Matt PRIOR [
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Sat May 5, 2012
Source: www.cowboys.com.auNorth Queensland produced some outstanding attack and defence in front of their home crowd to snuff out St George Illawarra 30-6 at Dairy Farmers Stadium to consolidate their NRL top-eight position.
The fifth victory of 2012 continued the Cowboys' fine record at home against the Dragons and was just the boost they needed with the representative season drawing near.
Co-captain Johnathan Thurston was outstanding for the Cowboys, helping to set up a 22-point lead by half time in a complete reversal of his team's first half against South Sydney last weekend.
However in the second half, the five-eighth was involved in the most controversial incident in the match which appeared to slow down the Cowboys' momentum.
Dragons back-rower Matt Prior was sent from the field for a 55th minute high shot that flattened the star playmaker and forced him off the field for precautionary reasons.
After a trip to the medical room, Thurston returned to the Cowboys bench and did not appear to be suffering any significant problems from the illegal hit.
Prop Matthew Scott was taken from the field on 60 minutes in his first game back from a month-long injury layoff, but also does not seem to be facing another stint on the sidelines.
Thurston had a hand in three of the Cowboys' four first-half tries, starting the scoring spree in the second minute when he sent centre Brent Tate on a break downfield before the Origin hopeful found an unmarked Ray Thompson on his inside.
The Thurston-Matthew Bowen combination then came to the fore in a try for the fullback and then in a four-pointer for left centre Kane Linnett, who was back in the Cowboys line-up after overcoming a hamstring injury.
Tate grabbed a try of his own with a put-down in the corner that was given the nod by video referee Russell Smith, before Thurston turned into a try-saver with some valiant tryline defence on Dragons forward Jeremy Latimore.
Fullback Morris finally put the Dragons on the board in the 50th minute, getting on to a clever inside kick from Jason Nightingale after the winger made a line break down the side.
It was the first try the Cowboys had conceded in 110 minutes of football, a statistic that will please defence coach Peter Ryan.
Despite playing down a man for the final 25 minutes, the Dragons held their own, but Cowboys second-rower Tariq Sims put the match beyond doubt in the 71st minute when he pounced on a Thompson kick.
It's the seventh time in nine games that North Queensland has beaten the Dragons at Dairy Farmers.
The Cowboys will have some disciplinary concerns of their own, with James Segeyaro placed on the report for a 60th minute high hit on Dragons half Ben Hornby.
Cowboys coach Neil Henry said Thurston seemed fine in the dressing sheds and thought the send-off was justified, but it would be up to the match review committee to work out a penalty.
"I've seen it once and it was high and sometimes they're on report and to say whether it warrants a send-off, I'd probably say yes in that situation and I'd expect it'd happen to one of my players if that happened," Henry said.
Dragons mentor Steve Price said Prior was disappointed with himself and felt he'd let his teammates down, but said an action like that wasn't in the second-rower's nature.
"It was a very unfortunate incident and he's very apologetic in the dressing shed," Price said.
"He's a bit disappointed and feels like he's let his team down."
North Queensland Cowboys 30 (M Bowen, K Linnett, T Sims, B Tate, R Thompson tries, J Thurston 3, M Bowen 2 goals) d St George Illawarra Dragons 6 (B Morris try, J Soward goal). Crowd: 15,006.
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by Matthew O'Neill
Matt Cooper hasn't been named in the Dragons side as they prepare to take on the Bulldogs at Win Stadium.
Nick Emmett has been named in the centres after last week coming off the bench with prop forward Matt Prior starting in the centres with Cooper unavailable. Prior has been moved back to the front-row position, but it wouldn't be a surprise if Bennett opts for Prior again in the centres to partner Beau Scott on the other side of the field in a plan to blunt the attacking prowess of Bulldogs centres Josh Morris and Jamal Idris.
Experienced campaigner Luke Priddis comes into the dummy half position replacing the luckless Nathan Fien, who will miss the remainder of the NRL season through injury.
The Dragons defeated Parramatta 18-12 in a hard fought and physical encounter away from home whilst the Bulldogs were worse than disappointing in losing 20-16 against a depleted Newcastle outfit on home soil.
1 Darius Boyd
2 Brett Morris
3 Beau Scott
4 Nick Emmett
5 Jason Nightingale
6 Jamie Soward
7 Ben Hornby [c]
8 Matt Prior
9 Luke Priddis
10 Michael Weyman
11 Jeremy Smith
12 Ben Creagh
13 Dean Young
Subs:
14 Jon Green
15 Trent Merrin
16 Dan Hunt
17 Jarrod Saffy
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 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership
St George Illawarra Dragons
7 games; 2 tries, 8 points.
[View] Round 1 [01 Mar 12] W 15-14 v Newcastle (A). [SR]
[View] Round 2 [10 Mar 12] L 4-30 v Canterbury (A). [SR]
[View] Round 3 [16 Mar 12] W 36-12 v Wests Tigers (H). [SR]
[View] Round 5 [30 Mar 12] L 20-28 v Brisbane (A). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 7 [13 Apr 12] W 12-4 v Newcastle (H). [CT]
[View] Round 8 [25 Apr 12] W 28-24 v Roosters (H). [CT] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 9 [04 May 12] L 6-30 v North Qld (A). [SR]
======================================================================================================
2011 World Club Challenge
St George Illawarra Dragons
1 games; [View] WCC [27 Feb 11] W 21-15 v Wigan (A). [LK]
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2011 NRL Telstra Premiership
St George Illawarra Dragons
26 games; 2 tries, 8 points.
[View] Round 1 [12 Mar 11] W 25-16 v Titans (A). [LK]
[View] Round 2 [21 Mar 11] L 10-16 v Cronulla (A). [LK]
[View] Round 3 [27 Mar 11] W 25-12 v Warriors (A). [LK]
[View] Round 4 [03 Apr 11] W 20-18 v Knights (A). [LK]
[View] Round 5 [10 Apr 11] W 25-6 v Canterbury (H). [LK]
[View] Round 6 [18 Apr 11] W 16-0 v Rabbitohs (A). [LK]
[View] Round 7 [25 Apr 11] W 24-10 v Roosters (A). [LK]
[View] Round 8 [01 May 11] W 30-0 v Eels (H). [LK]
[View] Round 9 [08 May 11] W 22-8 v Cowboys (H). [LK]
[View] Round 10 [13 May 11] W 15-10 v Canterbury (A). [LK] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 12 [29 May 11] W 24-18 v Wests Tigers (H). [LK]
[View] Round 13 [03 Jun 11] D 14-14 v Eels (A). [CT]
[View] Round 14 [10 Jun 11] L 14-28 v Titans (H). [CT]
[View] Round 15 [17 Jun 11] L 14-21 v Broncos (A). [LK] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 16 [27 Jun 11] W 24-6 v Sea Eagles (H). [LK]
[View] Round 17 [03 Jul 11] L 10-14 v Knights (H). [LK]
[View] Round 19 [18 Jul 11] W 38-8 v Cronulla (H). [LK]
[View] Round 20 [25 Jul 11] L 19-24 v Canberra (A). [LK]
[View] Round 21 [31 Jul 11] L 24-34 v Rabbitohs (H). [BE]
[View] Round 22 [05 Aug 11] L 14-16 v Wests Tigers (A). [LK]
[View] Round 23 [14 Aug 11] L 12-20 v Roosters (H). [LK]
[View] Round 24 [19 Aug 11] L 6-8 v Storm (A). [SR]
[View] Round 25 [28 Aug 11] W 26-22 v Warriors (H). [BE]
[View] Round 26 [02 Sep 11] W 32-12 v Panthers (H). [BE]
[View] Finals Week 1 [09 Sep 11] L 12-21 v Wests Tigers. [BE]
[View] Finals Week 2 [17 Sep 11] L 12-13 v Brisbane. [BE]
======================================================================================================
2011 City vs Country
Country Origin
1 games; [View] Place of Origin [06 May 11] W 18-12 v City Origin (H). [BE]
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2010 NRL Telstra Premiership
St George Illawarra Dragons
22 games; [View] Round 1 [12 Mar 10] W 18-12 v Eels (A). [CT]
[View] Round 2 [19 Mar 10] W 26-6 v Bulldogs (H). [CT]
[View] Round 3 [26 Mar 10] W 33-8 v Cowboys (H). [BE]
[View] Round 4 [02 Apr 10] L 4-17 v Storm (A). [BE]
[View] Round 5 [09 Apr 10] W 34-16 v Broncos (H). [BE]
[View] Round 9 [08 May 10] L 6-24 v Sea Eagles (A). [CT]
[View] Round 10 [14 May 10] W 19-6 v Bulldogs (A). [CT]
[View] Round 11 [23 May 10] L 14-22 v Raiders (H). [CT]
[View] Round 12 [28 May 10] W 30-0 v Eels (H). [PR]
[View] Round 13 [06 Jun 10] W 22-20 v Warriors (A). [PR]
[View] Round 15 [20 Jun 10] W 22-4 v Sharks (A). [PR]
[View] Round 16 [25 Jun 10] W 34-10 v Tigers (H). [LK]
[View] Round 17 [05 Jul 10] L 8-12 v Panthers (H). [CT]
[View] Round 19 [16 Jul 10] W 16-13 v Rabbitohs (A). [BE]
[View] Round 20 [23 Jul 10] L 10-11 v Titans (H). [PR]
[View] Round 21 [01 Aug 10] L 6-10 v Broncos (A). [BE]
[View] Round 24 [22 Aug 10] L 16-32 v Raiders (A). [BE]
[View] Round 25 [28 Aug 10] W 26-18 v Knights (A). [SR]
[View] Round 26 [05 Sep 10] W 38-24 v Rabbitohs (H). [LK]
[View] Finals Week 1 [12 Sep 10] W 28-0 v Sea Eagles. [BE]
[View] Finals Week 3 [25 Sep 10] W 13-12 v Wests Tigers. [BE]
[View] Grand Final [03 Oct 10] W 32-8 v Roosters. [BE]
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2009 NRL Telstra Premiership
St George Illawarra Dragons
20 games; 2 tries, 8 points.
[View] Round 1 [13 Mar 09] L 16-17 v Storm (A). [BE]
[View] Round 2 [21 Mar 09] W 16-10 v Titans (H). [SR]
[View] Round 3 [29 Mar 09] W 10-6 v Sharks (H). [SR]
[View] Round 4 [03 Apr 09] W 25-12 v Broncos (A). [SR]
[View] Round 5 [10 Apr 09] W 22-8 v Eels (A). [SR]
[View] Round 6 [18 Apr 09] L 18-24 v Knights (H). [SR]
[View] Round 7 [25 Apr 09] W 29-0 v Roosters (A). [SR]
[View] Round 8 [03 May 09] W 12-11 v Warriors (H). [SR]
[View] Round 9 [09 May 09] L 20-24 v Cowboys (A). [SR]
[View] Round 10 [15 May 09] W 20-18 v Bulldogs (H). [SR]
[View] Round 11 [23 May 09] W 26-4 v Sharks (A). [SR]
[View] Round 16 [26 Jun 09] W 21-10 v Tigers (A). [SR]
[View] Round 17 [03 Jul 09] W 34-12 v Roosters (H). [CT] 8 Pts; 2t
[View] Round 21 [31 Jul 09] W 26-12 v Storm (H). [LK]
[View] Round 22 [07 Aug 09] W 25-6 v Panthers (A). [SR]
[View] Round 24 [21 Aug 09] L 2-12 v Broncos (H). [SR]
[View] Round 25 [29 Aug 09] L 6-41 v Rabbitohs (A). [SR]
[View] Round 26 [04 Sep 09] W 37-0 v Eels (H). [SR]
[View] Finals Week 1 [13 Sep 09] L 12-25 v Eels. [SR]
[View] Finals Week 2 [19 Sep 09] L 10-24 v Broncos. [SR]
======================================================================================================
2008 NRL Telstra Premiership
St George Illawarra Dragons
11 games; [View] Round 5 [12 Apr 08] L 16-20 v Cowboys (H). [BE]
[View] Round 17 [05 Jul 08] W 24-16 v Knights (A). [BE]
[View] Round 18 [13 Jul 08] L 12-19 v Raiders (H). [BE]
[View] Round 20 [28 Jul 08] W 30-0 v Bulldogs (H). [BE]
[View] Round 21 [02 Aug 08] L 12-13 v Sharks (A). [BE]
[View] Round 22 [08 Aug 08] L 10-18 v Tigers (H). [BE]
[View] Round 23 [15 Aug 08] W 24-20 v Broncos (A). [BE]
[View] Round 24 [24 Aug 08] W 34-6 v Warriors (H). [BE]
[View] Round 25 [30 Aug 08] W 40-14 v Eels (H). [BE]
[View] Round 26 [05 Sep 08] L 0-10 v Roosters (A). [BE]
[View] Finals Week 1 [13 Sep 08] L 6-38 v Sea Eagles (A). [BE]
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Prior, Matt
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