The Cowboys continued the upset theme of Round 13 after snatching a late 18-16 victory over the Roosters at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
It was all hands on deck with both sides missing several stars to Origin camps but it was Scott Drinkwater who stole the show, with a try, an assist and a late save on Dom Young to seal his side's third consecutive win.
After skipper James Tedesco was called into Blues camp on game day, the Roosters were forced into a backline reshuffle that struggled with cohesion in attack.
After both sides traded sets early, the Roosters took an opportunity to open the scoreboard when Chad Townsend was caught offside and Sam Walker slotted a penalty goal for a two-point lead.
Another Townsend penalty four minutes later gifted the home side an opportunity to extend the lead and Terrell May cashed over when he charged onto a Walker short ball from close range.
Terrell May Try
The Cowboys opened their account in the 33rd minute when Drinkwater put Braidon Burns over in the left hand corner with a long cutout pass but the star fullback couldn't land the conversion.
Right on the stroke of half time, Walker stamped his authority with some clever work out of dummy half, setting up Young in the corner for a 14-4 lead at the break.
The second half developed into an arm wrestle as the Cowboys looked to build pressure before losing young backrower Heilum Luki to the sin bin in the 50th minute.
But Drinkwater came up with a huge play four minutes later, backing himself from close range to reduce the deficit 16-10.
Luki sent to the bin
Several six-again calls on the line heaped more pressure on the home side but the Roosters' defence held firm and when Luke Keary was pinged for being offside Drinkwater knocked over a penalty goal to make it 16-12.
The Roosters came up with another error which opened the door for the Cowboys to take the lead after some slick hands to the left put Kulikefu Finefeuiaki over for a try but another missed conversion left the scoreboard level 16-16 with ten minutes to play.
However, the Roosters' fourth penalty of the second half handed the Cowboys an opportunity to steal the lead with Drinkwater slotting the match winning penalty shot after Junior Pauga was caught offside.
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Match Snapshot
- Roosters halfback Luke Keary was placed on report in the 31st minute for a high tackle on Braidon Burns.
- Sydney prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves left the field in the 20th minute with a tight hamstring and did not return.
- Waerea-Hargreaves was placed on report in the 14th minute for a high shot on Cowboys forward Thomas Mikaele.
- Roosters halfback Sam Walker was placed on report in the 53rd minute for a dangerous tackle.
- Veteran Jason Taumalolo was immense for North Queensland in his 55-minute stint off the bench with 170 metres - 68 of which were post contact - two offloads and 16 tackles.
Drinkwater brilliant in cover
- After shifting to fullback on game day Joey Manu got through plenty of work for the Roosters with 202 run metres and 10 tackle breaks.
- Cowboys Backrower Heilum Luki was put on report and sin binned in the 50th minute for a dangerous tackle.
- Roosters junior Blake Steep made his NRL debut off the bench after entering the fray in the 55th minute.
- 18-year-old Jaxon Purdue made his debut for the Cowboys after been called into the centres to replace Tom Chester (hamstring) on game day.
- The Roosters had 11 errors compared to the Cowboys eight.
Play of the Game
A man-down, the Cowboys dug deep and continued to mount pressure on the Roosters' line and fullback Scott Drinkwater took the line on at pace and crashed through Sam Walker and veteran centre Michael Jennings.
Scott Drinkwater Try
What They Said
"It's a hard one. When Madge called yesterday, you've got to go through all the changes that are going to happen to your team but the simplicity of it is that you're really happy for James. You have players and you want them to play in Origin and we all felt for him this week. Dylan deserved his spot but we all felt for James because he's been playing outstanding footy. So in the end, the overriding thing is he's desperate to play any rep footy he can, he loves pulling on the Blues and the Australian jersey and I can't wait to watch him on Wednesday." - Roosters coach Trent Robinson.
Roosters: Round 13
"I'm really proud of the effort, we played some good footy for large periods of time and turned the opposition away on numerous occasions in the second half and we had a sin-binning. All in all, it's a great effort from a team that's undermanned, we also had a couple of 18-year-old kids making their debutants and getting a taste of first grade in Sydney so I'm super happy." - Cowboys coach Todd Payten
Cowboys: Round 13
What's Next
The Roosters enjoy a week off before facing the Eels in Round 15 while the Cowboys return home to host the Warriors in Round 14.