TRIAL :: 1 Mar :: Cowboys 32 Raiders 12 @ DFS

[FUIFUI_MOIMOI]

Luke O'Donnell completed his recovery from a horrific hamstring injury, claiming a hat-trick in North Queensland's 32-20 NRL trial match victory over Canberra.

Carl Webb also starred for the northerners with a powerhouse display while Travis Burns had a strong showing in the No.7 jersey.

Canberra struggled to deal with the humid conditions but looked dangerous when spreading the ball wide to Adrian Purtell while Todd Carney had a strong return from a quad injury.

The Cowboys burst out of the blocks when O'Donnell crashed over and the lock forward was over again in the 13th minute after finding Canberra's left-side defence wanting.

Canberra hit back when Colin Best pounced on a loose ball after an Aaron Payne pass went to ground but O'Donnell claimed his third for a six-point lead.

Canberra crossed again before the break with William Zillman sprinting 70 metres but Webb capped off a commanding first half with a try to ensure an eight-point lead at the break.

The early stages of the second half turned into a dour affair with both sides struggling to control the ball in the muggy conditions before Matt Bowen collected his own bomb to score.

After some continued pressure on the Canberra line, Steve Southern crashed over to make it a 20-point lead.


http://news.smh.com.au/cowboys-too-strong-for-raiders-3220/20080301-1w5h.html

 

[wittyfan]

Good to see Willy Zilly recovered from his injury.

 

[Garts]

Burns will more than likely be in the 17 Witty, he is surely a better 5/8 option than Justin Smith.

 

[wittyfan]

We shall see.

 

[beave]

raiders looked alright, they had plenty of possession, the cowboys just showed plenty of desperation on their goal line to repel them which is a good sign for us. Both raiders tries were against the run of play, loose balls on the ground being swooped upon and going the length of the field. Burns was okay, they are talking him up in one article, he really did nothing outstanding, he did kick it out on the full once though............ There were plenty of big hits, Webb absolutely snapped one lad, he looked in a bad way as they chaired him off the field, hope he is okay. Both teams have a bit of improvement in them which is natural.

 

[Timmah]

Cowboys too strong for Raiders
March 01, 2008

LUKE O'Donnell completed his recovery from a horrific hamstring injury, claiming a hat-trick in North Queensland's 32-20 NRL trial match victory over Canberra.

Carl Webb also starred for the northerners with a powerhouse display while Travis Burns had a strong showing in the No.7 jersey.

Canberra struggled to deal with the humid conditions but looked dangerous when spreading the ball wide to Adrian Purtell while Todd Carney had a strong return from a quad injury.

The Cowboys burst out of the blocks when O'Donnell crashed over and the lock forward was over again in the 13th minute after finding Canberra's left-side defence wanting.

Canberra hit back when Colin Best pounced on a loose ball after an Aaron Payne pass went to ground but O'Donnell claimed his third for a six-point lead.

Canberra crossed again before the break with William Zillman sprinting 70 metres but Webb capped off a commanding first half with a try to ensure an eight-point lead at the break.

The early stages of the second half turned into a dour affair with both sides struggling to control the ball in the muggy conditions before Matt Bowen collected his own bomb to score.

After some continued pressure on the Canberra line, Steve Southern crashed over to make it a 20-point lead.

Cowboys Coach Graham Murray thought his side improved defensive showing was the key to victory.

"Our goal line defence was good and overall I thought it had improved heaps from the week before.

"They defended strong in the middle. The try line was good and they scrambled well for each other."

Murray saved praise for the performance of his halves.

"Justin Smith is a true professional, he is a great defender and not frightened to take the ball to the line and I think he and Travis Burns combined well.

"I thought Travis and Matt Bowen were a bit more in sync while I thought our two hookers were really good."

Canberra coach Neil Henry was to left rue last minute injuries to key players.

"I don't think we were particularly good, a few things conspired against us.

"Joel Monaghan, Neville Costigan and Joe Picker were all late withdrawals but we did have six players down to a two man bench and you don't expect that.

"I had a lot of players out of position and we didn't handle that too well. You've got to be able to fall back on some basic structure."

Henry was however able to find some positives out of the performance.

"I was very pleased the way William Zillman came back. He's back a few weeks early while Joel Thompson did well filling in all over the park."

AAP


http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23304825-23214,00.html

 

[Shorty]

raiders looked alright, they had plenty of possession, the cowboys just showed plenty of desperation on their goal line to repel them which is a good sign for us. Both raiders tries were against the run of play, loose balls on the ground being swooped upon and going the length of the field. Burns was okay, they are talking him up in one article, he really did nothing outstanding, he did kick it out on the full once though............ There were plenty of big hits, Webb absolutely snapped one lad, he looked in a bad way as they chaired him off the field, hope he is okay. Both teams have a bit of improvement in them which is natural.

Hmm well he managed to do something as we won...without Thurston
What was with the hooker rotation though?

 

[gorilla with a shotgun]

apparently the raiders had a few players pull out right before kickoff. they only had a 2 man bench and players wernt playing in their right positions.

 

[Raider_69]

Monaghan, Picker, Costigan all pulled out late, which adds to Tongue, Herbert and Graham also who didnt play this game. Aswell as Zillman and Carney making playing their first games in 9 and 6 months respectively. Hot and humid conditions with a 2 man bench and players out. And we only lost by 12... Good result for us i recon.

 

[Raidersrawesome]

Positives to come form it , Zilly's return was unexpected but great to have him back, Not sure on the extent of any injuries for us.
Payne for the cowboys done a hamstring according to the sunday mail and is battling to be fit for round 1

 

[Billybob]

Matt Bowen put a hit on someone in front of the post as they were trying to score

good to see his last years defense is carrying over

saved two certain trys last night

but didnt do too much in attack

 

[beave]

Monaghan, Picker, Costigan all pulled out late, which adds to Tongue, Herbert and Graham also who didnt play this game. Aswell as Zillman and Carney making playing their first games in 9 and 6 months respectively. Hot and humid conditions with a 2 man bench and players out. And we only lost by 12... Good result for us i recon.

You lost by 20( the score was 32-12), but regardless, you guys will be alright once you get your proper team out there. Cohesion wasn't a problem for the raiders, guys seemed to know where they were running and where to put the player through, the cows defence on the goal line was outstanding, they continually gave away penalties giving canberra repeat sets but the green machine just couldn't get it over the line. The conditions weren't that humid though, in fact it was one of the cooler nights we've had up here, probably around 20c. Us losing Payney around the 22minute mark didn't help, he was on fire up until then, he made 2 big breaks out of dummy half and we were unlucky not to score (actually the raiders picked up a loose pass from memory after a payney break and scored under the sticks).

 

[VictorTheViking]

A lot of reports are calling it 32-20 mate, so we dont know what to believe

 

[VictorTheViking]

Regardless, to only lose by that, with a 2 man bench, is not necessarily a bad thing

 

[beave]

it was 32-12. I was there mate. The raiders did alright, I am not bagging them at all.

 

[Patorick]

who kicked the goals for the cowboys beave?

 

[Raider_69]

You lost by 20( the score was 32-12), but regardless, you guys will be alright once you get your proper team out there. Cohesion wasn't a problem for the raiders, guys seemed to know where they were running and where to put the player through, the cows defence on the goal line was outstanding, they continually gave away penalties giving canberra repeat sets but the green machine just couldn't get it over the line. The conditions weren't that humid though, in fact it was one of the cooler nights we've had up here, probably around 20c. Us losing Payney around the 22minute mark didn't help, he was on fire up until then, he made 2 big breaks out of dummy half and we were unlucky not to score (actually the raiders picked up a loose pass from memory after a payney break and scored under the sticks).

Ah fair enough, reports suggest otherwise on the score and humidity but i will take you're word for it. Still an encouraging result for us given things did not go at all our way in the lead up

 

[Ianc]

apparently the raiders had a few players pull out right before kickoff. they only had a 2 man bench and players wernt playing in their right positions.

It must have been real late cause I saw 5-6 raiders in full gear on their bench. They semed to me to rotate but I wasn't watching the bench that much. They definatly had the same number sitting as we did tho.

 

[beave]

who kicked the goals for the cowboys beave?

Burns and Ash Graham took all the shots at goal mate. As per expected I suppose, but Justin Smith can kick a bit as well....

 

[beave]

Ah fair enough, reports suggest otherwise on the score and humidity but i will take you're word for it. Still an encouraging result for us given things did not go at all our way in the lead up

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/sport/nrl/story/0,26746,23304783-5003409,00.html


yeah, i don't know why there have been conflicting stories on the score, i popped up the shops this morning to get the paper and on the radio they said 32-20, and it made me stop and think what the damn final score was and it was definetly 32-12 because at the end of the game last night i was texting a mate and i was was ribbing him about 20 points as he was telling me it was going to be a 2 point margin. I suppose it would have been humid from a raiders point of view but for a local temp and humidity it was quite nice