The North Queensland Toyota Cowboys travel to Sydney to take on the Penrith Panthers in the final round of the regular season.
1. DESTINY IN OWN HANDS
Heading into the competition’s final round, the Cowboys need a victory to have a chance to play finals football. Sitting ninth, North Queensland must beat Penrith on Saturday evening and hope either South Sydney or Canberra lose to qualify for the top eight.
2. KEEP ROLLING
The Cowboys have won their previous two outings against the two-time reigning premiers, including a State of Origin-affected Golden Point thriller in Round 16. Scott Drinkwater was the star of the show that evening, scoring an 88th minute try to hand the Cowboys a 27-23 victory. Penrith hold a 24-21 lead in the overall head-to-head match-up.
3. STICKING FIRM
Cowboys Head Coach Todd Payten has named an unchanged 22-man squad to face the Panthers. Zac Laybutt remains in the centres after a stunning two-try performance in the victory over the Dolphins last weekend. Star second rower Jeremiah Nanai and winger Semi Valemei remain sidelined with injury.
4. CHASING HISTORY
Cowboys premiership-winning winger Kyle Feldt is closing in on Matt Bowen’s long-standing club try-scoring record. Feldt currently sits on 128 tries, two short of Bowen’s 130. The 31-year-old has crossed for 13 tries in 2023, his eighth consecutive double digit try-scoring season.
5. STATS UPDATE
Scott Drinkwater trails competition leader Shaun Johnson by two try assists heading into the final round of the regular season. Drinkwater sits on 25 try assists, but leads the NRL with 31 line-break assists. Chad Townsend tops the NRL with five field goals on the season and sits second for both kick metres (10,472), total kicks (340) and attacking kicks (188).
