{"id":474,"date":"2025-07-17T13:48:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T13:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/474\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T13:48:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T13:48:45","slug":"redcliffe-dolphins-defeat-north-queensland-cowboys-43-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/474\/","title":{"rendered":"Redcliffe Dolphins defeat North Queensland Cowboys 43-24"},"content":{"rendered":"

It also ensured North Queensland have conceded 101 points in their two hitouts with the Dolphins this year.<\/p>\n

Averillo answers the call<\/p>\n

Just as he did last year in the penultimate round, Jake Averillo has responded to an SOS into the No.6 jumper in emphatic fashion.<\/p>\n

Kodi Nikorima\u2019s hamstring injury exposed another gaping hole in the Dolphins line up, with Sean O\u2019Sullivan failing to fire in last week\u2019s defeat to Cronulla.<\/p>\n

But Averillo shifted in from the centres to provide some spark and a running threat alongside Katoa.<\/p>\n

\"Jake<\/p>\n

Jake Averillo of the Dolphins celebrates after scoring a try.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

His first moment was fortuitous, a poor pass from Zac Laybutt hitting winger Jaxon Paulo\u2019s boot for Averillo to scoop up and streak the length of the field to score.<\/p>\n

But then it was through the hands he found his mojo, playing definitive roles in both of Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow\u2019s tries; one with a deft pass on a blindside raid to unleash Herbie Farnworth, and a short ball to put Lemuelu away untouched.<\/p>\n

Averillo was quick to make an impact coming out of halftime, finding a late offload for Lemuelu who put Tabuai-Fidow into the clear again, with the territory leading to hooker Harrison Graham diving over to score.<\/p>\n

His support play then gifted him the final try, finishing the night with two tries and 197 metres.<\/p>\n

Molo\u2019s importance laid bare<\/p>\n

Francis Molo may be making a case as the most important recruitment move of the season, having only arrived at Redcliffe after the season had begun.<\/p>\n

At full strength, the Dolphins starting forward pack reads Daniel Saifiti, Thomas Flegler, Tom Gilbert, Max Plath and Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, with Felise Kaufusi factoring as well.<\/p>\n

Of that group, only Finefeuiaki (fractured thumb) and Kaufusi (knee) will return at some stage this season, leading the Dolphins to draw on development players Aublix Tawha and Peter Hola just to fill a side.<\/p>\n

But they fought valiantly and restricted the Cowboys to a simple Taualgi try in the corner for the opening half.<\/p>\n

Molo\u2019s 78 metres from seven carries in his opening stint generated some momentum, and he was replaced by an energetic Josh Kerr (99 metres) and Ray Stone (120 metres) to provide some go-forward for the under siege hosts.<\/p>\n

However, the Cowboys did at times make life daunting for the Dolphins to get out from their own end, and the closer they get to finals the steeper that mountain will be to climb.<\/p>\n

Molo\u2019s importance is now paramount.<\/p>\n

Where to now for Payten\u2019s Cowboys?<\/p>\n

Last week they came agonisingly close to securing an upset triumph of the high-flying Bulldogs, their finest defensive performance of the season undone by their own errors.<\/p>\n

\"Murray<\/p>\n

Murray Taulagi of the Cowboys celebrates after scoring a try.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

But any joy Cowboys coach Todd Payten could have taken from their improved resilience was quickly undone, leaving him to lament how his side can eradicate the glaring inconsistencies in their game.<\/p>\n

North Queensland would have been at a loss how they headed into the sheds down by 18 points when their rivals had registered just two tackles inside their 20-metre zone.<\/p>\n

While they are missing key enforcers Jason Taumalolo and Jordan McLean, their poor execution and inability to defend mistakes proved their downfall, committing three errors within 10 metres of the Dolphins\u2019 line.<\/p>\n

Payten stressed fatigue from last week\u2019s effort was no excuse, given his halfback Tom Dearden had played three matches in eight days beginning with his State of Origin heroics. Six defeats in their past seven encounters has their finals hopes hanging by a thread.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It also ensured North Queensland have conceded 101 points in their two hitouts with the Dolphins this year.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}