Man, what an exciting game; I predicted a win here, but it was a bit too close for my liking; the last 20 minutes of this match had me on the edge of my seat, just waiting for either side to make the match-winning play.
Reece Walsh shone once again in this match, playing a large part in the Warriors attack, with the home side scoring three tries in the first 18 minutes through Kodi Nikorima, Rocco Berry and Ben Murdoch-Masila. The Cowboys keep themselves in the match when in the 32nd minute when Reece Robson threw the mother of all dummies, fooling Jazz Tevaga as he crossed the try-line untouched. Walsh was at it again; minutes later, he put Josh Curran through a hole before the second-rower flicked the ball to Adam Pompey to score under the posts in the last scoring play of the first half, giving the Warriors a decent 24-4 lead. The Cowboys switched up their game plan and started to target the inexperienced edge of Berry and debutant Edward Kosi. It reaped rewards with Murray Taulagi and Scott Drinkwater scoring down that side in the 46th and 48th minute, making Warriors fans nervous as the Warriors looked to be letting this game slip. The Warriors appeared to have scored a fantastic try when Walsh ran on the last tackle, but the Bunker denied them, advising that the ball hit Curran’s shoulder and travelled forward. Both sides struggled to get the upper hand, with both sides letting themselves down with errors and poor discipline. A Tohu Harris offload to Walsh saw the exciting youngster burst into open space before he slipped over and then knocked the ball on after Valentine Holmes cleaned him up. North Queensland’s next set saw them surge up the field before the game was halted when Murdoch-Masila came off second best in a collision with Jason Taumalolo; once the match resumed, the Cowboys didn’t take long to score with Taulagi crossing over again in the corner to reduce the New Zealand sides lead to four. Momentum was heavily in the Cowboys favour as they made easy work of marching up the field and looked to be ready to score again before knocking the ball on but were given a penalty after Pompey was deemed offside. However, North Queensland failed to capitalise on the field position, throwing a forward pass that let the Warriors off the hook. The New Zealand side let themselves down again when Bayley Sironen lost control of the ball when attempting to play it, but the Cowboys also made the same error a few tackles later. The Warriors were given a penalty that gave them their first set inside North Queensland’s half for roughly 15 minutes, but Curran fumbled his attempt to pick up a Walsh grubber. Time was running out for the Cowboys, and they made a last-ditch attempt to score points, but their hopes were dashed when Maumalo scooped up the ball and ran for 30 metres to end the match with the Warriors grimly holding on for a much-needed victory. 

Match Positives