Des Hasler demanded his Dogs rest, the Cowboys watched and winced as the man who is North Queensland signed himself out and then straight back into the casualty ward after rep weekend. The nutty professor wins again, right?
Well, not really. Cotton wool Canterbury – apparently – didn't want to let themselves out of the little cocoon they had taken comfort in for the past 12 days.
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Morgan hot as Cowboys down Bulldogs
A dominant first-half and a standout display from Michael Morgan was enough for the Cowboys to see off a late charge from the Bulldogs.
Forget the majority of the Bulldogs missing Mudgee, shouldn't the search party have been sent to ANZ Stadium to find 17 missing men in blue and white four days later?
To lay blame at the feet of Hasler for taking a stand over City-Country is simplistically wrong.
He was acting in the best interests of his club, his players and those who pay the bills with just four days between the now defunct bush bash and a game in which the winner enjoyed another week in the top eight and the loser didn't.
But you can't help but think the Bulldogs just expected it to happen. And it didn't, some of their fans spilled for the exits early in the second half, missing a mini revival as the Cowboys blasted their way to a 30-14 win which perhaps flattered Canterbury. Michael Morgan, who touched down once and laid on the Cowboys' four others by foot, not only stood up in Johnathan Thurston's absence, but played like him.
And he might wear his No.6 maroon jumper should Thurston's scrappy shoulder not show up in time for the State of Origin opener.
But the real question is where were Canterbury, who had to fall behind by 24 points before showing a spark? Any spark. Outmuscled, outenthused, outsmarted and just outplayed. Until it was all too late with a brief – albeit futile – flurry.
All the while Thurston had his feet up like the Bulldogs did last week.
His replacement Ray Thompson spent two separate stints on the sideline – one for a sin bin – and Morgan hobbled on one leg with a bung ankle for periods as the spare parts Cowboys did what no-one thought they could.
So it's a question which perhaps sounds fanciful, but on interrogation may not be: does Thurston mean more to the Cowboys than a hamstrung Josh Reynolds does to the Bulldogs? Probably, but not by as much as you may think.
Bench forward Coen Hess, who had scored double the amount of tries as the Cowboys' back five combined this season heading into the match, bagged another double as Morgan's right boot set up the tries he didn't score himself.
Even when he tried to ground a ricochet off Brett Morris following his own kick, Morgan had an air swing and it still worked out fine for the waiting Hess.
The Bulldogs added a shred of respectability to the scoreboard through a late Kerrod Holland double and Danny Fualalo belter, but the damage had been done. Mostly by Morgan. He wasn't supposed to be part of the debate to be Cooper Cronk's sidekick if Thurston doesn't come up in time for Origin I, his gold-plated utility seat on the bench almost cast in stone. Wonder what Kevin Walters thinks now.
As opposites Moses Mbye and Matt Frawley stumbled and bumbled on rare forays into the Cowboys' quarter, Morgan was doing it so easy he almost hobbled through a meek blue and white rearguard for one try and had the ball on a string for the others.
Fooling an Australian and Origin veteran in Brett Morris is no mean feat, but Morgan's ballooned kick had the Bulldogs winger spinning like a seven-year-old kid who intentionally tries to make themselves dizzy in the school playground because it's the newest thing. Only it wasn't. And Kyle Feldt's waiting arms had the Cowboys ahead inside six minutes.
Morgan, limping on one leg for a large part of the first 40 minutes, didn't even need to spin through some feeble defence to do it all himself for the second try. And when he found a rampaging Hess, unbelievably who had scored double the amount of tries of North Queensland's back five combined this season going into the game, the game was pretty much done and dusted right there and then.Â
Any sign of those Bulldogs yet?
North Queensland Cowboys 30 (Coen Hess 2, Kyle Feldt, Michael Morgan, Ben Spina tries; Ethan Lowe 4, Feldt goals) defeated Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 14 (Kerrod Holland 2, Danny Fualalo tries; Holland goal) at ANZ Stadium. Referees: Matt Cecchin, Adam Gee. Crowd: 8122.
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