A strong second-half effort from the Raiders was not enough to beat the Cowboys, going down by one point.
The Toyota Forklifts Raiders have kicked off their 2023 season with a narrow loss to the North Queensland Cowboys at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, 19-18.
The Raiders came out in the first half with ambition, putting up a great defensive effort, defending their try line for the first 10 minutes due to a handful of errors.
Cowboys winger Murray Taulagi broke the defensive wall in the 17th minute putting first points on the board, which was followed soon after with a try to Scott Drinkwater in the 18th minute.
Drinkwater showed off his talents again after several Raiders errors, scoring in the 34th minute.
The Raiders hit back just before half-time through Emre Guler, who crashed over to score with two minutes to go in the first half.
The home side took a 12-point lead into the break, 18-6.
The Raiders struggled to get outside of their half in the opening 40 minutes, only completing nine sets in the first half of the game.
The Raiders looked to be firing in the second half after three errors from the Cowboys in the first five minutes.
Capitalising on those errors, Tom Staring scored under the posts in the 54th minute.
The Cowboys tried to get the ball back after a forced drop out, looking for the short kick off option but Jack Wighton pounced, scoring in the corner in the 59th minute to bring the score to 18-all.
Both teams battled it out under great fatigue in the humid Townsville climate in the final 20 minutes of the match.
Chad Townsend sealed the game for the Cowboys, kicking a field goal in the final five minutes, giving the home side a one-point win.
The Raiders will be looking for their first win of the season in Round Two when they take on the Dolphins next Saturday.
