Saturday second NRL Round 23 match is between Nth Queensland Cowboys and Gold Coast Titans with the opening kick to commence at 5:30PM local time. The game is to be played at 1300SMILES Stadium which see’s home team Nth Queensland Cowboys hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Nth Queensland Cowboys and Gold Coast Titans.

WHERE AND WHEN: 1300SMILES Stadium, Saturday, 17/08, 5:30PM

Opening odds comparison:

Nth Queensland Cowboys	1.33	1.33	1.31	1.33	1.33	1.34
Gold Coast Titans	3.30	3.35	3.55	3.35	3.30	3.30

Preview:

The North Queensland Cowboys play the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday, 5.30pm at 1300SMILES Stadium. North Queensland will be expected to win here, and need to
win here to keep their slim finals hopes alive. Johnahan Thurston is in great form at the moment, with a great performance against the Panthers last round helping to give
his team confidence going into this match. However, the Titans are also coming off a couple of great wins over the last fortnight and will be keen to hang onto their top
eight position.

Teams:

Nth Queensland Cowboys: Matthew Bowen, Kyle Feldt, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston, Robert Lui, Matthew Scott, Ray Thompson, James Tamou, Gavin Cooper, Glenn Hall, Joel Riethmuller. Interchange: Rory Kostjasyn, Tariq Sims, Ricky Thorby, Ashton Sims

Gold Coast Titans: David Mead, Kevin Gordon, Brad Takairangi, Jamie Dowling, Anthony Don, Ashley Harrison, Aidan Sezer, Luke Douglas, Beau Falloon, Nate Myles, Ben Ridge, Mark Minichiello, Greg Bird. Interchange: David Taylor, Ryan James, Luke O’Dwyer, Sam Irwin

Perseverance pays off for Panthers prop

The way Sam McKendry talks about it, you could be excused for thinking the Penrith prop spent most of the NRL season recovering from a hamstring strain.

Instead, the hulking Kiwi was rehabilitating from a broken neck, an injury which normally sends a shudder through any rugby league player, fan or official.

Thought to be out for the rest of the season after fracturing the C6 vertebrae during the Panthers’ round seven win over Parramatta, McKendry made a surprise top grade return in Sunday night’s loss to North Queensland.

It was a feel good story on a bleak night for the Panthers – whose finals chances slipped into the realm of mathematical possibility – with coach Ivan Cleary admitting some within the club doubted whether the 24-year-old had a future in the game.

For McKendry however, there were never any doubts.

“I always had a positive attitude towards the neck injury. I eventually got through it and here I am today playing,” McKendry said.

“It’s just like any other injury, you’ve just got to make sure it’s 100 per cent right before you play.

“That’s what I did, making sure I got the clearance from the specialist and I ended up playing.”

One of the game’s more robust props, McKendry could be forgiven for tempering his style in a bid to protect the injury.

There were no signs of that against the Cowboys however, two bursts at either end of the game proving McKendry wasn’t about to hold back on the field.

“You can’t really think like that when you’re out there, you’ve just got to play the way you’ve always played,” he said.

“You think like that and it will make you hesitant when you’re out there.

“Not in the front row, you’ve got to charge the ball up and put your body on the line.”

McKendry’s return has come at a good time for the club, the Panthers needing to win all four of their remaining matches to be any chance of making the top eight.

The news wasn’t as good for Matt Robinson, the Panthers backrower who had also suffered a neck injury, against Parramatta back in round 18.

Robinson is yet to start rehabilitation and won’t play again until 2014.