North Queensland has all but extinguished Brisbane’s hopes of reaching the NRL finals, grinding out a hard-fought 18-10 victory in front of a record crowd of 25,461 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
Missing injured captain Tom Dearden, the Cowboys were steered superbly by Jake Clifford and rising playmaker Jaxon Purdue, while Scott Drinkwater’s flawless goal-kicking proved decisive.
Brisbane mounted a determined second-half comeback through Ezra Mam, who produced a try and a try assist in an outstanding individual display, but the visitors were unable to crack North Queensland’s resolute defence, marking a fifth consecutive match in which they failed to score 20 points.
Jason Taumalolo dominated through the middle with a powerhouse 198-metre performance as the Cowboys strengthened their grip on eighth place with a third win from four matches, while the Broncos slipped further out of finals contention after another frustrating defeat in an injury-hit contest that saw multiple players require head injury assessments and several others placed on report.
