Cooper shines when it counts
TALK about going from zero to hero.
Gavin Cooper overcame an otherwise forgettable night littered with errors to score the match- winner in a drama- filled 20- 18 win over Newcastle at 1300SMILES Stadium last night.
Cooper was having a shocking game before stepping up when it counted most as Johnathan Thurston delivered a second half masterclass in the third- last home game of his career.
Down 18- 16 with less than two minutes left, Thurston’s inside pass put fullback Te Maire Martin into space before he put Cooper over.
The Cowboys were awful in the first half, and trailed 18- 6 at the break with former teammate Kalyn Ponga running amok and two tries from Knights backrower Lachlan Fitzgibbon.
But it was the retiring Thurston who again put his side on his creaking shoulders as the Cowboys kept the Knights scoreless in the second half.
The half set up all four tries, including finishing one off himself, to ensure the Cowboys snapped a five- game losing streak, and five straight defeats in Townsville.
Thurston has copped criticism for his individual performances this year, but Cowboys coach Paul Green said he was pleased with how his star playmaker has responded.
“Stats don’t say everything but he ( Thurston) is top five in all those attacking stats. People think because of the player he is we need a ten out of ten game from him every week, but we don’t. I’m pleased with how he handled that criticism,” he said.
The victory puts the Cowboys two points ahead of the Parramatta Eels, who play this weekend, in the battle to avoid the wooden spoon.
“From a team point of view it was tough for us. To turn it around, have bit of resilience in our defence,” Thurston said.
“We kept turning up for each other and defending well,” Thurston said.
“It’s nice when the game’s on the line to be able to pull one out.”
North Queensland showed resilience after a poor first half where they were lucky to trail by just 12 points.
The Knights took just three minutes to post first points when Fitzgibbon went through a gap between Thurston and Cooper to score. Seven minutes later the Cowboys let through another soft try when Townsville product Aidan Guerra went through untouched off a dummy- half pass close to the line.
Midway through the first half Cowboys winger Justin O’Neill scored just his third try in his last 37 games when Thurston took advantage of space on the left edge after hooker Danny Levi was sin- binned. Cowboys utility Ben Hampton was taken from the field midway through the second half after copping an accidental knee to his ribs.
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS 20 ( G Cooper, J O’Neill, Coen Hess, J Thurston tries; Thurston 2 goals)
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS 18 ( L Fitzgibbon 2, A Guerra tries; K Sio 3 goals)