The Cowboys overcame the loss of star second-rower Jeremiah Nanai to maintain their push for a top-four berth with a 24-16 defeat of the Eels at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
Nanai starred in both attack and defence for North Queensland before being forced from the field just after half-time with a shoulder injury and the Kangaroos forward joined Griffin Neame (HIA) on the sideline for the rest of the match.
The Cowboys also had to survive the sin-binning of centre Val Holmes for a jolting tackle on Parramatta halfback Mitchell Moses just before halftime but despite the disruptions they proved too strong to secure their sixth consecutive win.
The win puts North Queensland into seventh spot and within two points of fourth place, while Parramatta have dropped to eighth place.
Playing before another capacity Queensland Country Bank Stadium crowd, the Cowboys immediately showed their intent when five-eighth Tom Dearden beat Shaun Lane and slipped the tackle of Daejarn Asi to put centre Peta Hiku over in the fourth minute.
Peta Hiku try 3rd minute
Winger Semi Valemei ensured the scoreboard ticked over at more than a point per minute in the early exchanges when he scored the first of his two tries off a long Scott Drinkwater pass in the 10th minute and Val Holmes converted.
However, the Eels survived the early onslaught to score a try of their own just four minutes later through winger Sean Russell after J'maine Hopgood, Mitchell Moses and Clint Gutherson combined to create space out wide.
Sean Russell try 13th minute
The introduction of Tongan superstar Jason Taumalolo from the interchange bench in the 24th minute helped the Cowboys to regain momentum and Valemei scored his second try just two minutes later.
A high shot by Holmes on Moses after he mistimed an attempted tackle on the NSW and Lebanon halfback left North Queensland a man down but despite already having also losing Nanai the Cowboys hung on.
Holmes binned for hit on Moses
Holmes returned just in time to land a 51st minute penalty goal that extended North Queensland's lead to 18-4 and with their full compliment of players they proved too good for Parramatta.
Drinkwater all but sealed the win when he sliced through the Eels defence off a reverse pass by halfback Chad Townsend in the 55th minute but the visitors didn't give up and Moses scored two late tries.
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Match snapshot
- Cowboys second-rower Jeremiah Nanai had his arm in a sling at fulltime after suffering an AC injury in the second half.
- The Cowboys played almost the entire second half with 15 men after losing Nanai and Griffin Neame (HIA), while Val Holmes was sinbinned and placed on report for a high tackle.
- The Eels made 31 offloads, led by fullback Clint Gutherson and second-rower Bryce Cartwright, who had seven apiece.
- Eels back-rower J'maine Hopgood, leads the NRL in offloads with 44 after producing three against the Cowboys, while Parramatta's tally of 251 is the most by any team.
- Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater has now scored six tries in his past five games.
- Drinkwater also ran 167 metres with the ball, made three line-breaks, nine line-breaks and produced a try assist as well as scoring one himself.
- Cowboys utility Jake Granville made his 200th NRL appearance.
Play of the game
The Cowboys had their resilience tested when Val Holmes was sin-binned and forwards Griffin Neame (HIA) and Jeremiah Nanai (shoulder) forced from the field but after hanging on while a man short they were rewarded when Scott Drinkwater split the defence to score in the 56th minute.
Scott Drinkwater try 54th minute
What they said
"We finished the game with only two on the bench and defended with 12 men for 10 minutes. Parra had nothing to lose and kept offloading the ball which took the gas out of us. It was a gritty performance by us, I'm happy to come away with the two points. We're happy that we're back in the top eight but also understand we've got a bit of work and have to win a few more games to be there in September." - Cowboys coach Todd Payten.
"It's pleasing that we had plenty of effort and fight in us at the end of the game because we had to do way too much defence early which was self-inflicted. We shouldn't have had that much energy left in the game. The penalty count was against us which was a cause of ourselves. It's frustrating because some of the tries scored against us were just simple system errors. That's what's costing us." - Eels coach Brad Arthur.
NRL Press Conference: Cowboys v Eels - Round 21, 2023
What's next
The Cowboys travel to the Gold Coast next Sunday to meet the Titans before another Queensland-derby match against the Broncos before a bye in Round 24.
Winger Kyle Feldt (hamstring) and second-rower Heilum Luki (facial injury) are due to return before the bye but there are concerns about Jeremiah Nanai (shoulder), while Griffin Neame (HIA) faces a mandatory 11-day stand down.
The Eels travel to Melbourne next Friday night to take on the Storm before matches against the Dragons, Broncos, Roosters and Panthers in their run to the finals.
Star second-rower Shaun Lane suffered an elbow injury that forced him from the field midway through the second half.
Kiwis five-eighth Dylan Brown returns from suspension against the Dragons, while Kangaroos prop Campbell Reagan-Gillard and Fiji winger Maika Sivo are banned until the round 25 the clash with the Roosters.