65' Really tough call for the bunker and the Tigers
Fonua Pole flattens Scott Drinkwater on a lead run before Terrell May crosses for a try, and even though the idea of Drinkwater even making a slight impact on May from that far out is laughable, the bunker has no choice but to rule that an obstruction.
65' Back to back penalties for the Tigers
They're right on the Cowboys' tryline too. I can't back the North Queensland defence to hold the line here. Not the way they've been playing.
Jaxon Purdue has a try off the post!
Scott Drinkwater's kick is into no man's land, clips the left upright as the pack goes tumbling through and the ball ends up in the hands of Jaxon Purdue to score a simple try. I genuinely believe Drinkwater was aiming at the post there.
57' Cowboys go close but miss out
Ethan King comes within a whisker of latching onto a beautifully improvised grubber by Jake Clifford but he's just knocked on on the line.
Big Heilum Luki is over for the Cowboys
The Cowboys get a little momentum thanks to Jaxon Purdue down the left and then, on the right, Tom Dearden sends his back rower striding through a hole, fending off Jarome Luai and Jahream Bula en route to the line.
50' Another wasted opportunity for the Cows
The Cowboys are working into a set on the Tigers' line, but Reed Mahoney throws a forward pass to Tom Mikaele on the second tackle. That's just not good enough.
47' Costly mistake by Jarome Luai
The Tigers manufacture a surprisingly good set after starting 2 metres out from their own tryline, and Jarome Luai finds the grass with his long kick, but it rolls dead.
43' Cowboys straight back under the pump
Braidon Burns fails to contest a high ball and Tom Dearden ends up being dumped back into the in-goal. Jahream Bula reels in the dropout, and the Tigers go straight on the attack.
41' The Cowboys get first use
Coach Todd Payten has surely given them an all-time rev-up, so let's see if they can remember how to play football.
Syndesmosis fears for Sam Walker
Trent Robinson has confirmed to the media that there are fears for Sam Walker's season, with the star halfback now awaiting scans after hobbling from the field with an ankle injury in the Roosters' loss to the Dolphins earlier tonight. "Possibly, yeah we're thinking that," Robinson replied when asked if he believed it to be a high ankle, or syndesmosis injury. "I only saw him briefly there before he went for scans, we'll deal with that when we get to it."
HALF-TIME: Tigers lead the Cowboys 10-8
It's been a frustrating half for the Cowboys and their fans in Townsville, with the struggling Tigers leading the way courtesy of a shocking 72 per cent completion rate by the eighth-placed Cowboys.
36' Cowboys can't stop inviting the Tigers back into the game
North Queensland is fighting for their finals lives against a struggling side and just isn't focused enough on holding on to the ball. This time it's Braidon Burns fumbling in the play the ball 20 metres out.
The Tigers are in and this one won't be taken off them
The cross-field kick yields rewards for the Tigers as Samuela Fainu bats it back to Jarome Luai, who fires a long ball out to Junior Tupou to score their second and retake the lead.
27' The fumbles continue
Tony Sukkar drops a Jock Madden short ball at one end, then Jake Clifford bursts through and the ball comes loose under pressure from Terrell May. This has been such a sloppy start by the Cowboys.
23' Jarome Luai goes 95 metres, but it's called all the way back
Tom Mikaele drops the ball right in front of the Tigers' tryline and the ball finds Jarome Luai, who flies 95 metres to "score" a try. As the celebrations go off, the bunker chimes in and says Api Koroisau illegally slapped at the ball from marker. The Cowboys kick a penalty goal, so that's an eight-point swing on a pretty dubious call, it must be said. Grant Atkins, after a tense conversation with Koroisau, says "I hope you're not suggesting it's going one way unfairly", implying Koroisau might have suggested a bit of lopsided refereeing.
18' Cowboys playing dumb footy
It's helter skelter stuff from the hosts and it just isn't called for. This time Jeremiah Nanai tries a flick pass on the fourth tackle right in front of the posts when a hard charge is probably what's called for.
17' Jarome Luai gives away a silly penalty
Luai gets up under the ribs of Scott Drinkwater, who offloads early in the piece, but Luai just keeps on going with it and is eventually penalised. He protests, saying he didn't know the ball was gone, but Grant Atkins isn't buying it.
The Tigers make something out of nothing
It was really a horrible set by the Tigers on the Cowboys' line, but it ends with a perfectly improvised grubber by Jarome Luai in behind Zac Laybutt and Jeral Skelton gets there first to score.
