG again!!! With Ty back, just imagine how much more the oppositions will suffer :D:D:D

[Rabbitohs-07]

Im going to go for a big one here. Im saying Cowboys by 30. if they dont win big then im thinking tigers will take it from them. But im sure they will have a huge win.

[Coaster]

Bowen is a dead set legend.


Great finish.

[Robbie_Dee]

Bowen you bloody legend!!!!! We ended up winning 25-24 with a field goal to matty in the lase minute of normal time!!!

Bit worried about our forwards...Webb, Southern and Luke O'Donnell all gone now!!! They did their job tonight, but weren't to flash!

Matty bowen ran in a magical try in the last 5 minutes, that well only Bowen could do!!! Also pulled out a cool calm and collected field goal to top off the night!!!

West Tigers were awesome all night, and did deserve the match...Their attack looked very strong the whole night, but made silly errors in the 2nd half that lost them the game...

I'm lovin it but, 4/4 for the Cowboys!!!!!

[Cowboy Titan]

On the ABC, they said O'Donnell had a very serious hamstring injury and will be out for quite a while. I hope they're wrong.

It's tough losing our best 2 forwards for a long time. Good time for some youngsters to step up.

[Steel Dragon]

Nothing against you Cowboys supporters, but hell, you've gotta feel for the Wests Tigers fans. After last week's golden point loss, they had this game wrapped up and let it slip in the last minute.

As a Blues man through and through, a long term injury to O'Donnell is gut-wrenching. We need him and Nathan Hindmarsh, or we are cooked. We're probably cooked anyway, but you could not name two players who go at it hammer and tong for the full 80 more than O'Donnell and Hindmarsh. Perhaps now it is time for maybe Laffranchi to step in for the Blues?

Jason

[Robbie_Dee]

Nothing against you Cowboys supporters, but hell, you've gotta feel for the Wests Tigers fans. After last week's golden point loss, they had this game wrapped up and let it slip in the last minute.yea bloody oath i said to me old fella straight after the game, it'd friggin suck to be a wests supporter!!! :p

They were playing better the whole night (nearly) and definitely don't deserve to be at the bottom for the ladder! They have lost 3 of their 4 matches by less than 2 points!!!!! And have played bloody good in all games!!! A lot of positives can be taken from them!

As a cowboys fan, I'm a bit worried...LOD will be looking at a long time off, and not too sure about Bluey's injury...hope he came come good!!! With Webb and these 2 out, our forward pack isn't looking too strong! Cashmere was having a great game!!!

[Tamwelg]

**FINAL SCORE**

North Queensland Cowboys 25

Tries: Graham 2, Sweeney, Bowen
Goals: Thurston 4/4
Field Goal: Bowen 1/1

beat

Wests Tigers 24

Tries: Fitzhenry, Farah, Collis, Whatuira
Goals: Marshall 4/5

[Steelers]

And who said that Hunt should be the Aussie fullback over Bowen? IMO Matty tonight proved that he is better at playing footy than that overrated hack from the Broncos could ever be!

[Bernster]

I believe that pretty boy Minnichello will get it.

[TITANS007]

And who said that Hunt should be the Aussie fullback over Bowen? IMO Matty tonight proved that he is better at playing footy than that overrated hack from the Broncos could ever be!

Totally agree with you on that one!!!

[Tamwelg]

And who said that Hunt should be the Aussie fullback over Bowen? IMO Matty tonight proved that he is better at playing footy than that overrated hack from the Broncos could ever be!

I wouldn't call him over rated, but Bowen is definitely in much better form then Hunt. The only problem Bowen faces, is the fact that Hunt is the current number 1 for Australia and Queensland and that unfortunately add a lot of weight to the selectors decision.

[Robbie_Dee]

And who said that Hunt should be the Aussie fullback over Bowen? IMO Matty tonight proved that he is better at playing footy than that overrated hack from the Broncos could ever be!here here!

Even his defence last night was superb! He made stacks of great tackles, even try saving tackles!!! He is a total new player in defence this year! Whatever he did in the off season...its paying off!!!

[Darren Lockyer]

Take away thurston and bowen is screwed. Hunt is an all round player.

[Future Star]

Even with O'Donnel injured, the cowboys still have one of the most talented squads in the game.
Maybe Scott Bolton (my favourite cowboy :)) will get a starting position now.

Also - with O'Donnel out, its makes less SOO competetion for Alan Tongue, Muahaha.

[Steelers]

Take away thurston and bowen is screwed. Hunt is an all round player.

HAHA! Are you serious?!? The only reason that Karmichael Hunt ever made a rep side was because he was able to combine with Darren Lockyer well. If it wasn't for the presence of Darren, Hunt wouldn't have been picked. Bowen has proven himself in the past to be capable of performing without Thurston, but has Hunt proven himself capable of performing without Lockyer???

[Darren Lockyer]

what like last year leading up to the final series and thurston was injured and even bowen admitted that he was in the worst form of his life..

[TITANS007]

HAHA! Are you serious?!? The only reason that Karmichael Hunt ever made a rep side was because he was able to combine with Darren Lockyer well. If it wasn't for the presence of Darren, Hunt wouldn't have been picked. Bowen has proven himself in the past to be capable of performing without Thurston, but has Hunt proven himself capable of performing without Lockyer???


True, Karmichael Hunt was, and still is, totally overrated. He never would have made rep if it wasn't for the Bronco/Lockyer combination. That, and the fact that they just wanted to be able to make sure NZ couldn't get him in a few years when he actually might be a good player. Bowen didn't have his best year last year, but I believe that was a confidence issue, definately not an ability issue. He is on fire this year.....Go Matty Bowen!!! Not only is he a better player, he's a nicer guy. I'd like to see the good guy come first for a change!

[Steelers]

what like last year leading up to the final series and thurston was injured and even bowen admitted that he was in the worst form of his life..

Bowen had his worst ever year last year, that is true. You seem to forget the years before that when he was in form. Just because he has one bad year (half of the year he played with Thurston), doesn't mean thats because he can only play good when Thurston is playing. And hey, even if Bowen could only play good with Thurston, it doesn't matter when picking a side for the ANZAC Test, as Thurston is playing ;)

[Steelers]

True, Karmichael Hunt was, and still is, totally overrated. He never would have made rep if it wasn't for the Bronco/Lockyer combination. That, and the fact that they just wanted to be able to make sure NZ couldn't get him in a few years when he actually might be a good player. Bowen didn't have his best year last year, but I believe that was a confidence issue, definately not an ability issue. He is on fire this year.....Go Matty Bowen!!! Not only is he a better player, he's a nicer guy. I'd like to see the good guy come first for a change!

Too right! :D

[Robbie_Dee]

Agree with everything Steelers and Titans007 have said! Spot on! They say Hunt is basically a definite for the ANZAC test, but bloody hell wake up, Thurston will be half back, and I would pick Bowen/Thurston Combo any day over Hunt/Lockyer!!! Hunt is just on the recieving end of Lockyer's brilliant plays, all Hunt has to do is walk over the line!!! Bowen is a playmaker, just look at last nights try

[Poida]

Take away thurston and bowen is screwed. Hunt is an all round player.

Youve gotta be joking.
Bowen is quite capable of performing without JT and has done it without him many times. 2004 for one. He performed last year in a couple without JT. They went down so badly because the forwards werent making the hard yards they shouldve and the halves werent able to do their job as well as they couldve.
Bowen is an excellent playmaker and fullback with or without Thurston.

[Poida]

By the way BOWEN YOU LEGEND :D:D:D
WHAT A BLOODY GREAT TRY :):)

[Future Star]

Bowen should be a certainty for the Aussie Jersey.

Hunt is over-rated. He need Lockyer to make the play so he can just walk over, hes not a game-breaker like Bowen or Hodges, who can create there own opportunities in solo effors.

[Poida]

Bowen should be a certainty for the Aussie Jersey.

Hunt is over-rated. He need Lockyer to make the play so he can just walk over, hes not a game-breaker like Bowen or Hodges, who can create there own opportunities in solo effors.

Hunt is a good player dont get me wrong but he hasnt shown the form Bowen has. Bowen created that try out of nothing. Was one of his best if not the best from him :):) Love the try , his 4th of the season already :)

[TITANS007]

Agree with everything Steelers and Titans007 have said! Spot on! They say Hunt is basically a definite for the ANZAC test, but bloody hell wake up, Thurston will be half back, and I would pick Bowen/Thurston Combo any day over Hunt/Lockyer!!! Hunt is just on the recieving end of Lockyer's brilliant plays, all Hunt has to do is walk over the line!!! Bowen is a playmaker, just look at last nights try

Great minds think alike! Just wish selectors would think so too!!

[Capital_Shark]

Cowboys been watching old Warriors games or did Faumuina give the game plan? Impatient play and BS off loads nearly killed 'em. I'd hate to see how frantic they would've played without the little calming influence Jason Smith gave. Without Bowen and the touchy self destruct button the Tigers have implemented the last couple weeks, Cowboys could have been embarrassed.

P.S. Ashley Graham (I think, might have been Sweeny): just cause Jason Smith can flick pass like that, doesn't mean its easy!

[Poida]

Cowboys been watching old Warriors games or did Faumuina give the game plan? Impatient play and BS off loads nearly killed 'em. I'd hate to see how frantic they would've played without the little calming influence Jason Smith gave. Without Bowen and the touchy self destruct button the Tigers have implemented the last couple weeks, Cowboys could have been embarrassed.

P.S. Ashley Graham (I think, might have been Sweeny): just cause Jason Smith can flick pass like that, doesn't mean its easy!

I think over adventurous might be the word with the offloads they didnt need to throw.
I guess its good to win even when we shouldve been put away beyond doubt :):) But that try I tells ya is the greatest I seen him score.

[jake86]

Bowen has been one of the best in the comp so far...but im a bit worried about his kick returns.

Could get ugly, seeing him running the ball back into the likes of pritchard, puletua, asotasi etc.

Maybe use him as an impact player coming off the bench

[Poida]

Bowen has been one of the best in the comp so far...but im a bit worried about his kick returns.

Could get ugly, seeing him running the ball back into the likes of pritchard, puletua, asotasi etc.

Maybe use him as an impact player coming off the bench

Nah he will do fine :):)
Im sure he will do a good job at fullback :):)

[Steelers]

At least Bowen can catch the ball to return it. I saw Hunt handle one VERY poorly the other night.

[Cowboy Titan]

I just hope all the hype doesn't get to him like it did last year. Everyone was saying the same things about him last year before the Anzac Test. His confidence suffered alot after he missed out.

I haven't bought tickets to the test yet but if he gets picked, I'll be there.

[Capital_Shark]

I don't really think it matters how well he's playing, or how well anyone is playing, I doubt the selectors are gonna mess around with a winning side unless forced by injury or suspension.