Holmes quickly takes the shot at goal, and it hits the upright. Game over.
PENALTY COWBOYS - Dearden taken out.
Dearden with another rubbish kick. Mbye takes it dead. 22 seconds left. Cowboys challenging.
SET RESTART COWBOYS - They still have 70m to go to score.
Holmes hurries his sideline conversion, strikes it well, but it is waved away
First play, Cowboys spread the ball from right to left where Hampton gets comfortably outside Nofoaluma and dives over to score in the corner.
Talau comes off the field. Cowboys with a full set 10m from the Tigers line.
Brooks is sin binned for his strip
Talau cops an accidental finger in the eye and he is getting treatment, stopping play.
Asi very nearly scores but Brooks denies him with a great trysaver, but he then rakes the ball out after the try was completed.
Cowboys get 6 again as the Tigers touch a stray pass.
Talau just BRUTALISED Hampton. Oh my goodness. This match just got slapped with an M rating!
Cowboys throwing the ball about making metres, looking threatening and throwing passes into touch.....sigh
Holmes converts from right in front.
Drinkwater with a long ball to Granville, exposing Chee Kam who was way out of position defensively. Granville turns the ball back in to Drinkwater who runs away before sending Dearden away to score under the posts
Asi drops the Brooks kick backwards
Feldt gets SMASHED by Luke Brooks. It was all head clash, but still, Feldt got BELTED by Brooks. Feldt coming off for an HIA, but he looks to be uninjured, I mean, it was only Luke Brooks who DESTROYED him.
Mbye with a horror ball to Nofoaluma, who manages to reel in it, but he can't stay in the field of play as the cover defence clean him up.
SET RESTART TIGERS on their last tackle, 7m from the Cowboys line. Great set by the Tigers, offloads, line breaks. Hess taken off for an HIA. He's also on report for a late tackle.
Doueihi from the right sideline makes no mistake
Tigers go right, Doueihi steps Hampton who had come a long way up and in. Doueihi then gets Talau a good ball in space and the centre scores a soft try
Good work by Mikaele, he didn't turn the ball over.
Drinkwater's grubber goes dead in goal. 7 tackle set for the Tigers.
Dearden is confused when it comes to kicking.
Cowboys with a 1 out on the last....this is infuriating
PENALTY COWBOYS - Holmes hit in the air while taking a bomb. He catches the ball but falls heavily after colliding with MCK. Feldt decides to have a scuffle. Anywho, Cowboys start their set on halfway
Doueihi converts from almost in front.
Brooks on the right hits Kelma Tuilagi with a lovely short ball, he then hits Holmes and spins 360 degrees before falling over the line near the posts.
SCRUM TIGERS - Feldt on the first tackle off the scrum, knocks on.
SCRUM COWBOYS - Utoikamanu found to have knocked on, 20m inside the Cowboys half.
Both sides kicking like Snooker players
Doueihi's bomb is far too deep. Holmes almost could've let it go dead on the full. He catches it in goal anyways. Another 7 tackle set for the Cowboys.
Another Cowboys set ends with another dreadful kick.
7 tackle set for the Cowboys
Brooks with a grubber which would've been nice if the in-goal was 27 metres deep
PENALTY TIGERS - High tackle on the first. Tigers start their set 10m shy of halfway
SET RESTART TIGERS - Deep inside their own half
Brooks kicks on the last aiming to find Cairns. He succeeds. 7 tackle set for the Cowboys
Tigers get the second half underway
A covid-safe halftime break has concluded, where the respective coaches would've kept their spittle-laden halftime rants to a less juice-intense level.
Mbye with a botched play on the short side and then dumps a pass to Blore who then gets bundled into touch
PENALTY TIGERS - Nofoaluma takes a spectacular catch in a heavy contest with Holmes. Val comes off second best.
Holmes converts the try
Dearden with a garbage bomb, everyone lets it bounce, Feldt soccers it back infield, Robson regathers and passes to Neame who then throws a dubious pass to Nanai who scores.
Unsuccessful challenge. No one is surprised.
Doueihi challenges the bomb, it goes back but Leilua knocks on. Tigers challenge the initial contest before Leilua's knock on.
Tigers with a legal strip on halfway
PENALTY COWBOYS - Ofahengaue with a high tackle. AT this rate, the referee will be the only human on the field not going to the judiciary.
PENALTY COWBOYS - Nofoaluma with a second effort trying to get a Cowboys player tackled in their own ingoal.
Doueihi finds touch with a kick, 10m from the Cowboys line. An impressive set for the Tigers as none of them slipped over. Hard to believe that only half the ground could be this moist!
This time Dearden decides to kick over the Tigers players and it comes as no surprise that it was more effective than kicking into them
SET RESTART COWBOYS - On the first tackle.
Blore with a late offload to MCK who dropped the ball in the defensive line, 20m from the Cowboys line
DOueihi's grubber very nearly leads to points - but it does get the next best result, a repeat set. Cowboys drop out.
SET RESTART TIGERS - Cowboys are treating attack like it has ebola.
Mbye drops the ball on the last, 7m from the Cowboys line.
Nofoaluma obstructs Hampton's effort to catch the Tigers kick downtown. Tigers get the ball back 15m from the Cowboys line.
SET RESTART TIGERS - 30m from their own line after the restart
Doueihi nails the sideline conversion.
Brooks, Doueihi and Mbye combine before the latter sends a cut-out pass to Maumalo who has a narrow passage to the line, but he dives and nabs the 4 pointer in the left corner.
PENALTY TIGERS - Molo with a high tackle on MCK, 5m the Tigers side of halfway
Cowboys with another abysmal end to their set
SET RESTART COWBOYS - 30m from the Tigers line
Tigers with a turnover just shy of halfway
Dearden with another pathetic grubber that is blocked by Liddle and this time Dearden knocks on when trying to regather. That set was about as inspiring as a nursery rhyme.
Challenge Successful. Cowboys with a full set 10m from the Tigers line.
Dearden with an atrocious kick on the last only just reaches the knee of Luke Brooks which was all of about an inch away from the ball. Ref rules Brooks didn't play at it and handover. Cowboys challenging.
PENALTY COWBOYS - Mikaele with a high tackle. He's testing Madge's patience.
BREAKING NEWS - A set just got completed (By the Tigers)
SCRUM TIGERS - Cowboys on their second tackle after the scrum, Holmes runs with the ball before catching the ball.
SCRUM COWBOYS - Mikaele loses the ball in the first run from the kick off. He's got the hands of an AFL player today, the poor bloke.
Doueihi adds the extras
Brooks 15m from the Cowboys line drifts left then stops and dishes a short ball to a barnstorming Stefano Utoikamanu who destroys the defensive line and scores to the left of the posts.
Cowboys have taken their game plan from music band Warrant "swingin' on the front porch, swingin' on the lawn, Swingin' where we want 'cause there ain't nobody home, Swingin' to the left and swingin' to the right, If I think about baseball, I'll swing all night, yeah"
SCRUM COWBOYS - Mikaele plays tunnel ball, poorly, instead of play-the-ball, 8m from halfway.
Cowboys send the ball right but MCK takes Luki into touch early in the set, 10m from the Tigers line
PENALTY COWBOYS - Crusher. Cowboys find touch 30m from the Tigers line
SET RESTART Cowboys - 10m short of halfway
Tigers complete the first set of the game.
There have been two occasions when a 13th placed Wests Tigers have played the Cowboys and both times they lost. There have been four occasions when a 14th placed North Queensland have played the Tigers and they have won all 4 games. The last time they met, in Round 5 this year, the Tigers were 13th and Cowboys 14th.
Referees & scorers:
Referee: Chris Sutton
Touch Judges: Wyatt Raymond, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski
Video Referee: Henry Perenara
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS (16)
Tries: Jeremiah Nanai, Tom Dearden, Ben Hampton
Conversions: Valentine Holmes (2/3)
Penalty Goals: Valentine Holmes (0/1)
WESTS TIGERS (24)
Tries: Stefano Utoikamanu, Ken Maumalo, Kelma Tuilagi, Tommy Talau
Conversions: Adam Doueihi (4/4)