Cowboys crush Rabbitohs

The North Queensland Cowboys have consolidated their position in the top eight after they produced an up-tempo 46-12 pummeling of the struggling South Sydney Rabbitohs at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Saturday night.

The in-form locals scored three tries in the opening 18 minutes to set the platform for a handy 22-6 half-time lead before sailing home with a five-tries-to-one second stanza to complete four successive wins.

Both sides took two Origin representatives each into the clash with the Cowboys' pairing of Johnathan Thurston and Luke O'Donnell proving more effective than the Rabbitohs' state duo of Michael Crocker and Craig Wing, although Wing did compete wholeheartedly until the death and was rewarded with a consolation try on full-time.

Other North Queenslanders to shine were crafty hooker Aaron Payne and excitement machine Matt Bowen, who has rediscovered his best attacking form after a slow start to the season.

The Cowboys' victory opens up a three-point gap between the eighth-placed Panthers and the ninth-placed Rabbitohs in the first real sign of a top-eight breakaway.

It didn't take the Cowboys long to post points when Thurston threw a quick cut-out pass for winger John Williams to scoop off the ground and score in the right corner in the fifth minute.

The Cowboys continued to attack the Rabbitohs' flimsy left-side defence, striking pay-dirt again in the 12th minute with centre Ashley Graham cruising over off a Bowen pass.

Thurston atoned for his earlier sideline miss, slotting the difficult conversion to give his side a 10-0 lead.

Payne was next to cross for the Cowboys, baffling the defence with a huge dummy to dive over for the softest of tries.

The Rabbitohs bagged a much-needed four-pointer in the 25th minute when centre Beau Champion managed to burrow over from dummy-half for a converted try, reducing the deficit to 10 points.

Normality was restored just after the half-hour mark when Cowboys pivot Travis Burns displayed silky skills to hold up a short ball perfectly for big second-rower Scott Bolton to crash over.

Thurston's conversion clicked the scoreline over to the hosts' eventual 22-6 half-time lead.

The procession continued after the break when Williams showed immense strength to hold two Souths players at bay and pop an excellent pass which put Graham over for his second try of the night in the 48th minute.

The match was effectively put to bed in the 54th minute courtesy of a typically elusive close-range effort by Bowen to push the Cowboys' lead out to 30-6.

Further tries to Ty Williams on the hour, Williams in the 70th minute and prop Matt Scott near full-time completed the Cowboys' scoring in a lop-sided affair played in front of 16,568 fans.

North QLD Cowboys 46
Tries: Graham 2, J. Williams 2, Payne, Bolton, Bowen,
T. Williams, Scott
Conversions: Thurston 5

South Sydney Rabbitohs 12
Tries: Champion, Wing
Conversions: Sandow 2