North Queensland veteran Kyle Feldt has scored a brace in his side’s comfortable 34-16 win over the Raiders in Canberra.
Feldt crossed for two tries as the Cowboys ran out to a 22-0 lead at halftime on Friday night and from there the visitors never looked like being hauled in.
The home fans booed their side off at the break, fed up by a third embarrassing loss in a row at a frigid GIO Stadium.
The Raiders are still in the top eight for now, while North Queensland jumped to ninth with their eighth win of the season.
Canberra started brightly, testing the Cowboys’ tryline repeatedly in the opening minutes, but from then on were their own worst enemies.
The Cowboys dominated possession in the first half, partly because of their exemplary completions and partly because the Raiders were lousy with theirs.
Feldt drew first blood after Jordan Rapana, attempting to clean up a grubber kick, spilled the ball on his own line.
As ugly as his first four-pointer was, Feldt’s second was sensational.
After a looping pass from fullback Scott Drinkwater, the Cowboys’ all-time leading try-scorer leaped through the air to score an acrobatic try in the right corner.
Each try seemed to further take the wind out of the Raiders’ sails.
Young halfback Kaeo Weekes kicked a restart dead on the full and Rapana botched two short drop-outs in a row.
All up, the hosts were guilty of 10 errors and seven penalties, managing a measly 77 per cent completion rate.
Hudson Young failed to push his case for an Origin recall after an anonymous performance in game one. The NSW back-rower conceded two penalties and two knock-ons in a lacklustre display.
North Queensland halfback Chad Townsend had a superb game with the boot, setting up tries for Valentine Holmes and Jeremiah Nanai with deft grubber kicks. Nanai’s try was his 11th of the season, putting him joint-top of the NRL try-scoring list – an impressive feat for the second-rower.
Late tries to Xavier Savage and Elliott Whitehead put some respectability into the scoreline but the Raiders never looked likely on another dour home showing.