North Queensland Toyota Cowboys NYC coach Todd Payten has enjoyed his first under-20s win with an emphatic 53-14 victory over the Sydney Roosters at 1300SMILES Stadium on Saturday night.
Cooper Bambling and Yamba Bowie started the game off by tearing the Roosters apart up the middle – the fullback's break handed the Cowboys field position and hooker Brandon Smith dived over untouched.
Cohen Hess added the extras to put them up 10-nil at the 18-minute mark.
That advantage was reduced when the Roosters found the home side soft on the right with Joseph Manu wrestling his way over the line to make it 10-6.
Bowie continued to cause plenty of pain for the Roosters defence as he ran in his first 7 minutes out from half time to lead 14-10 at the break, but the Roosters levelled it at 14 a piece early into the second half.
Two tries within 15 minutes put the Cowboys up by 10.
The Cowboys' forward pack continued rampaging through the visitors – Viliame Kikau was destructive scoring three tries.
Not to be outdone, Braden Uele, up against his former side, put the result beyond doubt when he crossed late in the match to hand Payten a rousing round one victory.
Smith would add his name again on the score sheet, his presence around the ruck enough to earn him player of the match honours.
Cowboys 53 (tries V Kikau 3, B Smith 2, B Uele 2, B Cullen, Y Bowie, G Mosby; conversions C Hess 1/2, C Bambling 5/8)
Roosters 14 (tries J Manu, I Crichton; conversions J Hastings 1/2)
