SPORT NQ’s era minus JT begins on high

NORTH Queensland has shown there is still life after Johnathan Thurston after defeating St George Illawarra 24-12 at 1300Smiles Stadium on a wet night in Townsville.

Before 18,415 fans last night, North Queensland was slow out of the blocks, falling to a 6-0 deficit after just 11 minutes through missed tackles and costly errors.

It took the Cowboys half an hour to get first points on the board but once they were over, the tries continued to be piled on.

The slippery conditions meant the home side finished the game with 36 missed tackles and eight errors, while the Dragons missed 25 tackles.

Last night’s win was North Queensland’s first win against the Red V since April 2, 2016.

Coach Paul Green’s late change in benching Cowboys veteran Gavin Cooper and starting former Brisbane enforcer Josh McGuire proved to be a bittersweet move.

McGuire showed some grunt up the middle of the field but his aggression proved too costly when he was penalised for a shoulder charge early in the second half.

The club’s new captain Michael Morgan didn’t seem fazed by the loss of champion playmaker Thurston as he led his team from the front foot.

The Cowboys’ $5 million man proved he was worth the price tag with a good kicking game topped off with a try in the 58th minute.

The Dragons came close to posting the first points of the match had it not been for some good scrambling defence by Cowboys’ centre Justin O’Neill.

A smart 40/20 kick by Mor- gan was able to put North Queensland in good attacking position but the Cowboys failed to capitalise following a McGuire knock on 10m out from their tryline.

Fullback Jordan Kahu knocked the ball on 10m out from the Dragons’ tryline and was pounced on by five-eighth Corey Norman, which resulted in a four-pointer to centre Euan Aitken in the next play.

The closest the Cowboys came to crossing the line came when right centre Tom Opacic was able to break through the line but lost the ball in attempting to reach for the line.

Cowboys’ utility John Asiata produced an outstanding offload to a barnstorming Jason Taumalolo in the 32nd minute to set up North Queensland’s first try.

Quick hands by Morgan and O’Neill was able to send Javid Bowen over in the left corner.

Fellow winger Nene Macdonald was able to score his first try against his old club when he crashed over just before halftime, taking the Cowboys to an 8-6 lead at the break.

With 16 tackle breaks at halftime, Green would not have been impressed with his side’s defence.

However, his players’ attack in the second stanza was much better through hard runs up the middle and clever offloads.

Morgan’s four-pointer was followed up by a Te Maire Martin try in the 65th minute following another linebreak by Taumalolo.

COWBOYS 24 (J Bowen, N Macdonald, M Morgan, T Martin, J O’Neill tries; J Kahu 2 goals) def DRAGONS 12 (E Aitken, J Pereira tries; G Widdop 2 goals)