Saturday’s Cowboys-Broncos clash will be the 59th instalment of the Queensland derby, but this game will mean much more than it has in recent years.
The 3pm fixture at Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium has “been a sell out for a few months” according to Cowboys coach Todd Payten, and for the local side, it’ll feel like a finals game.
Not just because of the atmosphere though – it’d feel like a final in that sense no matter where these two sides were on the table – but because of what’s at stake for both teams.
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“It’s the first time in a long time both teams are in form and in the hunt for a top eight position and just with the context just where the Cowboys season is, it’s a huge game for them,” former North Queensland and Brisbane star Brent Tate told foxsports.com.au.
“To get it at the back end of the year when both teams are in the hunt, it’s going to be massive. It’s always a big game.”
The Cowboys are delicately placed in eighth position on the ladder after an upset loss to the Titans last Sunday. With a bye in hand, you’d think two wins from their last four will be enough to make the top eight.
What will make Saturday’s assignment tougher though is the absence of star centre Valentine Holmes, who has been suspended for four weeks.
There is also plenty to play for the Broncos.
Kevin Walters’ men are having a terrific season, sitting comfortably in second spot, with a finals spot all but secured. That has no doubt put their fans at ease after last season’s catastrophic collapse.
Brisbane are tied with Penrith on 34 points, but are second due to points differential. Those two sides will more than likely fight out the minor premiership.
If the Broncos were to usurp the Panthers by the end of the regular season, it’ll be their first minor premiership in 23 years.
So, there’s a lot at stake.
Tate, one of great centres of all time for both the Broncos (114 games) and Cowboys (67 games) labels the Queensland derby as a “real rivalry”, even likening regular season matches between the two sides as having the feel of a “semi-final”.
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“Rivalry gets talked about a lot in footy but this is a real rivalry. It’s healthy and alive,” Tate said.
“It’s always been that big brother, little brother dynamic and the Cowboys want to step out of that shadow. It’s a real thing and that’s why we’ve seen close matches over the years because it does mean something to both teams.
“As a player, you always knew it was a big game. There was always that real semi-final feel about it.
“This was one you’d always look at in the draw when you start the year and you’d pencil it in.”
HISTORY/STATS THAT MATTER
The first fixture between these two sides took place in Round 5 of the 1995 season, which was the debut campaign of the newly-formed North Queensland Cowboys.
The Cowboys played host to the Broncos at their then home of Stockland Stadium (then renamed Dairy Farmers Stadium and then 1300 Smiles Stadium before it’s closure in 2019) with halfback Allan Langer starring for the visiting side and leading Brisbane to a 20-12 victory.
It began a remarkable run for the Broncos of 16 straight games against the Cowboys without a loss, with the scarce highlights for North Queenslanders in that span two drawn matches in 1997 and 1999.
The Cowboys’ first victory over their older brothers was nine years after their inception into the league and it was one of the more famous nights in the club’s history, as they defeated the Broncos 10-0 in a 2004 elimination final at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
That game would also mark the final appearance of Broncos legend Gorden Tallis.
“(That win) helped get rid of the stigma against the Broncos,” former Cowboys CEO Peter Parr said.
“It’s clear in my mind that that was the greatest night in this stadium. I don’t think any game comes close to matching it. It was just a sensational night from start to finish.”
Overall, the Broncos lead the series 36-20 with two draws from 58 matches, however the Cowboys have well and truly got the wood over their rivals in finals matches, winning five of six.
It’s no surprise to hear that Johnathan Thurston leads the top pointscorers list with 204, 66 more than Corey Parker’s 138.
Parker (32) has played the most Queensland derbies, one more than former Cowboys captains Thurston and Matt Scott.
North Queensland’s Matt Bowen leads the tryscorers table with 13, with two other former Cowboys in Michael Morgan (11) and Gavin Cooper (10) next best.
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What is a testament to the strength of the rivalry is the number of close games between these two sides.
Among the 58 matches played, there have been a whopping nine games decided by one point or less. This included a famous 17-16 win to the Cowboys in the last game of the 2015 season….
THE GREATEST GRAND FINAL OF ALL TIME?
“Tackle five, this is the last. It’s bounced away to Thurston, he gets rid of Blair, pushes away from McColluch, gets the ball to Morgan, Morgan crosses the 20, comes away to O’Neill, gets the ball to Feldt. Feldt, Feldt has scored in the corner.”
It is a Ray Warren call that is etched in the minds of Cowboys fans, and one that Broncos fans have elected to forget.
Kyle Feldt’s game-tying try in the final seconds of the 2015 NRL Grand Final has been replayed thousands of times around North Queensland homes and pubs.
It helped deliver a maiden premiership to the Cowboys, while robbing the Broncos of their seventh title.
Remarkably, the subsequent events of the game meant Feldt’s improbable try may not have even been the most memorable moment of the match.
Brisbane wound up losing the game, and haven’t been to a grand final since, but even the most fanatic Broncos supporter would admit the 2015 decider deserves it’s place in the annals of history.
A Johnathan Thurston field goal in golden point was the match winning play, but it was just the final scene of a dramatic two hours that would have gone close to winning a Logie for Most Outstanding Drama.
Thurston had the chance to win it after the final buzzer, but his dramatic sideline conversion hit the right post just as it looked like it would sneak between the uprights. That miss would force golden point.
Enter Broncos halfback Ben Hunt, who put down the ensuing kick off, giving the Cowboys a full set in prime real estate and the perfect chance to win the game and end the season.
As it turned out, that’s exactly what happened. Thurston, as cool as ice, slotted a field goal from 20 metres out in the first set of golden point.
It would put a bow on what many consider the greatest grand final of all time and leant credence to the belief that live sport is the best reality show there is.
Hunt was inconsolable after the game, a mistake that weighed heavily on him for many years. For now there’s a very specific time the moment comes flooding back to him.
“The only time I think about it is when I play the Cowboys,” he told AAP in 2019.
“That’s the time it comes creeping into my mind.
Tate, who has resided in Townsville since his playing days with the Cowboys, relived the buzz around the town after the win.
“I do remember how the whole of North Queensland was after that Grand Final and it was one of the biggest things I’ve ever seen up here,” Tate said.
“I’ve lived in Townsville for 13 years and nothing has ever come close to how big that was and what it meant to people.
“Actually seeing people cry when they took the trophy on a tour, yeah it’s pretty crazy what it meant to some people.”
Tate won a premiership with the Broncos in 2008 and played his most recent footy with the Cowboys, retiring one season before the club’s 2015 triumph.
He admitted to foxsports.com.au he was firmly in the corner of the Cowboys that night.
”I was going for the Cowboys because I played with a lot of those boys,” Tate said.
“I played at three really good clubs and I’ve said to a lot of people when you win a comp at a club, you leave a piece of your DNA there so you are always connected to it no matter what, so that’s what I feel about Brisbane.
“But living up here, I’m on the footy committee at the Cows, I certainly have a real connection to the club as well so it’s a funny one.”
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STATE OF PLAY
It’s hard to pinpoint another regular season match-up between these two sides that has held more weight than Saturday’s clash does.
The implications on potential finishing positions is huge, with the Broncos challenging for a minor premiership and the Cowboys in a fight for a top eight position.
With ladder-leading Penrith playing on Friday night against the Storm, there’s every chance the Broncos enter the Cowboys clash knowing they can go into solo first with a win.
The home team meanwhile will move closer to snaring a finals berth with victory on Saturday.
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Matty Johns labelled it “the game of the season” while Gorden Tallis says the Broncos are in for a stiff challenge despite their hot form.
“You got two attacking sides, hopefully dry conditions. They will be moving the ball around,” Johns said.
“It’s a big game for the Cowboys after a shock loss to the Titans. Their season is on a knife’s edge.
“Brisbane have been doing it quite easy but this is another big challenge, going up there to North Queensland.”
WHO WINS?
Despite the huge loss of Holmes and Jeremiah Nanai’s shoulder injury keeping him out for a few more weeks, bookmakers expect it to be a tight tussle as they’ve instilled the Broncos the $1.58 favourite with the Cowboys marked at $2.35.
The battle of the fullbacks is the highlight. Brisbane’s Reece Walsh and North Queensland’s Scott Drinkwater are having outstanding seasons.
Drinkwater’s 24 try assists lead the league with Walsh three back on 21. They are well clear on the rest of the competition’s fullbacks in that statistic.
Tallis says Walsh and Broncos half Adam Reynolds are the “keys” of the game
“They have the x-factor. Kotoni Staggs is back to his best, Cobbo, but Reece Walsh and Adam Reynolds are your keys,” Tallis said.
Tate said he couldn’t dive in to either side from a tipping perspective but gave a slight advantage to the Broncos.
“They are always a flip of the coin, but if you look on paper you probably say Brisbane because of the form they’ve been in and they are healthy,” Tate said.
“The Cows have a couple out now with Jeremiah injured and Val copping a suspension.
“I think the Broncos probably have the edge but I think with how desperate the Cowboys are and their position now after their loss last weekend, these games are all nearly must win.
“Honestly at the end of the day, I’m probably sitting on the fence a little bit.”
NRL legend Nathan Hindmarsh was far more emphatic with his selection, believing the Broncos will “do it easy”.
“I think they (Broncos) are on par with Penrith at the moment,” Hindmarsh said.
“They trust each other’s ability on the field, they are confident in their game plan and I think they are oozing confidence at the moment.”
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