Jesse Godfrey
The North Queensland Cowboys side have thumped the St George Illawarra Dragons 40-6 in the Under-20s at WIN Stadium, Wollongong on Saturday night.
Cowboys centre Enari Tuala reaped the rewards from early Dragons ill-discipline to go ahead early.
It took just a few minutes for the Dragons to hit back when a Jackson Willis cross-field kick ended up in the hands of Zac Lomax. With Lomax converting his own try, it gave the Dragons a 6-4 lead.
The score stayed that way for a while but the Dragons found it difficult to hold the Cowboys out as their fullback Nathan Traill scored next.
The Cowboys made the most of their good territory just minutes later when winger Murray Taulagi scored in the corner.
A penalty goal from Jake Clifford helped the Cowboys head into the half-time break up 16-6.
The Cowboys didn’t take their foot of the pedal in the second half either when back-rower Hiale Roycroft found space to score.
Ten minutes later, the Cowboys earned a penalty adjacent to the posts where Clifford kicked his side ahead 24-6 following another penalty goal.
In the 63rd minute, Tuala grabbed his second try of the night to put the game out of reach of the Dragons.
Three minutes later, the Cowboys extended the lead when skipper Mitch Dunn added his name to the scoresheet.
Another Cowboys try at the death added insult to injury, when fullback Steven Marsters needed assistance off the field due to an apparent leg injury.
North Queensland Cowboys 40 (Enari Tuala 2, Murray Taulagi 2, Hiale Roycroft, Mitch Dunn tries, Jake Clifford 6 goals) defeated St George Illawarra Dragons 6 (Zac Lomax try and goal) at WIN Stadium, Wollongong. Half-time: Cowboys 16-6.
