Acts of Mercy put NQ on ladder lift

HAVING been stuck at the bottom of the Super League ladder the previous season, North Queensland needed something special to light up the competition early in 1998.

And they found it in the left-edge combination of Noa Nadruku and Ray Mercy.

No night displayed the raw ability of the pair more than March 22, 1998, when the Cowboys ran rampant over a struggling Balmain with a 26-2 win.

The Tigers fell victim to the “Mercy rule” as the lightning-fast winger crossed the tryline four times to set a club record that has stood the test of time.

Mercy was the beneficiary of a well-oiled Cowboys attack under the guidance of head coach Tim Sheens, with the home side applying plenty of pressure from the opening whistle.

After twice being forced to drop out from their own line, Balmain’s defence cracked when Jason Ferris and Nadruku combined to give Mercy a clear run to the line.

The 23-year-old indigenous flyer scored his second try three minutes from halftime, showing extraordinary power from dummy half and outwitting opposite winger Greg Donaghy, who had left the blind side exposed.

Mercy’s two tries in the first half to give the Cowboys an 8-2 lead at the break, and his third try from a Scott Wilson grubber kick 14 minutes after the resumption, put the match out of Balmain’s reach.

The flashy winger would score his record-setting try in the final stages of the game after Nadruku broke through the flimsy Tigers defence and set off on a 60m gallop upfield.

While he was proud of the effort of his winger, Sheens was quick to point out the effort of the players inside Mercy on the night.

“We would all like to work outside Noa. You’re always going to score a few tries following him,’’ Sheens said after the match.

It was a record-breaking effort that almost wasn’t for the Cowboys enigmatic winger, after he started the season from the bench against the Adelaide Rams in the previous week. He had also been dropped from the Cowboys’ trial side two weeks before that after he chose to forgo the plane trip to Cairns with his teammates and instead drove the 420km journey.

But injury to Cowboys winger Mark Shipway opened the door for Mercy to start on the wing, and he made sure to boot his way through it.

Mercy would remain in the starting side, shifting between centre and wing, for the rest of the season and setting a club record of 12 tries in 24 games before he disappeared from the limelight.

An off-field gambling problem had left the player to his own mercy and the Cowboys eventually had to step in and cut him from the club.

It was a tragic end to a short-lived career that former teammate Paul Bowman believes had so much more potential to give.

“I definitely remember Ray; he was a very talented player and very quick across the ground,” Bowman said. “But above all else he was a great finisher; he could just find the tryline. There are guys like that in the NRL now, guys like Jono Reuben in the Queensland Cup.

“That was the type of player Ray was; he could sniff out a try or an opportunity in the blink of an eye. I don’t remember a lot of specifics of (that) game. I do remember him scoring four tries and setting the club record, and it is probably going to be a club record that will be tough to break.

“I think basically he was gone after that year and I am pretty sure he didn’t go to another NRL club. It was probably talent lost; he was definitely a very talented player.”

Mercy made a brief return to Townsville in 2008 when he captain-coached Sharks United in the Townsville District Rugby League competition, and he even scored four tries in one day against University.