The spirit of hard-nosed Wests legend Tommy Raudonikis was everywhere but on the field in the first half at Leichhardt Oval as North Queensland stunned the hosts to set up a 34-30 NRL win.
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The famous hill was heaving with fans ready to honour ex-Magpies, Australia and NSW halfback Raudonikis who died during the week, but the emotion was sucked out of the air as the Cowboys ran rampant in the first 40 minutes.
By halftime some in the 9433-strong crowd turned their voices to booing the Tigers into the sheds after they'd sunk to a stunning 28-6 deficit.
"It hurt," said an emotional Tigers coach Michael Maguire of the booing.
"It was disappointing, the fans are riding this with us.
"It was a special day today and I understand that and players understand that, so it was tough to take."
After one hell of a halftime speech the Tigers were a revived side in the second half, running in five tries and having another denied by the bunker to bring the crowd raging back to life.
Both teams scored six tries, but three missed conversions from Adam Doueihi proved the difference as the Tigers fell just short of a famous comeback victory and the Cowboys claimed their first win of the season.
Joe Ofahengaue, Tommy Talau, David Nofoaluma, Luciano Leilua and Luke Garner all punched through to score in the second half as the Tigers racked up quick points to push the Cowboys right to the final whistle.
The Tigers were left ruing what could have been when, with 18 minutes to go, the Bunker denied a try to Nofoaluma, ruling the Cowboys' defence was obstructed in the lead-up.
The decision temporarily halted the rampaging Tigers' momentum and the Cowboys scored soon after through Lachlan Burr to extend their lead.
Despite the comeback, Maguire said he was shocked the side didn't turn up in the first half on a special day to honour Raudonikis.
Again, he said defensive lapses were to blame and flagged potential changes next week.
"Our reserve grade is going well, so we'll have a look," he said.
The Tigers were firm favourites to trounce the depleted, winless Cowboys.
The early retirement of Michael Morgan and an ongoing hand injury to Jason Taumalolo left the Cowboys without two of their best at Leichhardt Oval, where they had lost every game they've played since 2000.
But Scott Drinkwater stood up in Morgan's absence, laying on three tries and scoring a brilliant one himself to embarrass the Tigers.
The Cowboys ran their traffic down the left side, pulling apart the Tigers' right-hand defence of Nofoaluma, James Roberts and Doueihi.
The three appeared confused in the defensive line at times and the Cowboys exploited it through Murray Taulagi with a double and speedster Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.
"I'm just happy we got away with it, that last 25 minutes seemed to go for a bloody long time but that's a good lesson for us today that if we play the right way we can score points ... and if we keep doing some silly stuff with our decisions it'll put us under pressure," said Cowboys coach Todd Payten.
There could be further injury trouble for the Cowboys with Tabuai-Fidow coming off late in the second half with an ankle injury.
The Cowboys will now play Canterbury in Townsville on Sunday, while the Tigers play South Sydney - and former skipper Benji Marshall - at Stadium Australia on Saturday.
Australian Associated Press
