NRL: Cowboys hold off Knights

The Cowboys' Jonathan Thurston in action against the Newcastle Knights. Photo / Getty Images

North Queensland coach Paul Green believed the effort of his undermanned side was courageous and fitting for Anzac Day after they held out a fast-finishing Newcastle 26-24 at Hunter Stadium.

The Cowboys stretched their winning streak to five despite losing back-rower Jason Taumalolo (knee) and hooker Jake Granville (concussion) inside the first seven minutes.

They led 26-12 in the 62nd minute but the Knights, who lost five-eighth Jarrod Mullen to concussion in the 34th, came home strongly against a tiring defence to set up a thrilling finish.

Centre Joey Leilua powered over from dummy-half in the 69th minute and Sione Mata'utia bounced Johnathan Thurston off on his way to the line two minutes later to help the home side close the gap to two points.

But handling errors and desperate Cowboys defence denied the Knights, who slipped to their fourth loss on the trot.

Green and co-captain Matt Scott praised the Cowboys' effort after the early injury blows.

"It was fitting of the day, given it's Anzac day," Green said.

"I thought some of the courage, toughness and resilience we showed through the middle was just outstanding. It was a massive effort from some of the boys.

"Ray Thompson came into the team - he hasn't played NRL this year. Jake Granville got hurt early and (Thompson) has nearly played 70 odd minutes in the middle at hooker, so it was a huge effort.

"Scott Bolton nearly played the first half without a break, so just losing those guys just changes everything around. It was just a courageous effort by all our blokes."

Knights coach Rick Stone said while his side were making too many handling errors, their inability to defend them had been his biggest concern over the past month, after a four-game winning streak to start the season.

"Everyone is a bit frustrated at the moment.

"The effort's pretty good. We gave ourselves some chances but there was a couple of soft tries in there.

"When you're in a contest, every try is important and we let some soft ones in.

"Even if we are making some errors, our concentration and consistency in D is still a big worry."

Leading 16-6 at halftime, North Queensland extended their advantage in the 42nd minute when winger Justin O'Neill scored his second try.

Down 20-6, the Knights hit back when Akuila Uate burst through to sprint 60 metres and score in the 52nd minute.

Cowboys five-eighth Michael Morgan beat several defenders from a scrum in the 62nd minute to make it 26-12.

The Knights' Chris Houston opened the scoring in the 13th minute, but Newcastle's joy was short-lived as Scott Bolton crashed over five minutes later.

Cowboys fullback Lachlan Coote put the visitors ahead in the 21st minute, Leilua lost the ball reaching out to score in the 31st minute and, three minutes later, the Cowboys rubbed salt into the wounds as O'Neill cruised over out wide.

- AAP