League: Warriors give fans hope of better things

Cowboys 32 Warriors 22

The Cowboys maintained their recent history of wins over the Warriors at Ericsson Stadium yesterday, but the home team gave its fans plenty of hope for the rest of the season.

They still know how to lose close games rather than how to win them but there are now signs they are learning. They were in the game until near the end despite some ordinary refereeing, and the presence of Steve Price insists they can lift after this.

The game was deadlocked at 22-all with less than 10 minutes remaining when Price charged at the Cowboys' line and was stripped of the ball five metres short. Referee Tony Archer called it a clean drop, awarded the scrum to the visitors and a piece of individual brilliance from Johnathan Thurston won the day.

The Cowboys had earlier lost their halfback, Chris Sheppard, to an ankle ligament tear, Thurston had moved to half and he produced the chip-kick and regather that decided the game. The ball was moved wide to wing Matt Sing on the right flank and Sing ran it 50 metres back across field to find an overlap that put Rod Jensen in for the decider.

The Warriors let it happen, too casual about nailing Sing, especially so late in a game so tight.

Just before halftime they suffered from another few seconds of the too-casual approach from fullback Jerome Ropati, who was returning the last-tackle kick from near his own posts. Ropati loped into a two-man tackle, lost the ball and Jensen pounced for his first try. So it was 20-10 at the break instead of 14-10 after Iafeta Paleaaesina had lifted the team with charging runs that got them back into things following a slow start.

The Cowboys dictated the pace of play for much of the 80 minutes, slowing the play-the-ball and alternately going into high-gear draw-and-pass movements that worked both sides of the paddock. The Warriors helped them with a penalty count that was 5-1 against early on and 10-3 at halftime.

Warriors coach Tony Kemp didn't feel there was anything wrong with his team's discipline. "In one hand you have my job and in the other you have a guy who killed a game of rugby league," he said, referring to Archer. "We couldn't get any momentum today and that killed the game."

But he agreed they had lacked composure, losing the ball twice early in the tackle count when they were in the Cowboys' red zone late in the game. They'd improved in some areas, the commitment was good, the mood was good in the camp and Kemp was sure fans would see some better football from the team as the season progressed.

Price said they had to dominate in the tackle more to slow down the opposition.

Certainly the refs are calling on tackles more, whether dominance is achieved by the ball-carrier or the defenders, thus determining the time given for the tacklers to move off and allow the play-the-ball.

North Queensland coach Graham Murray had no complaint with the refereeing, though he agreed the game was not pretty. There was little between the two teams over the recent encounters, which now reads Cowboys 4-0. They'd been pressed and at stages were "looking a bit ropey" but they'd hung in, he said.

The forward exchanges, like much of the game, ended evenly. Cowboys prop Carl Webb, who has been in dynamic form, was blunted to some extent, but then so was Price - 32 tackles taking some of the sting from his charge with the ball. Paul Rauhihi was held to similar stats; both had 14 carries, Price 126m and Rauhihi 119m.

The biggest front-row impact came from Paleaaesina, who skittled tacklers on numerous occasions. Just before the break he scored after the Warriors carried the ball the length of the field, his second carry in the set. Jerome Ropati took the last-tackle kick on his own line and broke upfield to halfway. Paleaaesina produced a big charge to maintain the momentum then backed up to go over from dummy half.

Monty Betham had a very good game at lock. He was tireless in defence and made good ground gain. Nathan Fien was smart at hooker, as was Tevita Latu as replacement.

The backs suffered from a lack of cohesion. Centre Tony Martin and Brent Webb were ruled out late with back injuries. Webb is expected back against Souths at Ericsson this Sunday; Martin must see a specialist and is not so hopeful.

The 13,388 at the ground went home feeling better about losing than they had for some seasons. The mere presence of Price, Fien's game, and Ruben Wiki's return after suspension all offer promise they will continue to stay staunch and that play will improve.

Sione Faumuina is on report for a high tackle on Matt Bowen but he appeared to be pulling out of it as Bowen passed the ball. It was one of a number of high shots in the game and in the current climate it wouldn't be surprising to see others charged.