ELIMINATION FINAL TWO
Sunday 4:00pm AEST, 16th September 2007, @ Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville.
V
#3 NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
1-13: M Bowen, T Williams, A Graham, B Farrar, M Henry, Justin Smith, J Thurston (c), M Scott, A Payne, B Vaeau, S Faust, M Bartlett, P Bowman.
Bench: D Faiumu, Jason Smith, J Lillyman, R Cashmere.
Coach: Graham Murray.
#4 WARRIORS
1-13: W McKinnon, T Byrne, T Martin, S Mannering, M Crockett, M Witt, G Rovelli, S Rapira, G Gatis, S Price (c), R Wiki, W Koopu, M Luck.
Bench: L Swann, E Tuimavave, E Lauaki, N Fien.
Coach: Ivan Cleary.
A bumper crowd and some serious heat await the two teams for the 4pm kickoff. Warriors have rejected the drink breaks after 20 minutes of each half apparently.
FIRST HALF
1st Minute NQL – Mark Henry takes the first hitup from the kickoff and is stopped 10m out from his own line. Ruben Wiki lays all over him for an age but no penalty given. Carl Webb’s replacement in the run-on side Ben Vaeau also gets amongst it early leaving Micheal Luck in all sorts of trouble with blood coming from a head wound attempting the tackle. Matt Bowen’s first kick of the day sees Ashley Graham almost give the Cowboys a dream start in regathering the bouncing ball but he knocks on and the Warriors survive an eventful first minute of play.
2nd Minute WAR PENALTY – First Warriors set is a good one and finishes with Steven Price’s 2nd hitup being rewarded with a penalty. Warriors into the attacking half.
3rd Minute WAR – Michael Witt knocks on just a couple of tackles into the set 10m out from the Cowboys line.
4th Minute NQL PENALTY – Johnathan Thurston finds touch just over halfway after the Cowboys get a piggy back penalty. But Sam Faust is stripped by Sam Rapira and the Cowboys turn the ball over. Scrappy start to the game.
5th Minute WAR PENALTY – Thurston lifts Wairangi Koopu into a dangerous position and drives him into the turf. Thurston just gave himself a reason to sweat on the NRL judiciary if the Cowboys get up.
6th Minute WARRIORS TRY – Michael Crockett goes over in the left corner after some crisp ball movement from the resulting penalty. Tony Archer wants the grounding checked but it looks golden and the Warriors strike first.
WARRIORS TRY – M Crockett (1); S Price 2A Inside Ball to – W McKinnon pass to – R Wiki 2A Offload to – W McKinnon 2A Short Pass to – S Mannering 1A Short Pass to – M Crockett to score.
M Witt CONVERSION successful from the left touchline.
6-0 WARRIORS after 7 Minutes.
9th Minute NQL – Graham knocks on inside his own half giving the Warriors good field position soon after their first try. But a loose Grant Rovelli pass is ruled to have been knocked on by the Warriors – although it seemed like the error came from the Cowboys Justin Smith.
11th Minute NQL – Bowen draws Matt Bartlett back on his inside and Bartlett’s offload puts Justin Smith into a gap just over halfway. Rovelli and George Gatis clean up but the Cowboys are starting to roll. Bowen’s grubber is defused by McKinnon on his line to end the set.
12th Minute NQL PENALTY – McKinnon repeats his performance from last week giving away a penalty whilst in possession – instigating a shepherd play inside his own 25m zone. Cowboys reject the two points and go on the attack inside the 20.
13th Minute COWBOYS TRY – Henry goes over in the left corner after some nice hands by Aaron Payne from dummy half to Thurston to Bowen to Henry. Warriors don’t number up get caught looking at decoys (Tony Martin in particular) and it is a well executed try. Thurston to level it up from touch.
COWBOYS TRY – M Henry (1); J Thurston 2A Cut Out Pass to – M Bowen 1A Short Pass to – M Henry to score.
J Thurston CONVERSION successful from left touchline.
6-6 ALL after 15 Minutes.
15th Minute NQL – Paul Bowman and Henry get muddled up from the bouncing ball off the re-start and the Warriors get an immediate chance to respond.
16th Minute WARRIORS TRY – Martin scores on the right as the Warriors instantly reply. Price offloads to Witt who combines with Koopu to put Martin in through some flimsy North Queensland goal-line defence – Ben Farrar and Thurston the main culprits. Witt to make it 12-6 from far right.
WARRIORS TRY – T Martin (1); S Price 2A Offload to – M Witt 2A Short Pass to – W Koopu 1A Short Pass to – T Martin to score.
M Witt CONVERSION successful from right side.
12-6 WARRIORS after 17 Minutes.
18th Minute WAR – Like the Cowboys the Warriors don’t get anywhere near completing their first set after points – Wiki can’t control a pass on the left and 20m out from his own line.
19th Minute NQL – Thurston combines with Bowen on the right but Rovelli makes a try-saver on the fullback. Nice controlled set by the Cowboys – if the Warriors can’t give them too much ball at this end of the field based on this set.
20th Minute NQL PENALTY – Rovelli slips high on Henry and the Warriors don’t heed the above advice – Cowboys to start their next set near halfway. Ray Cashmere on the field joining Matt Scott in the North Queensland engine room – their best combination up front.
21st Minute COWBOYS TRY – What were we saying? Payne slices through from 30m out, draws McKinnon and puts Farrar over for the try. Great run from dummy half through some pathetic defence – Evarn Tuimavave and Koopu deadset turnstiles.
COWBOYS TRY – B Farrar (1); A Payne 1A D/Half Line Break and Pass to – B Farrar to score under the posts.
J Thurston CONVERSION successful from in front.
12-12 ALL after 23 Minutes.
24th Minute WAR – Although the Cowboys get to their kick on the post-try set – Crockett’s kick return makes plenty of yards up the heart of the kick-chase defensive line. Todd Byrne however loses the ball when trying to play it and the Cowboys will get the pill.
26th Minute NQL – Cashmere is stopped by a super Koopu defensive effort on his line. Martin and Byrne clean up over the top and it is a changeover.
27th Minute WAR – McKinnon is felled by a borderline Bowman tackle after hitting a Logan Swann offload at pace. But McKinnon is ruled to have lost possession and the tackle deemed legal.
32nd Minute WAR – After an arm-wrestle for five minutes, Nathan Fien’s attempted 40/20 puts the Cowboys on the backfoot.
33rd Minute NQL – Thurston chips and regathers just over halfway and finds Farrar who is taken down by the defence. Despite no points eventuating it is nice variation by Thurston after the slugfest of the past ten minutes.
34th Minute NQL – Bowen is getting more strapping on his right thigh. Either for a quad strain or a cork.
35th Minunte NQL PENALTY - Mannering is ruled inside the 10m and the Cowboys get a much needed penalty that will put them on the attack well into Warriors territory.
36th Minute NQL – David Faiumu has been a terror for the defence since coming on and playing as a running backrower – his offloading is on fire. Cashmere goes close to scoring again but drops the ball over the line after a desperate Rovelli tackle – that’s two try savers by the Warriors halfback today.
38th Minute COWBOYS TRY - Thurston makes a break from his own 40m line is stopped by McKinnon but finds Justin Smith who is dragged down 20m out. Thurston bounces back to his feet goes to the retreating defensive line and sends a superb cut out pass to Ty Williams who scores untouched in the right corner. Thurston hammered by Epalahame Lauaki just after getting the pass away. Brilliant.
COWBOYS TRY – T Williams (1); J Thurston 1A Cut Out Pass to – T Williams to score.
J Thurston CONVERSION successful from right touchline.
18-12 COWBOYS after 40 Minutes.
40th Minute NQL – Cashmere takes the only hitup of the new set before the half time siren sounds.
HALF TIME WRAP
North Queensland deserve to have this 6 point lead built off the back of the brilliance of Thurston, Payne and Bowen and the middle of the field grunt work done by Cashmere, Scott and Faust. The Warriors didn’t look like scoring in the last 20 of that half and need to be a little bit more proactive in their final tackle options rather than playing the safe option by going for touch. The Cowboys have 18 points already so the arm-wrestling option isn’t going to work in the second half, especially when the Warriors are back on 12.
Price started the game well but hasn’t had the kind of impact running the ball we have come to expect this season and although Rovelli has saved two tries his play with the ball has been below what’s required. Almost every Warriors player needs to step up this second half because the Cowboys best players did in that first half.
STATS
Possession: NQL 55%:45% WAR. Tackles: NQL 115:139 WAR. Both the error and missed tackle counts are similar. What is notable is the kicks in play for the half are very low for both teams just 7 for the Cowboys and 6 for the Warriors – in this heat you’d have thought kicking for touch frequently would’ve been the go.
SECOND HALF
41st Minute WAR – Thurston kicks off and the Warriors through Tuimavave will start the first set after halftime. Scott hits Lauaki in a top front on tackle mid-set.
42nd Minute NQL – Bowen’s kick from inside his own 40m line is lost mid-take by Crockett who somehow manages to boot it off his knee over the dead ball line. Terrible luck for the Warriors. Witt’s dropout only nets the Warriors 30m.
44th Minute NQL – Bowen’s pass to Henry on the left wing is forward and the Warriors dodge a bullet.
45th Minute WAR – Fien knocks on and the Cowboys will get another crack at making it a 12 point lead. Warriors can’t let that happen if they want to stay in this, especially when you consider how unimaginative they look in attack.
46th Minute NQL – After a bash and barge set by the Cowboys, Thurston finds the in-goal and Crockett under pressure from Williams forces the ball dead. Another dropout on the way.
47th Minute NQL – Jason Smith is ruled to have thrown a forward pass while the Cowboys attacked the right side. Thurston knocked on regardless so no harm done.
49th Minute COWBOYS TRY – Graham pounces on the ball after a Luck/Swann drop-a-thon and runs 56m to score. Crockett almost runs him down but Graham gets there and the Cowboys will lead by a dozen.
COWBOYS TRY – A Graham (1); No Assist.
J Thurston CONVERSION successful from just to the right of the posts.
24-12 COWBOYS after 51 Minutes.
51st Minute WAR – Wiki to come back on the field and Price has just returned. Interesting decision by Ivan Cleary to keep his two best forwards off the field for what seems like the crucial ten minutes either side of halftime.
54th Minute NQL – Bowen’s thigh is giving him a lot of grief but he’s battling on. The Warriors kicking game is in all sorts at the moment so he’s not being tested enough for the injury to be a massive worry yet.
56th Minute WAR PENALTY – Faiumu goes high on Luck and this could be the piggy back the Warriors needed to get their attack back in sync. Price isn’t taking the ball in a classic hit-up role today and this variation makes little sense given how good he’s been in the last month just charging it up. He’s ball playing at the line far too often. Fien knocks on trying to milk a penalty playing the ball – bonehead play.
59th Minute WAR – The Warriors keep the ball alive well but go backwards in attack. Mannering is eventually held by Williams some 15m back from where they started – which was inside the Cowboys 20m zone. North Queensland’s defence which has been their achilles heel this season may not even be the determining factor in this game – the Warriors lack of any genuine attacking ideas is the frontrunner.
60th Minute COWBOYS FIELD GOAL – Bowen sets himself for a shot at field goal from 29m out and calmly sends it over the black dot despite a huge dive by Price – notably the only Warrior to make an effort at stopping the shot. The Cowboys are on their way to the SFS next Saturday night to play Manly.
COWBOYS FIELD GOAL – M Bowen (1) from 29m out.
25-12 COWBOYS after 60 Minutes.
61st Minute NQL PENALTY – Witt goes for a short kickoff but it doesn’t got 10m and the Cowboys get a penalty.
62nd Minute COWBOYS TRY – Bowen slices through from 10m out after Payne and Thurston work their magic to the left side. This one is over. Thurston to convert from an easy angle. The crowd has gone bananas – which is good enough for me. Yeeha!
COWBOYS TRY – M Bowen (1); A Payne 2A D/Half Cut Out Pass to – J Thurston 1A Cut Out Pass to – M Bowen to score.
J Thurston CONVERSION successful from just to the left of the posts.
31-12 COWBOYS after 63 Minutes.
66th Minute WAR – Witt goes to the air after a lively set by the Warriors but Williams takes it uncontested. At least the option by Witt had some upside unlike most of the last tackle plays this half.
67th Minute NQL – Vaeau gets away a lovely offload to Thurston who chips in behind McKinnon from 10m out but the Warriors fullback gets enough on him to close down the danger. But Archer says it was a foul and the Cowboys get a penalty. Dodgy call at best and there’s no way Archer makes that call if it is a close game.
68th Minute NQL – Bowen tries to put Vaeau over from just metres out but the big unit knocks on with the line wide open. Cowboys are toying with them now. And Mannering gives them another opportunity to play with them – throwing a clear forward pass to Crockett from inside his own 10m line.
69th Minute COWBOYS TRY – Jason Smith scores under the black dot after Aaron Payne runs a great set move off the back of the scrum. With the defenders watching Thurston wrapping around Payne who took it from lock forward – Payne offloads to Smith who touches down untouched. Thurston will make it 37-12 with ten minutes remaining. How important is the NRL judiciary’s decision on Thurston’s 1st half tackle becoming?
COWBOYS TRY – Jason Smith (1); A Payne 1A Run from scrumbase and Offload to – Jason Smith to score.
J Thurston CONVERSION successful from in front.37-12 COWBOYS after 70 Minutes.
70th Minute NQL – Bowen has left the field to start treating his thigh injury in readiness for next week already.
72nd Minute WAR – Koopu makes an all too rare break up the right wing after some good leadup work by Lauaki and Byrne. But his pass inside goes way over Witt’s head and the Cowboys clean up through Jacob Lillyman. Price charges down Thurston’s attempted cross field kick and regathers.
73rd Minute NQL – Faiumu produces another offload this time for Payne who makes a clean break from halfway and is dragged down just 30m out from the Warriors line.
74th Minute COWBOYS TRY – Off the back of Payne’s bust, Graham grubbers through for Farrar who grounds the ball uncontested and the Cowboys have passed 40! And the cheerleaders don’t appear to have sat down this half.
COWBOYS TRY – B Farrar (2); A Graham 1A Grubber Kick to Setup – B Farrar to score.
J Thurston CONVERSION successful from the left side.
43-12 COWBOYS after 75 Minutes.
75th Minute NQL – Thurston now given a spell.
76th Minute NQL PENALTY – Lauaki penalised for a grapple tackle which looked pretty nasty on Graham. He’s on report. And Lauaki’s on a mission – he’s hammering a few Cowboys players this set. Wait a touch judge has seen something in the tackle – a season’s first! Lauaki done again for another grapple. Get that touchie on both sidelines – he’s actually doing his job!
77th Minute COWBOYS TRY – Cashmere struggles free of a tackle on the line and slips under two defenders to score under the posts. Faiumu threw a money ball from dummy half and Cashmere’s tenacity does the rest. Archer goes upstairs but it is given a try. Paul Bowman steps up for the conversion from in front and just scrapes it over the crossbar.
COWBOYS TRY – R Cashmere (1); D Faiumu 1A D/Half Cut Out Pass to – R Cashmere to score.
P Bowman CONVERSION successful from in front.
49-12 COWBOYS after 78 Minutes.
79th Minute NQL PENALTY – Witt tries another short kickoff with the same result – Cowboys penalty for the ball not going 10m.
80th Minute NQL – Faiumu held up. Graham kicks for the corner but Ty Williams can’t track it down and that’ll be full time.
FULL TIME WRAP
The Cowboys have found some willing forwards today in Cashmere, Scott, Vaeau and Faust in particular all stepping up a gear and more than matching the more heralded Warriors forwards. Bowen was selective in his involvement but when he was it was class and Payne did a lot of damage out of dummy half but it was Johnathan Thurston who was the star with an outstanding performance. Bowman and pretty much the rest of the Cowboys were all excellent in supporting roles (Henry in particular was very effective on kick returns) as they proved too good for the underwhelming Warriors.
In a clear indication of how poor the Warriors were today – not one player had a decent game which is a shame given how well they went in the second half of the season.
FULL TIME RESULT
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS 49
TRIES
B Farrar 2 (21st, 74th), M Henry (13th), T Williams (38th), A Graham (49th), M Bowen (62nd), Jason Smith (69th), R Cashmere (77th).
GOALS
J Thurston 7 from 7, P Bowman 1 from 1.
M Bowen 1 Field Goal (60th).
Defeated
WARRIORS 12
TRIES
M Crockett (6th), T Martin (16th).
GOALS
M Witt 2 from 2.
League Player Ratings: Player of the Finals 3-2-1
3 – J Thurston, Cowboys, 9/10.
2 – R Cashmere, Cowboys, 8/10.
1 – A Payne, Cowboys, 8/10.
Referee: Tony Archer 6/10.
_________________________
Warrick Nicolson
E: wdnicolson@optusnet.com.au
P: 0402851485
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