Cowboys dynamo Jaxon Purdue went from zero to hero as North Queensland bounced back from their Roosters embarrassment to sink the Titans 30-8 on the Gold Coast.
North Queensland buried the demons of last week’s 82-12 shocker and moved into the NRL’s top eight in a typical Thursday night stinker at Cbus Super Stadium.
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The 11,740 that made the effort to get to Robina on a school night deserve bravery medals after sitting through an error-riddled first half which saw the Cowboys emerge with an 18-4 lead.
The Titans dominated possession, territory, completions and were on the right end of an 8-2 penalty count – yet suffered another heavy loss to remain anchored in the NRL’s bottom four.
On the other hand, the Cowboys (12-9) turned last week’s 70-point loss into a 22-point win and are now one victory away from securing a finals return this year.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten wanted a response from his team after the lowest moment in the club’s history and he got it after some nervous moments.
The Titans looked to be working their way back into the game early in the second half at 18-8 when Cowboys halfback Purdue was sin-binned for a professional foul.
But he returned with a bang, splitting the Titans apart with a 70m solo effort in the 59th minute to give North Queensland a 24-8 lead.
Halves Purdue and Jake Clifford did enough in the absence of Origin star Tom Dearden (leg injury), who is due back in a few weeks.
Kevin Walters called it a “big turnaround” from the Cowboys, who can lock-up a finals berth against Parramatta in Sydney next weekend before a bye.
Titans coach Josh Hannay made four late changes to his starting side, including shifting AJ Brimson to the halves as injured halfback Zane Harrison’s replacement.
Brimson had some nice touches running the ball, but omitting a genuine halfback in Lachlan Ilias put more playmaking pressure on Jayden Campbell.
An uncomfortable halfback, Campbell two uncharacteristic first half errors and struggled to inject himself into the contest.
“The changes to their spine have really disjointed their attack… it took around 15 to 20 minutes for them to find any flow,” Michael Ennis said on Fox League.
