North Queensland Toyota Cowboys NYC v St George Illawarra Dragons NYC
4.15pm, Saturday 2 April, 1300SMILES Stadium
Referee: Tyson Brough
Touch judges: Wyatt Raymond, Jack Ebert
TEAMS
Cowboys: 1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Jesse Pomare-Anderson 3. Nathan Traill 4. Enari Tuala 5. Marcus Jensen 6. Ty Carucci 7. Cooper Bambling 8. Darryn Schonig 9. Brandon Smith 10. Nick Brown 11. Coen Hess (c) 12. Cody Grills 13. Jordan Kenworthy. Interchange: 14. Calum Gahan 15. Mitchell Dunn 16. Ross Bella 17. Jack Lote.
Dragons: 1. Matt Dufty 2. Reuben Garrick 3. Patrick Herbert 4. Paora Kemp 5. Logan Yates 6. Jai Field 7. Jack Payne 8. TJ Uele 9. Reece Robson 10. Matt Jurd 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Topiese Taufa 13. Nathan Leatigaga 14. Joe Lovodua 15. Jacob Esau 16. Max Bailey 17. Kye Madden 18. Donte Efaraimo.
KEY FACTS
The young Cowboys are shooting for four straight wins this weekend after dropping their opener against the Sharks.
Solid wins against the Eels and Roosters followed before a late scare against the Broncos last weekend ended with a 23-22 win thanks to a late Cooper Bambling field goal.
But two late tries conceded – which brought the Broncos back into the match – would have concerned coach Aaron Payne.
Flying winger Gideon Gela-Mosby's interrupted start to the 2016 season has continued with the boom youngster suffering a serious groin injury last weekend and expected to miss several weeks of rugby league.
The Dragons sit on 12th on the NYC ladder with one win from four matches and lost 28-12 last weekend to defending premiers Penrith.
The Cowboys will be looking to improve their defence this weekend after missing 44 tackles against the Broncos last weekend and 43 against the Roosters the week before.
In-form lock forward Jordan Kenworthy has amassed 593 running metres in four games this season, the third-best in the NYC.
He is also coming second in offloads with 11, two behind the Warriors’ Ofahiki Ogden.
Cowboys coach Aaron Payne: “We’re playing some good footy but need to be consistent across an entire match.”
