Manly have slumped to their first home defeat under Kieran Foran after North Queensland pulled off a golden-point heist to claim a 19-18 win over their top-eight rivals.
In a result that gives the Cowboys a leg-up over one of their fellow finals hopefuls at Brookvale Oval, fullback Scott Drinkwater was the hero, nailing a 32m field goal in the 82nd minute.
Drinkwater’s calmness under pressure was in sharp contrast to the Sea Eagles, who led for most of Sunday’s game but let a valuable win slip from their grasp.
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Reuben Cotter scored a 78th-minute try for the Cowboys to tie up the game, but Jake Clifford’s missed conversion meant golden point was needed, with Drinkwater delivering to lift Todd Payten’s men into the top eight.
“We did it the hard way and showed a fair bit of fight and ticker and probably could have won it a couple of times,” Payten said.
“Our next four or five weeks are against teams that are in and around us.
“You win, you jump up, so it’s a very important win within the context of the season.”
Undefeated in their previous five home games under Foran, Manly were once again clunky in attack and had to contend with Ben Trbojevic (concussion) and Corey Waddell (ankle) failing to finish the match.
Manly led 14-6 at halftime after Jason Saab, Lehi Hopoate and Haumole Olakau’atu cancelled out Tom Chester’s opener for North Queensland.
The Cowboys also had a Reed Mahoney try chalked off by the bunker for a questionable double movement.
But after halftime things turned south for the Sea Eagles.
Braidon Burns grabbed a double for North Queensland, and while Saab added a second, Manly only led by four points with 10 minutes to go.
Cotter finished a spellbinding move to draw his side level, but Clifford failed to ice the conversion, sending the game to golden point.
Drinkwater spared the playmaker’s blushes by snapping a field goal to condemn Foran to the first back-to-back losses of his NRL coaching career.
“We should have managed the game better in the second half, and it’s a bit like what I touched on last week,” Foran said.
“It’s one positive play, quickly followed up by one negative play.
“There’s no real genuine consistency about how we manage that second half, so that’s disappointing.”
