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Warriors - 25 Cowboys - 24
FULLTIME - Golden point
84 mins - JOHNSON WINS IT FOR THE WARRIORS! It wasn't a pretty field goal but it was effective, and the Warriors have won three straight. Stay tuned for a full wrap and highlights.
83 mins - Townsend has a chance at the other end, sprays it badly and Walsh returns with credit.
82 mins - Great first set by NZ. Johnson snaps a long field goal, charged down and back to the Warriors for a fresh set.
Johnson has an excellent look from 25m....but it's wide!
81 mins - Warriors will receive to start extra time.
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80 mins - There we have it - we're heading to golden point!
79 mins - NZ defence pressures the field goal kicker, Cowboys look to go wide instead, grubber deep and Harris-Tavita is on the spot to dive on it inches from his own line.
78 mins - Johnson snaps a field goal from 30m out but it's charged down, NZ regather and have a fresh set, 20m out now.
Walsh from 25m out...slices his attempted field goal to the left. Cowboys may get one more shot here.
76 mins - Defence holds up for NZ, Granville grubbers and it's far too strong and dead.
75 mins - Pompey loses the ball on the 2nd tackle, Cowboys 10m out.
74 mins - Arthars with space! Finds Walsh inside. Johnson goes right and Taulagi makes a superb cover tackle to force the handover.
72 mins - Johnson puts it into touch for what looked like a 40/20, but he had one foot over the line. Both sides fatiguing here. Drop goal time soon?
70 mins - Johnson bombs to the Cowboys tryline, ball spilled but falls safely for Feldt to run it into play.
65 mins - TRY WARRIORS - Euan Aitken put through a gap by Harris-Tavita and powers over to score. Soft defence by the Cowboys. Walsh squares the ledger with his conversion (24-24).
62 mins - Walsh unable to reel in a bomb under pressure. Huge chance here for the Cowboys, 20m out. NZ defence holds out, grubber collected and returned.
60 mins - Warriors centre defence repels multiple attacks but Montoya is pinged for a very dubious high shot. Looked a decent hit there by the wing. Holmes wants a shot at goal, slots it. (Cowboys 24-18)
58 mins - Walsh fields a grubber but is forced back inside his own in-goal for a dropout.
53 mins - Drinkwater takes a high ball and cuts through the NZ defence, down to the 20m. Give away a fresh set but Cowboys knock on. NZ feed a scrum on their own 10m.
49 mins - TRY COWBOYS - Second man play on the back of a couple of great defensive sets by NZ gives Holmes some room, and he wrangles his way free of desperation tackle from Walsh to get the ball on the turf. Holmes can't convert his own try. (Cowboys 22-18)
46 mins - Warriors win a penalty, they tap and go from their own 40m. Knock on early in the count, back in Cowboys' hands.
42 mins - TRY WARRIORS - Well that was a bizarre one! Nikorima simply collects from dummy half, fakes right and goes left to stroll over untouched under the crossbar. Easy conversion for Walsh and we're all tied up. (18-18)
41 mins - Mistake from the kick-off and NZ have an instant chance to attack.
Second half underway...
HALFTIME
38 mins - TRY WARRIORS - Harris-Tavita gives his team another late chance to attack with a 40/20, allowing Josh Curran to showcase some deft footwork to cut inside the defence and score next to the posts. That could prove a huge moment in this game. Walsh converts as the halftime siren sounds. (Cowboys 18-12)
34 mins - TRY COWBOYS - What a sequence of play that was. Taulagi intercepts Johnson's floating skip pass, reels off 30m, finds Holmes inside but Montoya makes a great cover tackle. NZ defence unable to scramble fast enough and Hiku makes the smart play to send Feldt over out wide. Holmes converts. (Cowboys 18-6)
33 mins - Warriors win a penalty and Johnson sends his kick deep into the Cowboys half. They go from 20m out.
30 mins - Great defensive work by NZ, back-to-back sets on their own line. Montoya caps it off with a superb reception of a chip kick, wins a penalty for being taken in the air.
28 mins - Taumalolo doing all sorts of damage up the middle. Cowboys with a set restart, just metres out from the NZ line. Fifth tackle, but they give away another set.
25 mins - Johnson puts up his biggest bomb of the day, Feldt up to the task at his own 22m.
22 mins - TRY COWBOYS - Townsend grubbers in behind the posts and Fonua-Blake plays it far too casually, leaving a gift for Drinkwater to collect and dot down. Holmes with an easy conversion. (Cowboys 12-6)
21 mins - Piggyback penalty for the Cowboys. They tap and go from halfway.
19 mins - Walsh safe again under the high ball, taken right on his own line.
16 mins - Cotter is utterly folded by big Fonua-Blake. Ouch. The next one is deemed high, Cowboys will take the easy two points on offer. (6-6)
14 mins - Montoya soars to take a Chad Townsend bomb at his own 20m.
11 mins - TRY WARRIORS - Johnson lays a short ball on for a bursting Jesse Arthars, who runs a great angle back against the defence and over the line. Great response NZ.
10 mins - Cowboys concede a penalty, NZ advance inside opposition territory.
7 mins - Bullocking run from Taumalolo, refusing to go down in the tackle.
TRY COWBOYS - Simple dummy and run from Tom Dearden at first receive. Curran with a poor missed tackle to open the gate to the try line. Holmes can't convert. (NZ 4-0)
5 mins - Reuben Cotter breaks though the middle, down near the NZ 20m. Huge hit from Chanel Harris-Tavita forces the ball loose, Warriors scrum.
4 mins - Johnson grubbers early, awkward bounce evades the NZ chasers and the ball rolls dead.
3 mins - Reece Walsh leaps to collect a bomb and he's taken in the air by Scott Drinkwater. Penalty, NZ launch from halfway.
1 min - Solid first set from the Warriors, Johnson hoists the first of many bombs for wing Kyle Feldt.
We're underway
7:53pm - Great news for Warriors fans, with Addin Fonua-Blake emerging from underneath his injury cloud and cleared to take the field tonight. A huge boost for the squad.
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Kia ora and welcome to our live coverage of NZ Warriors' NRL clash with North Queensland Cowboys at Moreton Daily Stadium on Friday.
After wins over the Tigers and Broncos, the Warriors are looking to seal a rare trio of consecutive victories, as they try to move further inside the competition's all-important top eight.
But the wounded Cowboys will pose a serious threat to that streak, as they try to bounce back from their heavy defeat to Sydney Roosters last weekend.
Join us for all of the action from 8pm (NZ time).
TAB betting odds:
NZ Warriors - $1.79 North Queensland Cowboys - $1.97
Euan Aitken pledges commitment to NZ Warriors, despite early release from club
By Alex Powell
NZ Warriors centre-turned-back-rower Euan Aitken insists he's still fully committed to the club, despite confirming he'll leave at the end of the 2022 season.
Last month, Aitken requested a release from the final year of his Warriors contract to move to an Australian-based rival.
He signed a three-year contract to join the Warriors from 2021, but only to be based solely in Australia for his spell with the Auckland side. Family reasons saw Aitken, 26, seek an early release from the Warriors.
Aitken has praised the Warriors for understanding his situation and promised his commitment for the rest of 2022 will not suffer, as he plans his next move.
"I love the club, the club's been really good to me, really compassionate in this circumstance.
"It's definitely not a reflection on the club, it's just a real personal issue. Otherwise, the club's been outstanding to me.
"There's a great club here, there's great people involved and they're building something great here.
"It's definitely hard to have that conversation, I was definitely torn. I wanted to go over there and fulfill my agreement that I made a couple of years ago.
"Obviously, that agreement was to move to New Zealand [and] we never got there. It was sort of the best decision for me personally.
"But in saying that, I'm fully committed to the club and feel like I show every week with the passion I play with. I want this club to have a great year and play some finals football."
Aitken has no idea which club he'll sign for next.Originally from New South Wales, Aitken could seek a Sydney-based club to be closer to his family or seal a contract with incoming Redcliffe Dolphins, who join the NRL in 2023.
"I'm just going to sort of see what happens," he added. "My focus is still playing great footy for the club, performing well each week.
"My agent will do all the rest in the background and hopefully present me with some options.
"Hopefully, sooner rather than later, I can make this decision, put it to bed and solely focus on the Warriors."
