The Dolphins have returned to form in Townsville, beating a woeful Cowboys side 32-22 on Friday night.
The Cowboys looked to have potentially figured things out in attack early on, with Brendan Elliot finding space on the end of an overlap on tackle 2, but he decided to put a kick in for some reason. It went dead, but the fact North Queensland were looking like they could score a try was a positive considering where they've been in recent weeks.
Unfortunately, no such improvement was hinted at on the defensive side of the ball. Off a scrum win in the 9th minute, the Dolphins found space with ease, sending Jamayne Isaako over for the first try of the night.
Dolphins were back in business 5 minutes later, with rookie halfback Isaiya Katoa getting a try assist, doing so by kicking crossfield for Isaako, who made a great catch and even better putdown to extend the lead to 8.
The Cowboys were handed a golden opportunity to hit back straight away as Mark Nicholls knocked on right after the kickoff. They took immediate advantage, with Edrick Lee making a poor defensive read and allowing Kyle Feldt to stroll right past him for a try.
North Queensland were on the attack again soon after, but Dearden's kick went dead allowing Dolphins to get on the front foot. Again, the Cowboys showed how poor their defence is, allowing former player Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to break tackles with ease as he became the first player in history to score a try in each of a teams first six games in the top grade, usurping Bill Bailey's record for the Newcastle Rebels in 1908.
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts, with Coen Hess sent to the bin for 10 minutes for a late hit on Katoa. It didn't take long for Dolphins to find an opening, with Jamayne Isaako running past some extremely passive defenders to make it a 14-point lead.
Dolphins then rubbed salt into the wound, with another former Cowboy in Tom Gilbert strolling over the line under the posts in an extremely soft defensive effort, something that has been par for the course for the Cowboys this season.
The Cowboys were able to peg things back somewhat right on half time, with Drinkwater throwing a looping cutout pass to send Feldt over for a double.
The second half was set up for the Cowboys to mount a comeback, with the Dolphins making several terrible errors coming out of their own end, and the home side finally made them pay in the 52nd minute, when Dearden put Coen Hess over for a try.
A comeback was well and truly on the cards when Val Holmes powered his way over the top of Brenko Lee to cut the deficit to 4, but a missed conversion meant another try would be necessary. It looked to be all in vein when Brendan Elliot was sent to the bin for taking Tabuai-Fidow out off the ball, but a rookie error from Katoa on the last gifted the Cowboys a 7 tackle set.
It didn't last long for them though, with Edrick Lee picking off Scott Drinkwater, effectively ending the game. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow gave one last middle finger to his old club as he crossed untouched with 30 seconds to play, making the final score 32-22.