Round 9: Nth Queensland Cowboys vs Brisbane Broncos

[Tamwelg]

Nth Queensland Cowboys vs
Brisbane Broncos - Fri 25 Apr, 4:00PM Allianz Stadium

[TITAN PETE]

Cowboys
1 Michael Morgan
2 Matthew Wright
3 Brent Tate
4 Kane Linnett
5 Curtis Rona
6 Johnathan Thurston (c)
7 Ray Thompson
8 Matt Scott (c)
9 Rory Kostjasyn
10 James Tamou
11 Gavin Cooper
12 Jason Taumalolo
13 Tariq Sims

Interchange
14 Cameron King
15 Glenn Hall
16 Ashton Sims
17 Scott Bolton

Coach: Paul Green

Broncos
1 Ben Barba
2 Daniel Vidot
3 Jack Reed
4 Justin Hodges (c)
5 Dale Copley
6 Josh Hoffman
7 Ben Hunt
8 Josh McGuire
9 Andrew McCullough
10 Martin Kennedy
11 Alex Glenn
12 Corey Parker (c)
13 Matt Gillett

Interchange
14 David Hala
15 Jarrod Wallace
16 Jake Granville
17 Corey Oates
18 Todd Lowrie

Coach: Anthony Griffin

[C-Whiz]

I hope the Broncos are as lost in attack next week as they were tonight.
I know they won't be, but they were woeful tonight.
13+ killed all my weekend bets too. Bugger.

[TITAN PETE]

Scott, JT fire Cowboys to win over Brisbane
By Steven Ross, Queensland Correspondent
NRL.com
9:50pm Fri 09th May, 2014



The Cowboys' superstars have spearheaded a two-way clinic to gain revenge over the Brisbane Broncos 27-14 in front of 21,340 fans in Townsville Friday night.

But that very excellence is likely the cause of worry for Cowboy fans entering the Origin period as it gives them a taste of what they will be missing in the coming weeks with the absence of their Origin stars.

The home side received a major scare in the 25th minute when Johnathan Thurston left the field with concussion concerns, but he soon picked up where he left off – having hands in everything including the game-securing field goal which ricocheted fortuitously off the right goalpost.

After a lacklustre first half, the Broncos found some spark out of the sheds, winning the territory battle and finding life when Bent Hunt crossed for his first of two second-half tries.

With the Cowboys threatening close to the line late in the game JT threw an intercept straight to the hands of Brisbane centre Jack Reid who all but ran the length of the field before being chased down by Wright and Morgan. But the subsequent play had the Cowboys scrambling back, with Copley Hunt for his sixth try of the season.

Hunt bagged his double, hitting an Andrew McCullough ball at pace and zigzagging his way through three Cowboy defenders to reach out and plant the footy and the game was well and truly alive.

But it was Thurston in the mix again, setting up interchange Ethan Lowe running an inside line – with an ensuing field goal and a last minute runaway try to Kostjasyn making the result a formality.

The Cowboys' defensive mettle was on show in the opening minutes when a barnstorming Matt Gillett was stopped spectacularly over the line by a one-on-one tackle from fullback Michael Morgan.

And minutes later, it was the Cowboys peppering the visitors' line on the back of powerful Matt Scott running – the Test prop amassing 151 metres by the half.

Thurston's timing was on point following concerns he was out of position at five-eighth, working the inside ball and all but scoring on two separate occasions before a third inside ball found Scott who rumbled over an out of position to crash over.

The pressure kept coming and was too much for Brisbane, giving up their second score in the form of a professional penalty against Corey Parker.

After winger Daniel Vidot made a meal of a regulation high ball the Steeden found itself in the hands of Cowboys winger Curtis Rona. Noticing multiple left-side overlaps on the Cowboys counter-attack, the veteran Parker gave away a marker penalty against Brent Tate, Thurston subsequently taking the easy two points.

The Cowboys' domination continued off the restart when Thurston had his second line break assist, hitting Morgan running a good angle on the left side who showed some toe to set up centre Kane Linnet who crossed untouched on the inside.

But that's when North Queensland collectively held their breath. After being first to his own kick return, Thurston awkwardly met Dale Copley head first and subsequently left the field but would return with two minutes left in the half – much to the delight of the Townsville crowd.

The Broncos then found some spark, winning the territory battle and looking to salvage some respect from a treacherous first half, but it was stonewalling defence taking the Cowboys into the sheds with a 14-0 advantage.

North Queensland Cowboys 27 (Scott, Linnett, Lowe, Kostjasyn tries; Thurston 5 goals, field goal) def Brisbane Broncos 14 (Hunt 2, Copley tries; Parker 1 goal) at 1300SMILES Stadium. Half-time: Cowboys 14-0. Crowd: 21,340.

- - - Updated - - -

Amazing stats from Scott
8. Matthew Scott Prop 1 59 min, 25 receives ,18 hit ups (227m) 8 tackle breaks ,26 tackles ,1 off load, 3 line breaks.

makes up an average test match last week.

[C-Whiz]

Amazing stats from Scott
8. Matthew Scott Prop 1 59 min, 25 receives ,18 hit ups (227m) 8 tackle breaks ,26 tackles ,1 off load, 3 line breaks.

makes up an average test match last week.

Total domination last night. Fills a Qld'er with joy. Sorry Pete.

On the NSW plus side, Hodges is still ****e.

[TITAN PETE]

Total domination last night. Fills a Qld'er with joy. Sorry Pete.

On the NSW plus side, Hodges is still ****e.

I think Tamwelg needs to let me use the Thumbs down & Thumbs up on this one Whiz

[Toads]

Cowboys done a great job on the Donkeys last night. Not sure what to make of JT coming off the paddock in the first half though. I don't if it was legit, or he may have exploited the free interchange concussion rule. Tend to give him the benefit of the doubt as it's not something he'd usually pull..

[C-Whiz]

Cowboys done a great job on the Donkeys last night. Not sure what to make of JT coming off the paddock in the first half though. I don't if it was legit, or he may have exploited the free interchange concussion rule. Tend to give him the benefit of the doubt as it's not something he'd usually pull..

i think he was seriously hurt. I was amazed he actually came back before the end of the half.

The Cowboys were amazing while he was off, and the Broncos were diabolic in that same time. Thurston went off with a sore head but the Bronocs had the 15 minute brain explosion.

[DIEHARD]

Is Thursto ok?

[Toads]

He did take a good knock, there's no doubt about that. He did return about the 37th minute, and seemed come back onto the paddock with no further concerns, though he was supporting a ice pack to the back of his head at halftime.