North Queensland Cowboys won 22-18 against Penrith Panthers in front of 10,320 fans at Western Sydney Stadium on Friday night.
The Cowboys dug deep after being behind twice in the game to earn back-to-back wins. Drinkwater led the way with a pair of try assists and was solid at the back throughout the game.
Cowboys were the first side to hit the scoreboard. They earned the six again bell, flew down the left side and Jaxon Purdue offloaded to Murray Taulagi who strolled over.
Panthers hit back in classic fashion. It was a swift left side movement from their own half, led by Nathan Cleary who found Tom Jenkins who in turn fed Casey McLean for 6-all.
Next, it was a wicked kick from Cleary which handed the Panthers their first lead. It bent into the path of centre Izack Tago, who touched down expertly for the hosts.
The visitors were dealt a blow when representative hooker Reece Robson was sin-binned for his high shot on Daine Laurie. They defended their own line and forced a pair of errors.
Cowboys drew level while a man down with another passage of play. This time, they swept it right and Viliami Vailea used his strength to slice through and make it 12-all.
It was the Panthers who took a lead going into the break though. Milestone man Isaah Yeo produced a pearler of a pass for Luke Garner, who was elevated to the starting line-up, to steam over.
The visitors showed grit once again and clawed back within two. Drinkwater was involve again, this time from the boot, he punches through a kick which Jaxon Purdue touches down.
They hit the lead soon after to shock the Panthers. They didn't adhere to beware the second kick, Dearden's effort was swept up by Taulagi for his second of the contest.
Panthers threw everything they could at the Cowboys. They had a two-on-one but McLean decided not to pass it then Paul Alamoti tried to go higher but he dragged a foot on the line.
There was one more moment which might garner some more attention. Tago was binned in the last minute for a high shot in the previous set which left the Panthers with 12-men to chase the game.
They tried to fling it around to no avail as the Cowboys held on for back-to-back wins and condemn the four-time champions to a one and four start to the 2025 NRL campaign.