Full Time
80:00
7:35pm Sat July 22, 2023
Round 21 - Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville / Wulgurukaba - Crowd: 20710
79min

They didn't. Cowboys hold on for the win

78min

Eels have 60 seconds and 90 metres to travel to score an 8 point try if they are to be a chance here.

78min

SCRUM COWBOYS - 10m from their own line

78min

Simonsson almost got to the line and then he almost got a pass away but he did manage to turn the ball over

77min

PENALTY EELS - High tackle.

76min

Conversion: Eels
Kicked by Mitchell Moses.

Moses converts

Cowboys lead Cowboys 24 - 16 Eels
74min

Try: Eels
Scored by Mitchell Moses. Kick to come.

Gutherson makes another break in the middle, passes outside to Moses, but the pass is low. Moses at top speed toes it ahead and wins the race to score.

Cowboys lead Cowboys 24 - 14 Eels
71min

SCRUM COWBOYS - 20m shy of halfway

70min

Conversion: Eels
Kicked by Mitchell Moses.

Moses quickly converts

Cowboys lead Cowboys 24 - 10 Eels
69min

Try: Eels
Scored by Mitchell Moses. Kick to come.

Gutherson breaks through the Cowboys line and then links with Moses in support who races over to score under the sticks. Niice

Cowboys lead Cowboys 24 - 8 Eels
63min

Waqa Blake was where he should be and he caught a kick!

62min

A tunnelball pass between the legs by Simonsson goes into touch over the head of where Waqa Blake should've been if he had've been standing on a 20ft ladder.

61min

SCRUM EELS - Gutherson tries to do everything by himself and very nearly gets to the tryline. He offloads and the battle for possession resembled a game of AFL with the ball on the ground. Cowboys knocked on. They challenged and failed.

60min

And another fresh set

60min

Eels get a fresh set on the Cowboys line

59min

Drinkwater with a dog of a kick on the last, makes about 15metres and goes into touch. Eels start their set just shy of halfway

56min

Conversion: Cowboys
Kicked by Valentine Holmes.

Holmes adds the extras

Cowboys lead Cowboys 24 - 4 Eels
56min

Try: Cowboys
Scored by Scott Drinkwater. Kick to come.

Drinkwater drops back under and receives a standard pass from Townsend, then he hit the pause button on the Parramatta middle defence and strolled through them to score under the posts.

Cowboys lead Cowboys 22 - 4 Eels
52min

Lane cops a nasty headknock as he bends over to collect a loose ball near the Cowboys line and his head comes into contact with the leg of Townsend. Lane is helped off the field.

49min

Penalty Goal: Cowboys
Kicked by Valentine Holmes.

Holmes kicks a penalty goal

Cowboys lead Cowboys 18 - 4 Eels
49min

PENALTY COWBOYS - Ogden passes off the ground.

47min

Holmes is back

47min

Short dropout and Eels get the ball back

46min

Grubber by Robson from dummy half is forced in the Eels ingoal by Simonsson. Eels dropout

45min

Set Restart Cowboys

42min

PENALTY COWBOYS - High Tackle - Cowboys 35m from the Eels line

39min

SCRUM COWBOYS - 10m from their own line

39min

Taulagi shuts down Gutherson and forces a knock on as well. Great defence.

38min

Taulagi gets a hand on a pass and denies the Eels a try. Parra get another set though

38min

PENALTY COWBOYS - Holmes hits Moses with everything in the kitchen that isn't bolted down. HUGE HIT. But apparently it's illegal to use household appliances in tackles, so Holmes has been binned.

38min

And a tackle later the Eels get another set restart. Padding their stats now.

38min

Set restart Eels, 10m from the Cowboys line

35min

PENALTY EELS - Nani on the left edge gets the ball close to the Eels line, throws a dummy which makes Waqa Blake retreat to where the ball wasn't and Nanai dived through the gap to score. BUT, the Bunker found Simonsson was just standing around like Waqa Blake in defence and obstructed the inside defender.

32min

Matterson just got drilled harder than all current NRL wingers did by Blake Ferguson on twitter recently.

29min

PENALTY COWBOYS - Moses isn't happy with that decision, In other news, it's cold in Melbourne when it's winter.

26min

Blake put on report for his late hit in the lead-up to that try, where his tackle should've been.

26min

Conversion: Cowboys
Attempted by Valentine Holmes.

Holmes fails from out wide this time

Cowboys lead Cowboys 16 - 4 Eels
25min

Try: Cowboys
Scored by Semi Valemei. Kick to come.

Cowboys go through the hands on the right side and eventually the ball ends up in the unmarked hands of Valemei and he bags his second try, running in the space where Waqa Blake should've been

Cowboys lead Cowboys 16 - 4 Eels
24min

PENALTY COWBOYS

23min

Drinkwater lets the goalposts run obstruction for him in a very clever kick return out of his own in-goal area

22min

Moses with a long ball over the top to where Waqa Blake should've been

22min

PENALTY EELS - They find touch 30m from the Cowboys line

20min

Dearden grubbers into the Eels ingoal and Taulagi gets to the ball and is initially awarded a try by the onfield ref, but he never claimed possession cleanly to start with and has the try taken off him.

18min

PENALTY COWBOYS - Eels inside the ten. Cowboys find touch 4m shy of halfway

17min

Drinkwater grubbers on the last and it's so delicate, it barely grazed the cotton stitching on his boot.

16min

SCRUM COWBOYS - DejaVu again. Paulo drops the ball in the first set after points.

15min

Conversion: Eels
Attempted by Mitchell Moses.

Moses fails to convert

Cowboys lead Cowboys 12 - 4 Eels
13min

Try: Eels
Scored by Sean Russell. Kick to come.

Parramatta run almost the exact same play the Cowboys just used to score, with Gutherson delivering the good ball to Russell who scores in the corner.

Cowboys lead Cowboys 12 - 4 Eels
13min

SCRUM EELS - From the restart the Cowboys hand the Eels a huge chance courtesy of a sloppy play-the-ball

12min

Conversion: Cowboys
Kicked by Valentine Holmes.

Holmes converts from the sideline

Cowboys lead Cowboys 12 - 0 Eels
10min

Try: Cowboys
Scored by Semi Valemei. Kick to come.

Drinkwater with a long ball out to the unmarked Valemi, and he scores in the corner.

Cowboys lead Cowboys 10 - 0 Eels
9min

PENALTY COWBOYS - They get a fresh set camped on the Eels line

6min

Holmes loses the ball. Parramatta come up with it now.

5min

Conversion: Cowboys
Kicked by Valentine Holmes.

Holmes adds the extras.

Cowboys lead Cowboys 6 - 0 Eels
3min

Try: Cowboys
Scored by Peta Hiku. Kick to come.

Peta Hiku gets the home team on the board early!

Cowboys lead Cowboys 4 - 0 Eels
2min

Recapping team news, only one change from the named teams on Tuesday - Sivo suspended with Blake on the wing for the Eels. NQ are 1-17.

1min

Game on in Townsville!

Referees & scorers:

Referee: Grant Atkins

Touch Judges: Jarrod Cole, Liam Kennedy

Video Referee: Chris Butler

NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS (24)
Tries: Peta Hiku, Semi Valemei (2), Scott Drinkwater
Conversions: Valentine Holmes (3/4)
Penalty Goals: Valentine Holmes (1/1)

PARRAMATTA EELS (16)
Tries: Sean Russell, Mitchell Moses (2)
Conversions: Mitchell Moses (2/3)