Michael who?

Halves Scott Drinkwater and Jake Clifford have clicked to spark North Queensland’s 36-6 NRL win over a hapless Gold Coast Titans in Townsville in Friday night.

The Cowboys were supposed to miss captain Michael Morgan, with the dominant halfback set to be sidelined for another six weeks as he recovered from shoulder surgery.

But five-eighth Drinkwater and replacement No.7 Clifford have surely eased concerns after inspiring the Cowboys’ first win at their new home Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

Off the back of another monster game by lock Jason Taumalolo (274m), Drinkwater set up two tries for winger Ben Hampton while Clifford kept North Queensland’s foot on the Titans’ throat with his precision kicking.

Replacement hooker Reece Robson also crashed over twice to ensure North Queensland won their 10th straight game against the Titans.

Former Cronulla premiership winner Valentine Holmes had his best game since returning from a 2019 NFL sojourn, setting up three tries and running 113m.

It took just two games for North Queensland to taste victory at their new venue.

But the long wait for a win continues for long suffering Gold Coast fans after the Titans fell to their 14th straight loss.

Remarkably the Gold Coast’s last win was almost a year ago – a round 13 triumph over Brisbane last June.

It marked the third straight defeat for new coach Justin Holbrook in a nightmare start for the former Super League premiership winner with St Helens.

Holbrook wielded the axe before the round three clash, making six changes but was forced to make more before kick-off due to injury.

No.1 Tyrone Roberts (ankle) and winger Anthony Don (knee) pulled out with Jonus Pearson coming in on one wing, Brian Kelly on the other and Phillip Sami moving to fullback for Roberts.

But the new look Gold Coast suffered the same old problem, suffering from errors and poor last play options to ensure North Queensland held the momentum.

After leading 14-6 at halftime, the Cowboys kicked away when Robson burrowed over from dummy half with two tries in four minutes (55th, 59th) as the floodgates opened.

After being limited to just 76m in the first half, Tongan juggernaut Taumalolo tore the Titans apart in the second stanza.

Summing up their game, the Gold Coast failed to make the most of backrower Mitch Dunn’s 27th minute sin binning for a professional foul.

Cowboys backrower Coen Hess’s binning in the dying minutes also couldn’t help the Titans get over the line.