North Queensland were abysmal as they fumbled their way to an 18-0 loss at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Round 1 this year. With 28 errors and a completion rate of just 46 per cent, the Cowboys were never in the contest despite trailing just 6-0 at the break following an early Jamal Idris try.
While Johnathan Thurston described the performance as probably the worst in the club’s 18-season history, it was a sparkling debut for Idris after joining the Titans from Canterbury in the pre-season. Having opened his side’s account, he also sealed the deal with his second try as he ran strongly onto a Matt Srama pass with seven minutes remaining. Steve Michaels was the other tryscorer – the speedster swooping on a dropped ball from Ashley Graham to cross in the 56th minute.
The Cowboys were forced to make 90 tackles more than the visitors and ran for just 1080 metres to the Gold Coast’s 1375.
Greg Bird was a standout, running for 170 metres from 22 runs with six tackle-breaks and two offloads, while Luke Bailey was also strong with 135 metres up front.
A total of 12 North Queensland players were guilty of making errors, with Thurston the main culprit (six) and Ashley Graham chipping in with four.
