Round 24 Warriors v Cows

WARRIORS V COWBOYS - SAT 22 AUGUST, 7.30PM LOCAL (5.30PM AEST), MT SMART STADIUM | BUY TICKETS

Warriors
1 Sam Tomkins
2 Ken Maumalo
3 Dominique Peyroux
4 Solomone Kata
5 Jonathan Wright
6 Chad Townsend
7 Tuimoala Lolohea
8 Jacob Lillyman
9 Nathan Friend
10 Albert Vete
11 Sione Lousi
12 Ryan Hoffman
13 Simon Mannering (c)

Interchange
14 Konrad Hurrell
15 Bodene Thompson
16 Sam Lisone
17 Charlie Gubb
18 Matthew Allwood

Coach: Andrew McFadden

Cowboys
1 Lachlan Coote
2 Matthew Wright
3 Justin O'Neill
4 Kane Linnett
5 Antonio Winterstein
6 Michael Morgan
7 Johnathan Thurston (c)
8 Matthew Scott (c)
9 Jake Granville
10 James Tamou
11 John Asiata
12 Ethan Lowe
13 Jason Taumalolo

Interchange
14 Rory Kostjasyn
15 Coen Hess
16 Scott Bolton
17 Ben Hannant

Coach: Paul Green

Finally got a day free, so will watch this one. Hoping the Cowboys will beat the Warriors.

Warriors v Cowboys preview
Mount Smart Stadium
Saturday 7.30pm (NZT)

As the Cowboys set their sights on a maiden minor premiership the Warriors aim to rescue something from a season which promised so much but ultimately looks set to deliver so little.

Following back-to-back losses to the Sharks and Rabbitohs nothing but victory will do for North Queensland this Saturday night at Mount Smart Stadium, particularly if they are to keep alive their hopes of edging out the Broncos and Roosters for the top spot.

They have just one change for the trip to Auckland, with Coen Hess set to make his NRL debut from the bench and John Asiata starting in the place of the injured Gavin Cooper.

The hosts on the other hand have a number of changes for the second week in a row, having lost even more experience with Sam Rapira copping a one-game suspension for a dangerous throw in last week's 24-10 loss to the Panthers.

Rookie Albert Vete starts in his place, while Bodene Thompson comes back into the squad via the bench.

In the back row Raymond Faitala-Mariner drops back to the NSW Cup, with Sione Lousi starting in the No.11 jersey.

Watch out Warriors: Last week the Warriors faced a poor quality Panthers team and still hardly managed to fire a shot. The Kiwi team were allowed to run for over 1600 metres, get away 17 offloads and were up against an opponent who missed 39 tackles on the night, yet apart from a three-minute patch where they scored all 10 of their points Andrew McFadden's men had little to show for it.

Mount Smart Stadium has in the past been a venue teams hated to visit, with the Warriors always being that little bit harder to beat there. That is simply not the case in 2015, with the Kiwi side winning just five games at their home ground so far. If they lose to the Cowboys on Saturday night it will be their worst home record since season 2012.


Watch out Cowboys: The loss of Gavin Cooper to injury is a big one for the Cowboys, not only because of his big individual numbers but also the way he impacts Johnathan Thurston's game. Out on the left edge Cooper has run for over 100 metres in all but three matches this year, while never making fewer than 20 tackles. But it's his role as Thurston's bodyguard that North Queensland will likely miss most, and it remains to be seen if it will affect the superstar playmaker on Saturday.

This week the Cowboys face a Warriors team who have little left to play for in 2015, so expect the unexpected. Despite their horrible record over the last month the Warriors still have plenty of x-factor in their 17, and with the stress of trying to qualify for the finals now pretty much gone they may find some form again with a return to a more free-flowing style.

Key Match-Up: Jacob Lillyman v Matthew Scott. Former teammates at club level and current teammates in the State of Origin arena, Lillyman and Scott will go head-to-head this weekend in a battle of Queensland grunt. Averaging 137 run metres and 29 tackles per game in 2015 Scott has been a standout for the Cowboys, while Lillyman is now the only fit veteran prop remaining on the Warriors' roster. How he performs against both Scott and James Tamou will be vital to the outcome of the game.

The History: Played 34; Warriors 18, Cowboys 16. The recent head-to-head record is as close as the overall history, with the Warriors edging the Cowboys out with three wins in their last five meetings. In Auckland the North Queensland side haven’t tasted victory since 2009.

What Are The Odds: The Cowboys have been the best backed team in the entire round with Sportsbet, with 10 times the dollars placed on the North Queenslanders to defeat the Warriors in this one. Latest odds at Sportsbet.com.au

Did You Know: In matches played at home against the Cowboys, the Warriors have their best record against any of the other 15 clubs, boasting 13 wins and five losses in 18 matches. Of the last eight meetings in Auckland since 2006 the Kiwi side have lost only once.

Match Officials: Referee: Matt Cecchin. Assistant Referee: Adam Devcich. Touch Judges: Rick MacFarlane and Kena Waikai. Video Referees: Shayne Hayne and Steve Folkes.

Televised: Sky Sports - Live from 7.30pm NZT. Fox Sports - Live from 5.30pm AEST.

The Way We See It: While their last two showings haven't been overly impressive, the Cowboys are a quality team who ooze class and attacking ability. A team like the Warriors, who are defensively weak and critically low on experience, shouldn't be too tough to get around, provided North Queensland can play somewhere near their best. Cowboys by 14.

https://matchcentre.nrl.com/

Warriors 16 Cowboys 18, just hit half time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DIEHARD

Warriors 16 Cowboys 18, just hit half time.

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24-16 at halftime.
The warriors led 16-0 after 14 minutes and the cows have had Tamou and Morgan medi cabbed off. Only the warriors can do this. And we think following the titans is tough!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mexican titan

24-16 at halftime.
The warriors led 16-0 after 14 minutes and the cows have had Tamou and Morgan medi cabbed off. Only the warriors can do this. And we think following the titans is tough!

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Yea I posted that with a couple mins to go, thinking I could get away with it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DIEHARD

Yea I posted that with a couple mins to go, thinking I could get away with it.

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When the cows scored their first try to make it 16-6 to the warriors one of my kids said it might finish 50-16 to the cows. He is going to be close.

Cowboys overrun fading Warriors

Sat 22 Aug, 2015, 7:35pm
By Corey Rosser, NZ Correspondent, NRL.com

An attacking masterclass saw the Cowboys romp to a 50-16 victory over an awful Warriors side on Saturday night, but it was a win which may prove costly in their quest for premiership glory.

While the result – which ended a two-game losing streak for North Queensland – keeps their hopes of a maiden minor premiership alive, a neck injury to James Tamou and a lower leg injury to Michael Morgan will be of major concern to coach Paul Green.

Scans on Sunday will give an indication on how long Morgan may miss, while Tamou was admitted to hospital in Auckland as a precaution but was expected to travel home with his teammates.

The win temporarily at least bumped the Cowboys back up to equal-first on the Telstra Premiership ladder, while the result officially ends the finals hopes of the Warriors.

It had all started so well for the Kiwi side at Mount Smart Stadium, taking a 16-0 lead after just 13 minutes.

A piece of individual brilliance from Tuimoala Lolohea saw him step three defenders and fend off another, before converting his own try.

Moments later debutant half Mason Lino for grubbered for Ken Maumalo to score his first NRL try, while Lolohea was at it again three minutes later, stepping through the Cowboys' line and running 30 metres before dribbling a ball through for Dominique Peyroux to score out wide.

The Warriors were looking almost unstoppable.

But after play stopped for close to 10 minutes in order to tend to Tamou, the Warriors seemed to fall apart.

Just minutes after play resumed the Cowboys made the first of what would turn out to be several successful trips to the Warriors' left edge, scoring via late call-up Kyle Feldt at the end of a move which featured classy touches from Lachlan Coote, Michael Morgan and Johnathan Thurston.

Thurston converted to make it 16-6, before scoring and converting a try of his own four minutes later.

Losing Morgan on 28 minutes did nothing to slow North Queensland's momentum, scoring through Feldt again off a near carbon copy of his earlier effort.

When Maumalo spilt a dribbling ball in front of his own posts without an opposing player in sight, you could almost feel any remaining air disappear from the Warriors, and it took only seconds for them to leak another try as Justin O'Neill made the most of a sliding defensive line to score in the final minute of the half.

A fourth conversion from Thurston made it 24-16 at the break.

A pair of first career tries came early in the second period for the visitors, as big bopper Ben Spina picked up some scraps to cross out wide, before Coen Hess – playing his first ever NRL game – ran a great line off a short ball to power over.

At 34-16 the Cowboys were cruising, and with more than 15 minutes remaining in the game Feldt crashed over to complete his hat-trick.

Tries to centres Kane Linnett and O'Neill – who collected his double at the expense of the terrible Warriors' left edge – finished off the scoring blitz for the Cowboys, before they endured a hear-in-mouth moment when Thurston temporarily stayed down following a hard hit in the ribs from Solomone Kata.

If the result wasn't enough pain, the Warriors also look set to be without Jacob Lillyman for the remainder of the year, after the prop left the field with a suspected cheekbone injury sustained in the first minute.

Cowboys 50 (Kyle Feldt 3, Justin O'Neill 2, Johnathan Thurston, Ben Spina, Coen Hess, Kane Linnett tries; Johnathan Thurston 7 goals) defeated Warriors 16 (Tuimoala Lolohea, Ken Maumalo, Dominique Peyroux tries; Lolohea 2 goals) at Mount Smart Stadium. Half-time: Cowboys 24-16. Crowd: 14,412.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mexican titan

When the cows scored their first try to make it 16-6 to the warriors one of my kids said it might finish 50-16 to the cows. He is going to be close.

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Can you ask him/her who is going to win the 5th at Nowra tomorrow (Sunday) please..

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Originally Posted by shamus

Can you ask him/her who is going to win the 5th at Nowra tomorrow (Sunday) please..

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Number 4 - Tragedy Queen - but you'll be busy watching the Titans game.