The Tigers put on a show for the Leichhardt faithful on Sunday afternoon, taking down the defending premiers 26-14 in what could prove to be a blueprint for other teams facing North Queensland.
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While the Tigers were ably assisted by the Cowboys' mediocre away record – their 3-7 record away from 1300SMILES Stadium is better than only the Dragons, Roosters and Knights on the road – it was stopping the rolling forward pack that limited the Cowboys.
“Before the game today the biggest job for us was going to be handling their forward pack,” Tigers coach Jason Taylor said in the post-match presser.
“If we let them roll down the middle of the field and get quick play the balls, it’s too hard to stop Thurston, Coote and Morgan.
“We would never have been in the game.
“It’s a massive improvement for us in that area, and it’s exciting and a credit to the players, led by [Tigers captain Aaron Woods] Woodsy, in how they’ve applied themselves to improving in that defensive area of the field.”
Even with the loss of Elijah Taylor after 15 minutes with a concussion, the Tigers’ unheralded pack severely limited Cowboys representatives Matt Scott, James Tamou, Jason Taumalolo, Gavin Cooper and former Origin player Ben Hannant.
“We just wanted to go out there and play our own game,” Woods said.
“We just backed ourselves to get up in front of them and do a job for the side because we know Mitchell’s [Moses] out the back and he can do some crazy stuff with [James Tedesco] Ted and Jack Littlejohn.”
The defensive effort wasn’t just through the middle, with Thurston’s pinpoint accuracy suffering from the Tigers’ stifling defence, potting two kicks out on the full.
“I reckon that the cowboys weren’t 100 per cent today,” Taylor said.
“We were quite dominant right from the start and that was great.
“It’s hard to back up a premiership but we’re happy they’re not quite 100 per cent - if that’s right.”
