Cowboys on top after 4
rounds of NRL

North Queensland has grabbed the outright competition lead and the New Zealand Warriors have made it to square one after another unpredictable round of the NRL.

After starting the season on minus four points for breaching the salary cap, the Warriors moved to zero yesterday with an upset 26-22 victory over the Andrew Johns-less Newcastle Knights at EnergyAustralia Stadium.

Penrith's 21-20 loss to Canberra in golden point extra time on Saturday night and North Queensland's 26-18 win over Parramatta on Friday night leaves the Cowboys as the only team still unbeaten in 2006.

In other matches over the weekend, Cronulla broke its duck with a 24-22 win over South Sydney, St George Illawarra beat Brisbane 26-12, Wests Tigers defeated Melbourne 30-28 and Manly ran down the Sydney Roosters 30-22.