Cowboys Claim Home Final Over Canterbury
The North Queensland Cowboys have locked in a home final with a win over the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium this evening.
The Townsville based club arrived in Sydney level on the ladder with the Dogs on 34 points and have now secured fifth place with the 44-6 win.
The Bulldogs were without key players such as Matt Burton, Josh Addo-Carr and Bronson Xerri who will all be available for selection in next weeks' finals match and struggled to produce the defensive brilliance that they have been touted on for most of the year.
Young pups Eli Clark and Jonathan Sua were impressive on debut despite the result, with Cowboys turning on a brilliant performance to steal the match away.
The first points came in the 13th minute to a Valentine Holmes penalty goal. Viliame Kikau was placed on report for a hit on Jake Clifford.
Six minutes later the Cowboys made it 8-0 when Kyle Feldt crossed in the corner. Cowboys edge back-rower Heilum Luki was next to cross in the 29th minute when Reece Robson and Tom Dearden combined on the short side.
On the stroke of half-time, fullback Scott Drinkwater added points off an inside ball to take their side to a 20-0 lead at the break.
With 24 minutes to go, Feldt crossed again with Holmes adding the extras to make it 26-0.
A solo kick and chase try by Holmes on the hour mark rubbed further salt in the Bulldogs' wounds as the Cowboys put the icing on their 15th win of the season.
The Bulldogs never-say-die attitude saw them hit back shortly after, with Toby Sexton launching a kick and pouncing on the loose ball to make it 32-6.
An injury scare for Bulldogs came with Jacob Kiraz appearing to go down with a shoulder injury late in the game but he stayed to finish the game and was confirmed well by Ciraldo in the post match press conference.
A late double to Murray Taulagi, who took advantage of Kiraz being down, helped the Cowboys seal their win while Ciraldo conceded and took the opportunity to rest some key figures such as Crichton and Kikau before they turn their attention to next weeks' match.
