The old adage of ‘playing to the final whistle’ was certainly true for North Queensland in Round 15, with Todd Payten’s side producing a thrilling comeback to down the Sea Eagles at home.

Trailing 26-12 with less than eight minutes to play, the Cowboys produced an incredible three tries in four minutes to stun the home side, and the Telstra Tracker highlighted just how important the halves pairing of Chad Townsend and Tom Dearden were for Todd Payten’s side in the victory.

Of all players who took to the field across the Telstra Premiership last week, Townsend and Dearden were the only two to cover more than 10 kilometres of ground — such was their relentlessness in helping their team home.


Hooker Reece Robson also covered 9,583 metres to rank fifth among all players.

Dearden’s efforts were of particular note with the playmaker covering significantly more metres at a speed greater than 20 kilometres per hour than any other player in the competition. The Cowboys half recorded 892 metres of “high speed distance” — well clear of Broncos edge Jordan Riki (who had 792 metres) and Cowboys teammate Murray Taulagi, who finished third with 742 metres.


Cowboys comeback complete