'11 | R10 | Sat | Cowboys 40-26 Eels | Dairy Farmers #nrlcowpar

[Desert Qlder]

Quite a bizarre game really. Parramatta were comfortably on top for vast portions of the match but were simply blown away in the last twenty minutes.

Th Eels had tremendous success exploiting the left edge defense of the Cowboys in the first half. Jarryd Hayne was giving quality ball to Joel Reddy and this combination led to at least two tries. Willie Tonga was floundering out there. For a player with a good defensive record it was out of character. This was the real strength for the Eels, and they managed to get out to a sixteen point lead in the second half.

All looked lost for North Queensland. Whilst the completion rate was good, movement of the ball in the opposition twenty was poor and the failed to capitalise on the opportunities presented. Parra's defense was strong also.

But this all seemed to change at around the fifty minute mark. Johnathon Thurston finally decided to stamp his control on the match. He's looked a little disinterested in recent weeks and it was nice to see him grab this game by the balls. There was never any sense that NQ were playing catch-up though. There was great patience shown by the side and Thurston nailed some brilliant fifth tackle options.

Points just started to flow easily, mostly down the left attacking side. KFFL finished off a nice set piece with a stupendous dive for the corner. That one will be shown on highlight reels for some time to come. Credit must also be given to Bowen for chiming in well with Thurston on many of these plays, and charging back on kick returns. He's most definitely back to his best.

The Sims bros were weapons tonight, crashing and smashing anything that came there way. Glenn Hall is definitely welcome back in the side, I thought he was sorely missed against the Dragons. And Matt Scott continues to prove he's the best prop in the game.

All in all, a far from perfect performance but one that shows North Queensland are learning to win in varying types of contests.

 

[Avenger]

Wtf happened?
I had Cowboys 13+ and had well and truly given up after halftime. Checked the score at full time and was pleasantly surprised!

Thurston connected the ball to a string.

 

[Sans Souci Sainter]

Damn, was feeling pretty good about my Parra bets.

Parra are soft as shite.

 

[Apey]

Thurston had a great game however it was pretty sad how the commentators were jizzing all over him for his first try and neglected to give due credit to Fai-Fai Loa for getting the ball to Thurston.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Pretty fun actually

You've won once in 40 years. You're not the f**king Broncos.

Loser.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Thurston connected the ball to a string.

I thought he was best on the field when we beat them earlier in the year too.

 

[besthalfbackPEARCE]

Pretty fun actually

This post shows why dragons fans are trolls

 

[Sans Souci Sainter]

Credit to Cows forward pack.

Scott (I love the way this bloke plays), both Sims, Johnson, Payne, thats a good pack and it Pwned the Eels.

Hindmarsh needed to be on in that last 20 mins, was he injured or resting?

Either way, he needed to get his team over the line but was sitting down at the crucial point of the game?

Would suck being a Parra supporter.

I thought the Cows might struggle to get up after last week, but proved me wrong.

Interesting game that one. Good tries, good hits. Not bad at all.

 

[Eelementary]

Thurston and Hayne are just freaking demi-gods. Absolute freaks. Obviously JT's contributions stood out more because they won. But it was basically North Queensland VS Hayne tonight.

We are sure lucky to have such great players like these two blokes in our game.

 

[Parra Guru]

Hats off to Thurston. We were sh*t in the second half but he is all class and basically won the game on his own. Thought Glen Hall was also strong for the Cows.

For all the tries they scored it certainly was a cripple fight defensively between Tonga and Reddy. Some embarrassing reads by both of them.

 

[Avenger]

And you'll have to carry Sandow next year too...

Have you seen him play this year you silly prick ?

 

[CowboyFuriousFury]

Wow what a game where to stay Hayne was fantastic in the 1st half carving up the Cows both sides of the defense was exposed pretty bad but the Cows show patience and struck back with 2 tries in the last 10 mins to keep within 1 try.

Then the 2nd half came and Eels open the gap again with 2 more tries but the Cows again come back and then the points flow the Cowboys way fantastic show of determination and grit to never give up at all throughout the game. If it was the Cowboys of 2010 they would of folded at the thought of 16-0 but they show steel and kept chipping away no matter what Eels threw at them and pay off in the end.

 

[chrisD]

When his team got into an arm wrestle Hayne dominated. And when his team didn't go to total shit and gave him half a chance at the end, Thurston stepped up and steered them home. Pretty much the story of these two bloke's careers.

 

[beave]

f**k me I have a hangover of epic proportions today!!! great result in the end, was never in doubt!!!!!!.............:sarcasm:

 

[hineyrulz]

f**k me I have a hangover of epic proportions today!!! great result in the end, was never in doubt!!!!!!.............:sarcasm:

Yep, even when we were up by 16 i was never confident

 

[Billybob]

Matt Scott and Glenn Hall are really starting to impress me they just go hard all game


Someone else mentioned Hayne throwing a leg out and tripping Tariq Sims , did anyone else see it ?

I'm going to watch the replay soon and have a look

Tariq was defending at the time so Im not sure if there are different rules Ie. mid air tackles for defending teams

 

[natheel]

Yep, even when we were up by 16 i was never confident

Sadly thats how it is for us eels fans lately

 

[Cletus]

Matt Scott and Glenn Hall are really starting to impress me they just go hard all game


Someone else mentioned Hayne throwing a leg out and tripping Tariq Sims , did anyone else see it ?

I'm going to watch the replay soon and have a look

Tariq was defending at the time so Im not sure if there are different rules Ie. mid air tackles for defending teams

Hall is a great player, he adds a lot of starch to the cowboys.

 

[Charlie124]

This was the most important win for the Cowboys so far this season. We've done the bash/flog the opposition team out of the game (vs. the Storm). We've done the grinding/non-flashy style game (vs. a few teams) and now, most importantly we've done the come from behind (very behind) when all hope seemed lost style game.

That win is something our club would have been on the wrong side of over the last 3 years, no question. We've blown bigger leads than that in the past. But now, we have the belief that when we're down by a big margin, we can still pull it together and get ourselves out of it.

So proud of the boys after that one.

 

[Ianc]

This was t
That win is something our club would have been on the wrong side of over the last 3 years, no question. We've blown bigger leads than that in the past. But now, we have the belief that when we're down by a big margin, we can still pull it together and get ourselves out of it.

Well said. It looked like the boys trusted themselves & the game plan to win the game. In the loss to the Dragons they said they went away from the game plan. This game they trusted that & won. Huge confidence building imo.