A first-half attacking masterclass from Maroons State of Origin hopeful Matt Bowen helped North Queensland to a convincing 40-18 NRL win over Canberra on Saturday.
Playing without co-captain Matt Scott, who lost his mother Dianne to throat cancer on Thursday, the Cowboys were simply too good for the lowly Raiders at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Errors and penalties cost the Raiders and they will be sweating on the fitness of star five-eighth Josh Dugan, who was stretchered off in the 76th minute with what appeared to be a serious leg injury.
Bowen, assuming much of the playmaking responsibilities, played the last pass in four of the Cowboys’ seven tries and pushed his case for a call-up to the Queensland side to replace injured fullback Billy Slater.
A Johnathan Thurston error off the kick-off put the Cowboys under immediate pressure and the Raiders capitalised in the fourth minute when Jarrod Croker accepted a Josh Dugan cut-out pass, spun past Brent Tate and reached out for the line.
But that was the only high point in the first half for the Raiders as Ashley Graham, Glenn Hall (two), Antonio Winterstein and Ray Thompson all ran in tries for the Cowboys to take a 30-6 lead at the break.
Graham received the benefit of the doubt from video referee Pat Reynolds to equalise in the seventh minute, although he appeared to drop Bowen’s wide cut-out pass after being nudged by Edrick Lee in the corner.
The Cowboys continued their strong form into the second half and punished the Raiders, who gave away multiple penalties for backchatting to the referees, and Bowen was again involved as Kane Linnett caught the Raiders outnumbered on the left edge in the 49th minute.
But the momentum began to swing back towards the Raiders, Dugan and Blake Ferguson grabbing tries in a 10-minute period to claw their way back into the game.
After long periods of dominating possession towards the end of the match, Cowboys second-rower Scott Bolton ran underneath the goalposts in the 80th minute to complete the rout.
Dugan’s injury was not the only point of concern for the Raiders, who will be waiting on scans on second rower Joel Thompson, after he was brought off with a suspected fractured left hand during the first half.
