After getting the better of the Canberra Raiders in the opening round (28 – 22), the Cowboys ventured to Brisbane to take on the Broncos last Friday night.
$250 North Queensland Cowboys vs New Zealand Warriors FREE BET
The Broncos narrowly won both clashes between the sides last year and again, courtesy of a try in the final five minutes of the game, were able to extend their winning sequence to three with a hard fought 16 – 12 victory.
The Cowboys were again slow to start and found themselves behind 6 – 0 after as many minutes. As always, they were sparked into action by Johnathan Thurston who crossed for his second try of the season in the 14th minute.
A crucial try to the Broncos just before half-time, saw them take a 10 – 6 lead into the break.
The Cowboys scored first in the second and twice deep in the second half, looked set to take the lead but desperate defence by the Broncos, who had a total of nine ‘try-saves’ for the game, prevented firstly Kane Linnett and then Johnathan Thurston from scoring for the Cowboys despite both getting the ball over the line.
It was a loss were the Cowboys paid the ultimate price for too many errors.
After a plain performance in round 1 which saw them on the wrong side of a 36 – 16 against Parramatta, the Warriors were installed short-priced favourites to bounce back to form at home despite facing off against their bogey side, St. George Dragons in round 2.
The Warriors, as they needed to do, scored first and early through Sam Tomkins and with a further try to Jerome Ropati in the 25th minute, had their nose in front at half-time 12 – 6.
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In the second half though, it was all the Dragons who scored four unanswered tries and won comfortably 31 – 12.
It was another uninspiring effort by the Warriors and with a tough road trip to Townsville this weekend things will not get any easier for the New Zealand side. The Warriors have lost each of their last two games away to the Cowboys by 20 and 40 points.
Warriors Coach Matt Elliot has made several changes for this clash and will welcome back winner Manu Vatuvei as he looks for something to spark his side.
The Cowboys need to start better than what they have done so in the past fortnight and give themselves the opportunity to play from the front, rather than playing catch-up. This should place less pressure on their attack and minimise the errors.
The Warriors have to make significant improvement and it’s hard to know from where this will come. They were lucky to lead at half-time last week as the Dragons had two disallowed tries and were disappointing in the second half not to capitalize on that opportunity.
Cowboys should win this one comfortably.
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Odds Comparison:
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| North Queensland Cowboys | 1.38 | 1.38 | 1.35 | 1.38 | 1.38 | 1.35 |
| New Zealand Warriors | 3.15 | 3.10 | 3.30 | 3.10 | 3.15 | 3.20 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Teams:
North Queensland Cowboys:
1. Michael Morgan 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Brent Tate 4. Kane Linnett 5. Antonio Winterstein 6. Johnathan Thurston 7. Robert Lui 8. Matthew Scott 9. Ray Thompson 10. James Tamou 11. Gavin Cooper 12. Jason Taumalolo 13. Tariq Sims 14. Rory Kostjasyn 15. Glenn Hall 16. Ashton Sims 17. Scott Bolton
New Zealand Warriors:
1. Sam Tomkins 2. Glen Fisiiahi 3. Dane Nielsen 4. Jerome Ropati 5. Manu Vatuvei 6. Chad Townsend 7. Shaun Johnson 8. Sam Rapira 9. Nathan Friend 10. Ben Matulino 11. Jayson Bukuya 12. Simon Mannering 13. Feleti Mateo 14. Jacob Lillyman 15. Suaia Matagi 16. Sione Lousi 17. John Palavi 20. Konrad Hurrell
