A double in the space of two minutes from Valentine Holmes helped the Cowboys to an impressive 31-6 road victory over the Rabbitohs on Sunday afternoon.
With five players backing up from Origin II – including Holmes who was responsible for 18 points on his own – the Cowboys dominated the majority of the encounter at Accor Stadium and took full advantage of an error-prone Rabbitohs side, who fell to a second-straight defeat.
Scott Drinkwater starred at fullback – setting up three tries and burning South Sydney with his running game with 216 metres gained – while Maroons representatives Murray Taulagi, Holmes, Jeremiah Nanai and Reuben Cotter all carried the ball for over 100 metres in the win.
Blues hooker Reece Robson also backed up admirably with 36 tackles for his club.
Despite having nearly 60 percent of the ball in the first half, the Cowboys had only a modest 5-0 lead to show for it at the break, thanks to a Taulagi try and a Drinkwater field goal.
Drinkwater splits them open for Holmes try
But the points came much easier in the second half, with the visitors running in four tries, all of which were converted by Holmes.
Two of those came in the opening eight minutes of the second half, with Holmes finishing a Drinkwater line break before grabbing a Taulagi bat-back two minutes later to stretch the lead to 17.
As they continued to battle against a high error rate and subsequent lopsided possession count, the Rabbitohs finally had a breakthrough on the hour when Lachlan Ilias sold Robson a big dummy off a scrum from close range and went in under the posts.
Nanai opens up Rabbitohs
But on the very next set Cameron Murray illegally stripped the ball from Coen Hess, gifting Holmes with an easy penalty goal which gave the visitors a three-score lead once again.
Nineteen-year-old forward Kulikefu Finefeuiaki put the result beyond doubt after bursting through a gap off a Drinkwater short ball to score under the posts, before Tom Dearden put the icing on the cake with a fifth four-pointer three minutes from full-time.
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Match Snapshot
- Cameron Murray was sent for a HIA in the 25th minute which he passed just before half-time and went on report late in the second half for a high tackle.
- Jacob Host was placed on report in the dying minutes for a late hit on Cowboys half Tom Dearden.
- North Queensland completed at 84 percent compared to the Rabbitohs at 69 percent.
- The Rabbitohs made 13 errors and gave away double (eight to four) the penalties of their opponents.
- On the back of playing in Origin II, Cameron Murray made 49 tackles in his 68-minute shift for the Bunnies.
- Rookie Cowboys forward Kulikefu Finefeuiaki has now scored in back-to-back games.
Finefeuiaki puts the icing on the cake
Play of the Game
The Cowboys' third try and the second scored by Holmes in the space of two minutes. It summed up the desire the Cowboys players brought with them to Accor Stadium.
Holmes goes bang bang
What They Said
"We were frustrated out of the game to be honest. I felt like [the Cowboys] played like a team who was motivated and knows they need to get results like this to keep their season alive and we played like a team that's probably comfortable. Just way too many dumb things in the game that put us under pressure." – Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou.
"It's pleasing on a couple of fronts. We haven't been great in Sydney and given the importance of that game in the context of the season, we needed a win. I thought we played really gritty on the back foot for 25-30 minutes, scored first and played some Cowboys footy in the end and scored some really good tries." – Cowboys coach Todd Payten.
NRL Press Conference: Rabbitohs v Cowboys - Round 17, 2023
What's Next
The Rabbitohs head across the Tasman to face the in-form Warriors at an already sold out Go Media Stadium in Auckland on Friday. The Cowboys meanwhile are back at home to take on the Wests Tigers on Saturday night.