Taumalolo stars as Cowboys begin post-Thurston era

Jason Taumalolo was magnificent for North Queensland Cowboys today, running for an astonishing 301 metres from his 64 minutes on the field as the Cowboys defeated St George Illawarra Dragons 24-12 at 1300Smiles Stadium.

After Johnathan Thurston’s retirement at the end of last season, Taumalolo and captain Michael Morgan both had to step up to the plate, and they did so magnificently, with Morgan’s kicking game complementing Taumalolo’s running game to deliver victory to the Cowboys.

The Dragons opened the scoring in the first half through Euan Aitken, with Gareth Widdop converting, but by half-time the Cowboys were ahead with unconverted tries by Javid Bowen and Nene McDonald.

In the second half Morgan, Te Maire Martin and Justin O’Neill scored tries for the Cowboys before a late consolation try to Jordan Pereira reduced the margin to 12 points.

Cowboys: T – Bowen, McDonald, Morgan, Martin, O’Neill; G – Kahu 2

Dragons: T – Aitken, Pereira; G – Widdop 2

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