5m agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 7:36am45′ Cotter sent to the sin bin
Dearden pulls through a gap, he’s pulled down by Gutherson, two plays later he goes for a cross kick and Holmes takes it in-goal.
He’s tackled by Cotter as he looks to get back to the 20 and Cotter will go to the bin. The Cowboys, bafflingly, challenge it and are unsuccessful.
9m agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 7:33am
41′ Stewart nearly pinches one
Oh man, that was a close one! Atkinson puts up a bomb, Stewart hares after it and jumps over Drinkwater and gets to the ball but he juuuust can’t drag it in and loses it over the dead-ball line. Unlucky, a great effort from the young forward.
10m agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 7:32am
Second half is underway
Cowboys kick it off and the Dragons have it all to do.
26m agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 7:16amHalftime: Cowboys 16 lead Dragons 0
Fale gets penalised for raising his foot as the caught the ball – it got Taulagi in the neck, don’t see that called often but he’s on report.
And the Cowboys make the most of it – Clifford puts a kick into space, Purdue is there first and he juggles it to score a try right on halftime.
Gutherson got caught out badly there and North Queensland made the most of it.
Once Clifford converts it’s 16-0 Cowboys and the boos rain down as the teams leave the field.
33m agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 7:09am
35′ Cowboys nearly get another
The Cowboys roll down the field easily, Chester nearly pulls through from close range and Drinkwater forces a drop out with a neat kick.
But Clifford can’t catch an awful dummy half pass from Mahoney and the Dragons survive.
37m agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 7:05am31′ Purdue dazzles as Cows go 70
Purdue hits Clifford short, he offloads back to Purdue who’s in the clear, he has support but he rounds Gutherson easily and burns the cover to score a sensational try!
Great footy from the young centre. Clifford nails the kick and it’s 10-0 Cowboys.
40m agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 7:02am
Injury: Sam McIntyre
The underrated Cowboys backrower has an ankle injury and he’s done for the day. O’Donnell is on at left second row.
41m agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 7:01am
28′ Saints’ attacking struggles continue
Couchman makes a fantastic run around halfway, surging 20 metres through the ruck and earns a penalty for a cannonball from Cotter.
Dragons on the attack, can they make the most of it? A penalty right in front, 20 out, gives them a fresh set. Atkinson goes for a kick but there’s a deflection into Clifford, who gets pinged for an accidental offside, and Saints will get another set.
There’s a good shift left with Leilua hitting Suli short and nearly putting him over, the ball moves back inside…only for Atkinson to kick rashly and Drinkwater cleans it up easily.
51m agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 6:51am
20′ Dragons can’t take chance
Atkinson breaks straight through and he has Gutherson in support, they drag him down but back-to-back set restarts gives Saints a golden opportunity.
They force a drop out through King-Togia but a few tackles later Leilua loses the ball and releases the pressure. Then Su’A gives away a penalty to compound the error.
57m agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 6:45am13′ Drinkwater double to open scoring
Drinkwater nails a sensational 40/20, he bananas the kick off the outside of the boot, and the Cowboys are on the attack.
The he doubles up – the Cowboys sweep right, they catch the Dragons short and Drinkwater gets on the outside of Suli easily to cruise over the line. Very easy in the end.
Great start for the fullback, he’s the key man for the Cowboys. Clifford’s kick is wide but it’s 4-0 North Queensland.
1h agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 6:38am
7′ Dragons hold fast
A set restart on the fourth will give the Cowboys the first attacking chance of the day.
But Gutherson manages a strip on Taumalolo to force a turnover, Saints work it out.
1h agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 6:34am
4′ Dearden knifes through
Dearden busts straight through! He has Mahoney in support and he gets corralled by the cover, next tackle is the last and Luki gets taken.
Nice recovery but a good start for the Queensland halfback.
1h agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 6:32am
And away we go!
Saints kick us off, running left to right.
1h agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 6:30am
Tips
I like the Cowboys for this one – Saints are on a short turn-around and I don’t think they’ll have enough points to run down the North Queenslanders.
Let’s go Cowboys by 16 with Tom Dearden to score the first try.
1h agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 6:14am
About last night
Just a reminder in case you missed it on the action from yesterday.
Thought South Sydney showed some really good signs against Canterbury, who again struggled to get their best combinations together.
What Penrith did to Melbourne….that should be against the law.
1h agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 6:07am
Final teams: Dragons vs Cowboys
Just the one change for the home side with Blake Lawrie starting and Toby Couchman dropping back to the bench.
Cowboys are as named on Tuesday.
1h agoSat 4 Apr 2026 at 6:06am
Hey everyone and welcome to the ABC’s NRL Easter Saturday blog
Hello all, it’s time to do it all again.
We have two NRL matches for your blogging pleasure this evening. First up, it’s Dragons vs Cowboys at Kogarah, with Saints out to get their first win of the season, before Gold Coast take on Brisbane at Skilled Park.
Should be two good ones — Saints will be desperate to shed their tag as the only winless team in the NRL, while the Broncos and Titans always throw up something interesting.
My name is Nick, and I’ll steer you through every step of tonight’s games with all the news and updates that are fit to blog.
Let’s have some fun out there.
Loading