The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs’ NRLW side have staved off a spirited comeback from the North Queensland Cowboys to secure their third win of the season with a thrilling 28-26 victory.
It was a tense start with both teams putting on a show defensively – particularly the Bulldogs’ powerhouse centre Monica Tagoai, who came up with some brilliant one-on-one tackles.
Despite the Cowboys scoring first points, it was all Blue and White in the first half with the Bulldogs going into the break with a healthy 20-6 lead.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Home side with Daynah Nankivell sin-binned eight minutes in for a dangerous tackle.
The Cowboys soon copped a blow too when Captain Emma Manzelmann went down with what looked to be a leg injury.
The hooker was forced from the field but despite that disruption the visitors were able to get on the board first, making the most of their one-player advantage. It started with veteran forward Talisha Harden busting through before getting an offload away to fullback Francesca Goldthorpe, who ran 50 metres to score under the posts. Rosie Kelly added the extras to take the Cowboys out to a 6-0 lead.
But the Bulldogs responded with a statement four consecutive tries to snatch a 14-point lead and well and truly swing the momentum in their favour.
The first try came after hooker Evelyn Roberts spotted an opportunity down the right side and spread the ball before Nankivell came up with a draw and pass to set up Simina Lokotui. Co-Captain Tayla Preston slotted the sideline conversion to lock up scores 6-all.
They backed that up three minutes later with Roberts again having a hand in the try, throwing the pass to set up a crash play by impact bench forward Hope Millard.
Two more tries followed soon after with Preston throwing a cutout pass to send Andie Robinson over before a Millard linebreak laid the platform for Elizabeth MacGregor score.
The Bulldogs picked up from where they left off in the second half with Nankivell and Lokotui combining nicely again on the right edge to extend their lead, but the Cowboys responded three minutes later with back-to-back tries. Margot Vella came up with an impressive one-hand putdown in the corner for the first before prop Ashley Marsters scored the second.
A brutal hit from Leilani Wilson helped swing the momentum back in the Bulldogs’ favour and Brayden Wiliame’s side were once again humming. A barnstorming run and quick play the ball from Co-Captain Angelinga Teakaraanga-Katoa laid the platform for MacGregor to score her second of the afternoon and take the Dogs’ lead to 28-14.
The Cowboys weren’t done though and they sliced through the middle via Goldthorpe, who found Tiana Raftstrand-Smith in support. Raftstrand-Smith bagged her second of the afternoon just two minutes later after an offload near the line handed her the opportunity to dive over.
It was a frantic final 10 minutes but the Bulldogs held on to secure a hard-fought win. The team will now reset and get read to take on the Parramatta Eels on Saturday, 15th August at CommBank Stadium.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 28 (Lokotui 2, MacGregor 2, Millard, Robinson tries; Preston 2/6 goals) def North Queensland Cowboys 26 (Raftstrand-Smith 2, Goldthorp, Vella, Marsters tries; Kelly 3/5 goals)
