North Queensland\u2019s finals hopes hit a snag with a surprise 32-30 loss to the Eels<\/a>, who kicked ahead in the dying stages of the game through the boot of Moses.<\/p>\n WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n That came after centre Tom Chester was ruled to have collected a falling Moses high after he knocked the ball on as the Eels halfback scrambled on the last tackle in the facing of a rushing North Queensland defensive line.<\/p>\n It was one of the few times on Saturday night that the Cowboys showed desperation in defence, with Payten making it clear the controversial call was \u201cnot the reason\u201d his team lost.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our own fault,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I would hate for a big game to be decided by that call. <\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that (Moses) had actually dropped the ball and that play was essentially dead or over, and for the Bunker to intervene like that, it\u2019s hard to cop.<\/p>\n \u201cMitch is on the ground, but we had several chances to ice the game. You get what you deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n Were Our Own Worst Enemy Cowboys | 06:03<\/p>\n It was a similar message from Cowboys captain Reuben Cotter, who said he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d by the call and felt like \u201ccommon sense\u201d had to \u201cprevail\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIn saying that it\u2019s not the reason we lost the game, but (Chester) was making a play for the ball and Moses knocked the ball on before that. It\u2019s not the reason we lost the game,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Moses, meanwhile, said while he could understand Payten\u2019s frustration he was just \u201cplaying (by) the rules\u201d.<\/p>\n HUGE Moses call seals monumental upset | 04:30<\/p>\n \u201cIf you get hit in the head, you get hit in the head. I can\u2019t really say anything else here,\u201d he told reporters. <\/p>\n \u201cObviously I\u2019m very low, I understand (that), but I got hit in the head. I am just playing (by) the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t make the rules, we just play by (them),\u201d added Eels coach Jason Ryles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cowboys coach Todd Payten said he would \u201chate for a big game to be decided\u201d by a similar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,85,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-856229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856229","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=856229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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