St George Illawarra notch first win of Anthony Griffin era as Cowboys fall short in Townsville

St George Illawarra have notched their first win under new coach Anthony Griffin, holding out the North Queensland Cowboys 25-18 in a thriller in Townsville.

Both sides put on a herculean effort at Queensland Country Bank Stadium as they desperately scrapped to kickstart their seasons after disappointing losses in the opening round.

While it was Todd Payten's men who rode the energy of the home crowd to race out to an early lead, the Red V were never far behind and would find themselves narrowly up at the half.

Returning for the second period, it was an all-out frenetic war of attrition as both sides went tit-for-tat, scoring tries down either end until the Dragons defence was able to hold out to claim the match.

Another upsetting result for coach Payten, after he put a firecracker up his troops following last week's loss to the Panthers.

It's a case of tit-for-tat up at Townsville as the Cowboys and Dragons desperately scrap to notch their first win of the season in a frantic second half.

With just 20 minutes remaining it's the Dragons who lead 19-18 after Corey Norman's field goal on the stroke of half-time gave them the advantage.

Stay with this one!

Kyle Feldt has been placed on report, much to the displeasure of the entirety of Queensland Country Bank Stadium, after the Cowboy crunched Jack Bird in a sensational tackle.

Shortly before half-time with the Dragons leading 12-6, Feldt lined up Bird one-on-one and folded him brilliantly in a bone-rattling hit.

That had the crowd in raptures as both sides fired up in the aftermath of the challenge.

But much to the dismay of the Queenslanders, Feldt was placed on report for a dangerous throw and will await the verdict of the MRC.

"It was a terrific tackle, and in a millisecond it just goes fractionally wrong," Michael Ennis said on Fox Sports.

"The collision was great, at full speed it was just a good technical driving tackle, but it just went above the horizontal and Jack Bird's head hits the ground.

"He probably is in a bit of strife but I don't think there is any intent deliberately."

Probably the right decision upon review, but what a moment from the star!

A peach of a play from Ben Hunt who teases the Cowboys' line before sending a sensational cut-out pass across for Mikaele Ravalawa.

From there the Fijian tank still had a mountain of work to do as he powered himself across inside the corner post despite the best efforts of three Cowboys players.

It's the perfect response from Anthony Griffin's men who nearly risked falling out of this contest early after the Cowboys had a second try waived by the Bunker.

It's also promising signs for Red V fans with Hunt looking in tight form as he leads enterprising attacks into the Cowboys' territory.

The Cowboys have gotten off to a stellar start in their first home game for 2021!

Coen Hess was the man to get things started after he got on the end of a bomb from Jake Clifford, soaring through the air to collect the ball ahead of Zac Lomax and cross the line.

Country Bank Stadium is in raptures, and they're loving it up there in Townsville as their troops look for retribution after last week's dismal showing against Penrith.

Some Benji Marshall and Latrell Mitchell brilliance were enough to get Souths over the line in shocking conditions at Brookvale.

Marshall split them open and threw a great ball to Mark Nicholls which allowed Damien Cook to score a play later, before Mitchell set Alex Johnston up for a try and nailed the sideline conversion to make it 26-12.

The game ended in some controversy however when both sides became embroiled in a wild all-in which results in Jaydn Su'a being sent to the bin.

The only sour notes for the Bunnies were the HIA failures of both Reynolds and Paulo, and they'll be desperate for their captain to be fit for next week's grudge match with the Roosters.

Souths have played basically the entire second half without halfback Adam Reynolds and winger Jaxson Paulo, who both failed HIAs.

It's been an awful and sloppy second half in torrential conditions, with Manly grabbing the only try so far.

Cade Cust has just gone down with a head knock as well and that should be the end of his afternoon as well - so both sides down to 15 men at the moment.

With Souths up 10-0, Daly Cherry-Evans decided to try and create something by kicking through the line to himself, and then toeing it ahead a second time.

As he did that, he was touched by Latrell Mitchell and threw himself to the ground. There wasn't a lot of contact but it was a clear penalty, and as a result, the superstar fullback sent to the bin.

Manly would score on the following set to make it 10-6, but Mitchell had the last laugh, coming back onto the field with four minutes left in the half scoring on the siren after a brilliant 40/20 kick from Adam Reynolds gave the Bunnies one last attacking chance.

Souths have a 14-6 lead after the first half at Brookvale.

Manly forward Andrew Davey has been helped from the field after just four minutes of the game, suffering what looks to be a serious knee injury.

Davey was starting his first game of the season, due to teammate Curtis Sironen also suffering a knee injury and being ruled out for four to six weeks.

Obviously Manly were already light on troops, and another injury in the forwards was the last thing they needed.

As you'd expect, the second game of the afternoon has been met by a minute's silence for Manly legend Fred Jones.

Jones was the 140th player to represent Manly in first grade and skippered the club to NSWRL premierships in 1972 and 1973.

The Sydney-born rugby league great compiled 241 games for the Sea Eagles from 1961-1963 and 1965-1975, making the legendary hooker Manly's sixth-most-capped clubman in history.