Cowboys edge it late
The Cowboys edged the Storm 28–24 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in front of 20,931 in Round 4. They came from behind, trailing 10–16 at the break.
Braidon Burns scored 2 tries. Will Warbrick (Storm) was the standout in a losing side with 76 fantasy points, 163 run metres, 7 tackle breaks and 4 tries. The Cowboys won the metres battle 1,561 to 1,387.
Our Final Tip had the Storm at 64% (a Lean) and got it wrong. The bookies had the other side as favourites, so this one was an upset.
Cowboys
WLLLW
Storm
LWWLL
Game flow
Cowboys · above
Storm · below
Show scoring as a table
| Min | Team | Player | Event | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4' | Cowboys | Jake Clifford | Try | 4–0 |
| 6' | Cowboys | Jake Clifford | Conversion | 6–0 |
| 8' | Storm | Will Warbrick | Try | 6–4 |
| 9' | Storm | Harry Grant | Conversion | 6–6 |
| 11' | Cowboys | Braidon Burns | Try | 10–6 |
| 22' | Storm | Will Warbrick | Try | 10–10 |
| 23' | Storm | Harry Grant | Conversion | 10–12 |
| 36' | Storm | Sualauvi Faalogo | Try | 10–16 |
| 43' | Storm | Will Warbrick | Try | 10–20 |
| 52' | Cowboys | Murray Taulagi | Try | 14–20 |
| 64' | Storm | Will Warbrick | Try | 14–24 |
| 68' | Cowboys | Sam McIntyre | Try | 18–24 |
| 71' | Cowboys | Heilum Luki | Try | 22–24 |
| 72' | Cowboys | Scott Drinkwater | Conversion | 24–24 |
| 74' | Cowboys | Braidon Burns | Try | 28–24 |
Team stats
Better on the day
CowboysStorm
51%
Possession
49%
78%
Completion rate
76%
1,561
Run metres
1,387
596
Post-contact metres
541
9
Line breaks
7
36
Tackle breaks
33
3
Offloads
6
424
Kick metres
542
87.2%
Effective tackle %
87.8%
33
Missed tackles
36
12
Errors
9
5
Penalties conceded
5
| NQL | MEL | |
|---|---|---|
| Dangerous Tackle | ||
| Six-again (ruck) | ||
| Offside inside 10m | ||
| Offside General | ||
| Other | ||
| Scrum Infringement | ||
| Total | 7 | 7 |
Positional battles
Combined numbers per position group · more fantasy points takes the battle
Fullbacks
NQL 56-54
Drinkwater
Faalogo
167
Run metres
203
22
Kick return metres
16
4
Tackle breaks
6
0
Line breaks
2
Halves
NQL 118-102
Clifford, Dearden
Munster, Hughes
1
Try assists
3
2
Line-break assists
2
357
Kick metres
455
1
Errors
1
Hookers
MEL 47-13
Mahoney
Grant
28
Tackles
36
0
Run metres
27
77
Passes
120
1
Errors
1
Middles
MEL 120-81
Hess, Taumalolo, Cotter
Utoikamanu, King, Loiero
328
Run metres
235
159
Post-contact metres
100
50
Tackles
84
3
Missed tackles
3
Back row
NQL 97-69
Luki, McIntyre
Chan, MacDonald
133
Run metres
160
4
Tackle breaks
2
71
Tackles
52
7
Missed tackles
3
Outside backs
NQL 171-97
Burns, Purdue, Laybutt, Taulagi
Warbrick, Howarth, Leo
529
Run metres
250
4
Line breaks
2
3
Tries
4
3
Errors
1
Best performers
MEL
Will Warbrick
76
NQL
Jake Clifford
70
NQL
Braidon Burns
68
MEL
Jahrome Hughes
66
NQL
Scott Drinkwater
56
NQL
Heilum Luki
56
MEL
Sualauvi Faalogo
54
NQL
Tom Dearden
48
Show performers as a table
| Player | Team | Fantasy | Run m | Tackle breaks | Line breaks | Tries | Try assists | Tackles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will Warbrick | Storm | 76 | 163 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| Jake Clifford | Cowboys | 70 | 156 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Braidon Burns | Cowboys | 68 | 199 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Jahrome Hughes | Storm | 66 | 84 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| Scott Drinkwater | Cowboys | 56 | 167 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| Heilum Luki | Cowboys | 56 | 90 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37 |
| Sualauvi Faalogo | Storm | 54 | 203 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Tom Dearden | Cowboys | 48 | 77 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 18 |
Head-to-head
2025 R18Cowboys home
NQL
20
26
MEL
Storm by 6
2025 R14Storm home
NQL
14
38
MEL
Storm by 24
2024 R26Cowboys home
NQL
38
30
MEL
Cowboys by 8
2023 R14Cowboys home
NQL
45
20
MEL
Cowboys by 25
2022 R11Cowboys home
NQL
36
6
MEL
Cowboys by 30
How we tipped it
Chance each model gave the Cowboys · right of 50% = tipped the winner
Generated automatically from nrl.com match data and our own models · 2026-09-25 05:16:07 UTC