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Forget State of Origin, the best rivalry in rugby league right now is between the Broncos and Cowboys. Jamie Wall looks back on the last 12 months of the Queensland Derby.
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The Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys have played each other five times since the start of the 2015 NRL Finals. Three of those matches have been decided by one point, and three went to extra time. One was the 2015 Grand Final, which went to extra time AND was decided by a single point. The battle for bragging rights in Australia’s Sunshine State is producing some of the best games of rugby league ever seen in the modern era. Here’s how the best rivalry in rugby league right now has played out since Week 1 of the Finals last year:
2015 Qualifying Final: Broncos 16-12 Cowboys
Glory goes to those who honour the past. With the Broncos wearing a their throwback heritage jerseys, a piece of Ben Hunt magic opened up the Cowboys for the first try in front of a packed Suncorp Stadium. Antonio Winterstein hit back for the visitors, but Anthony Milford scorched in to make sure the Cowboys were playing catch up for just long enough. It was the sweet white collars that made all the difference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sF3VBVoivc
2015 Grand Final: Cowboys 17-16 Broncos (Golden Point)
The game where Johnathan Thurston went from hero to zero to hero in the space of five minutes. Poor Ben Hunt just went straight to zero. Before the dramatic finish and golden point hysteria, the match started with a length of the field try to Corey Oates on the very first play. The Cowboys managed to regain their composure to hit back through Justin O’Neill and James Tamou, before Jack Reed and Corey Parker’s boot seemed to have given the Broncos the Premiership. Then… well, watch what happened in the end of perhaps the greatest Grand Final ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVAQuRC5qlY
2016 Round 4: Broncos 21-20 Cowboys (Golden Point)
(Bitter)sweet revenge. It wouldn’t have made up for the Grand Final loss, but a golden point reversal in front of 50,000 home fans was as close as the Broncos were going to get. Milford again blasted through the Cowboys line to get on the scoreboard early, but it was Parker’s boot again that did the bulk of the scoring before James Roberts scored late. In reply, Jake Granville, Michael Morgan and Ethan Lowe crossed for the Cowboys. In a perfect world it would’ve been Hunt that kicked the game winning field goal, but it was Milford – proving that he’s more than just a clean pair of heels. Must be something about those heritage jerseys?
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2016 Round 11: Cowboys 19-18 Broncos
Got your breath back? The venue now shifted to Townsville, where Matt Scott got the home crowd out of their seats early after he crossed for a try. Grand Final hero Kyle Feldt duffed two kickoffs in a row, and the Broncos cashed in with two Matt Gillett tries. Jordan Kahu pushed the lead out to 10 before the Cowboys mounted their comeback, first through Lachlan Coote then O’Neill. Thurston didn’t want to work overtime that night, calmly slotting a field goal with five minutes to play to snatch the win.
2016 Qualifying Final: Cowboys 26-20 Broncos (Extra Time)
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The final chapter in a year of pulsating encounters even had an extra time postscript. After a range of uncharacteristically sloppy play from the Cowboys and characteristically excellent goal kicking from Parker, the Broncos should’ve sealed this one early. But O’Neill decided to get himself re-acquainted with the tryline, dotting down twice and giving the Cowboys the lead. Oates then struck back for the visitors, then Thurston levelled the scores for yet another extra time period. This time new rules meant it wasn’t a field goal that separated the teams, but it was still Thurston plunging in the dagger, setting up the match winner with a spectacular pass to Michael Morgan.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
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